Rick Moen wrote:
Quoting Glenn Glazer ([EMAIL PROTECTED]):
There are many things which have a direct impact on my life (for
example the price of gas, the total nosedive of Sun's stock, etc.) but
which are I feel are not relevant to discussion on this list and I
would expect to be batted down if I brought them up as something other
than examples of what not to discuss.
Are you really saying that anything relevant to any member is relevant
to the list as a whole?
Well, I sat and quietly thought about this post for some of this evening.
A couple of things occur to me:
One, Andy actually didn't say, and doesn't say, that anything relevant
to any member is relevant to the list as a whole.
No, he implies it. He says that the proposition has a direct impact on
him, he is a member of the list, and therefore it is relevant to the
list. I do not believe this syllogism follows logically, rather it is
generalizing from the specific.
I also object to being accused of playing a "relevance card" in analogy
with the "race card". I think most people who know me know how I feel
about the substantive issue and this sort of accusation is really hurtful.
Two, because Andy and Kevin are friends of mine (and of all of us), if
either of them feels something is imperiling something as vital as their
marriage, this being one of the main places we talk with them, I
appreciate hearing about it here. Not as an ongoing topic, but hearing
tell of it so that we're aware.
What concerns me is twofold:
1) The slippery slope down into a general discussion list.
2) That the discussion of politics has (IMHO) a great tendency to
produce disharmony in our group and cause pain and divisions that could
well be avoided. I cite the history of the Futurians as an example of
why politics and fandom do not make for a good combination.
I'd hope to have the same audience if I seriously felt my marriage were
under attack, electoral or otherwise, and that BASFAns might have a role
in righting that. Because that's a whole lot more vital than the price
of gas or the Dow's nosedive. Which is really the point, I think.
Do BASFAns (other than the usual one vote per person) have a role in
righting this? Is this in our charter? I would also hope that you
would have an audience in the situation you describe, I just don't think
it should be this one.
Best,
Glenn
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