From: Greg Burch (gregburch@gregburch.net)
Date: Mon Mar 31 2003 - 17:27:34 MST
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-extropians@extropy.org
> [mailto:owner-extropians@extropy.org] On Behalf Of gts
> Sent: Monday, March 31, 2003 5:23 PM
> To: extropians@extropy.org
> Subject: META: Greg Burch's request
>
>
> Greg Burch wrote:
>
> > In situations where people's views are well known and are also well
> > known to be deeply opposed to the views of some other
> posters, it does
> > no good to simply carry on with the same discussion. My request is
> > aimed at both supporters and opponents of the war, and both
> to those
> > unhappy with American foreign and military policy and those who
> > approve of it.
>
> In other words, you're requesting that extropians with strong
> feelings about the war should just shut up and stop debating
> the subject that matters most to them at this key moment in history.
>
> I realize you're vice-president of the Extropy Institute, and
> I'm sure you're well-qualified for that position, but I'm
> sorry Greg; I cannot and will not support your view on this subject.
>
> My friendly advice to you as your would-be political
> consultant (take it or leave it) is to let matters be. If you
> don't want to read the messages on the extropian discussion
> list during this time of war then by all means don't. It's
> your choice.
>
> Your apparent attempt to be controlling is, in my would-be
> political consultant's view, despicable from an extropian
> perspective. It could ultimately lead to your demise.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> -gts
I guess I'm not making myself clear. In quite a few posts, I don't see
"debate" -- I see inflammatory rhetoric and a LACK of real discussion
and debate. I'm asking for people to 1) tone down the rhetoric and 2)
abstain from mere repetition.
This is one of the longest-running discussion lists on the net and I
mean to keep it running and at as high a level as possible. I don't know
if you were on the list when it happened, but once before I imposed a
brief moratorium on the discussion of a particular topic that had -- in
the opinion of very many posters -- gotten out of hand because of the
vitriolic tone that a few posters had reached in their rhetoric. Some
of the folks I -- and many others -- felt were causing the problem were
on other topics quite valuable members of our online community. The
moratorium was not universally popular in a "political" sense, but I
have served as what passes for "law and order" on this list for a long
time now. I've tried to exercise that authority with the lightest
possible hand. At the time of the previous moratorium, I had the
complete backing of the full list of ExI's officers and directors. I
haven't asked for a "mandate" in this situation, but am acting on my own
observations, and reacting to off-list comments I've received about the
recent tone of discussions about the war and notice of the departure of
some valuable members of this community.
I absolutely agree with you that the current shift in the geopolitical
realm is important and OUGHT to be a subject we can discuss here -- IN A
CIVIL MANNER. I am simply asking every list member to exercise a little
restraint.
Greg Burch
Vice-President, Extropy Institute
http://www.gregburch.net
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Mon Mar 31 2003 - 17:36:12 MST