Paul, > > I'll apologize for the outburst, but watching that farce called an > > election play out has made it clear that the only hope we have left is > > at the grass roots level. But then, when I see what happened to OT, I > > wonder if it isn't the same problem only smaller. Then I think: if we > > can't fix it from the top down, and we can't fix it from the bottom > > up, what is left? > > We have no choice but to live among people we don't agree with. Then > again, they have no choice either. So it's fair.
If you had a barrel of apples, and one is rotten, do you leave it in the barrel or do you pluck it? > Mean people suck. They do exist, but compromise just a sliver of the population. Even in jail this is true (I once worked as Sgt of the Guard in the only Navy-Marine Corps prison, so I am speaking from experience). What happens is that this sliver makes a lot of attention-getting fuss and then the press makes sure they get front page coverage, so a totally-out-of-proportion illusion is created they are greater in numbers then they actually are. Most people - around the world - really are decent and not mean-spirited at all. > History will be the judge. There isn't a way to fix free > speech, other than making sure everyone has that right always. Everyone > should be free to express their views (however stupid they are) but consequently > everyone is free to decide who to listen to or what forums to > frequent. In the largest sense, philosophically, you are right. We can't have "limited free speech", it's either all or none. But, on the other hand, all organisms must devise ways to defend against attacks in order to survive. It may already be too late to save OT, but the basic question of how forums can survive these attacks will linger until a reasonable solution is found. Bill > > Paul > _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
