OT? Community and tech writing in real life (was Re: Ambiguous wordsand Phrases)

[Combs, Richard]

Tim Mantyla said:

<a bunch of psychobabble, treacly kumbaya-crap, and tired leftist
cliches from the 60s>

Including:

> Communities encompass people (and sometimes other creatures) 
> with overlapping as well as disparate needs and goals. Ken's 
> (for example) needs or interests may not coincide exactly 
> with yours in this particular area. With that in mind, does 
> it make sense that he has a right--perhaps even a duty, 
> arising from his inner self, intuition or other impulse known 
> only to him--to offer the tech writer community his unique 
> experience here nonetheless? 

You want OT? I'll give you OT.

If we have a right and duty to blurt out whatever our "inner self" wants
to blurt out, I'm compelled to note the irony of your criticizing Exxon
Mobil for "contributing to global warming," while in the same sentence
you lament the suffering of the homeless in "sub-zero temperatures." 

And speaking of Exxon, here's something to remember while you're
sneering at "the largest corporate profit ever": Exxon paid $30 billion
in corporate taxes in 2007, a tax rate of more than 40%. In fact, Exxon
paid more in income taxes than the bottom 50% of individual taxpayers! 

According to Tax Foundation data cited in Investor's Business Daily,
from 1977 to 2004, U.S. oil companies' average corporate income tax rate
(federal and state) was 45%. 

The remaining after-tax profits of companies like Exxon Mobil are
distributed among their shareholders, and that's just about everyone
with a pension, IRA, 401k, or any equity mutual fund investment. Those
record profits you so despise are helping many of us prepare for the
future and are a vital source of income for countless retirees. 

Of course, your thinly-veiled closing reference to the commie slogan
"From each according to his ability, to each according to his need"
makes it pretty clear what you think of individuals taking
responsibility for themselves. 

"Cells in a community body" have no autonomy or individuality or free
will. How revealing that you chose that metaphor. 

Obligatory TW tie-in: You communicate not just with what you say, but
with how you say it. And with what you omit. 

OK, I've had my say -- time for the admin OT warning. ;-)

Harrumph!
Richard


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Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
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