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Author Message
25 new of 157 responses total.
cyklone
response 72 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:07 UTC 2004

Re #69: Did it occur to you (and this question also goes out to those who
agree with you) that all this is ultimately going to do is result in more
of the very posting/copying that was originally claimed to be the big fear
of valerie and jep?

I've got news for the "censors": This issue has been debated for thousands
of years by minds far greater than ours. The one solution that has stood
the test of time in terms of the evolution of the race is free and
uncensored speech, with everyone responsible for their own words. You are
on the wrong side of history. 

mary
response 73 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:08 UTC 2004

My last response was to #67.  Lots slipped in.
cyklone
response 74 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:09 UTC 2004

<s'all right. You snuck in just the right spot to say much of what I was
saying>
tod
response 75 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:09 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

cyklone
response 76 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:12 UTC 2004

Very well put tod. I certainly *thought* I was part of the community when I
was posting to jep's item. But here on the animal farm, some members of the
community are more equal than others.
tod
response 77 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:15 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

cyklone
response 78 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:17 UTC 2004

In #69 you say "So what if my advice is gone tomorrow?  I'm not writing
for generations to come.  I'm writing today, for the use of a particular
person who is in a particular situation.  If I want to ensure that my
profound thinking is available in perpetuity, Grex items are a pretty weak
way to do it.

You are making yet another value judgment to justify censorship. 
Reasonable minds can disagree as who they are writing for and for how
long. You may think grex is a weak way to perpetuate "profound thinking" 
but some of us who were writing about the problems of a grexer and for a
grexer (as well as for other users of grex) obviously believe grex is one
of the *MOST* appropriate place for our words to reside. 

tod
response 79 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:19 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

gelinas
response 80 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:30 UTC 2004

I have lots of doubt about that, tod.
jp2
response 81 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:36 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

mary
response 82 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:43 UTC 2004

It's time to shut up, jp2.  

Really and truly.
boltwitz
response 83 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:44 UTC 2004

It should, of course, be known that Grex has repeatedly refused to allow me
to delete even my own posts.
gelinas
response 84 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 01:48 UTC 2004

I *know* the motions are not about the words of jep and valerie; they are
about the words of others added to the items created by jep and valerie.
I've been very clear that I think item authors have the right, and should
have the capability, to remove the items they create, in toto, explicitly
including words others have written.

However, I've also been convinced such was not the situation on grex at
the time valerie deleted the items.  I've also been convinced to entertain
the notion that such should never be the situation on grex.

This discussion will inform future decisions people make, about their
votes, about the text they enter here, and about where grex goes from here.
naftee
response 85 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 02:10 UTC 2004

Clearly however, this entire discussion should be completely ignored, since
it was really started by my item, and it is well known that I am a GreX
SYSTEM_ABUSER.  Never mind the core issue.  It's the PEOPLE that matter.
keesan
response 86 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 02:46 UTC 2004

I think it would also be considerate of jep's ex-wife to delete all mention
of her from grex.  Both of them acted rather immaturely and they probably
don't want the details immortalized.  
jp2
response 87 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 02:49 UTC 2004

This response has been erased.

naftee
response 88 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 03:05 UTC 2004

Ignore her, she doesn't read people's responses.
naftee
response 89 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 03:05 UTC 2004

That, by the way, is immature.
anderyn
response 90 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 03:32 UTC 2004

I think that this comes down to several different interpretations of what Grex
is to its users and the assumptions that they were using the system under.
I certainly -- before this discussion -- never realized that people actually
read old items, and I never thought of discussions being archived for the
ages. To me, agora/various cfs in various incarnations were current
discussions, which were fun and informative while on-going, but I'd never go
back and re-read it once the current discussion was done. I thought of it as
a conversation more than publishing -- fleeting and impermanent. Obviously,
this informs how I see the current vote -- I don't feel as if it's such a big
deal because (at least in jep's case, and in valerie's old diaries) the items
were closed long ago (a few years, right?) and the discussion was over. I
think that this is not the way everyone sees it, but some of us do (I'm
agreeing with keesan, at least. Amazing!).  Also, since to me it's a
conversation more than "writing", I don't feel this attachment to my words.
I wrote them, yes,  but they aren't something I have my ego attached to, in
the same way that I do things that I write for publication or that I write
with the intent of having people read them (as in essays, etc.) I write my
postings in the best way I can, and I try to make them clear and legible, but
they aren't agonized over and polished and "written" in the same way that I
write for publication. 

I do realize that other people have other viewpoints, but you must realize
that my viewpoint is as valid as yours -- my Grex is also a valid Grex. I
think that people are getting into "one true wayism" here, and it's got to
stop if we're going to build a Grex that everyone will still be comfortable
with. 

I know that I will never post anything beyond the most trivial and most fluffy
details of my life on this system again. I won't share who I am, or what I
would like to have help with, or details of my past that might shine light
on another's problems, since I don't like being made fun of, as I was in the
"agora" parody cf. on M-net. I don't like it. I don't appreciate it. I don't
think it was funny and I really resent the fallout from it (Valerie's reaction
and Jep's sudden desire to have his divorce items removed among other things).
I resent the fact that some people are apparently so lacking in empathy that
they can say "it's only pixels. it's only the internet" when people do very
clearly do find these pixels to be communication and ways to reach out to
other people. I resent some people insisting that obviously everything needs
to stay online forever because otherwise there will be no free speech. I feel
as if I can't share anything terribly personal anymore, because there's no
community here. And that's very sad. 
cyklone
response 91 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 04:00 UTC 2004

While you may believe you had a valid interpretation of what Grex was, I am
still puzzled as to how you could confuse a *bulletin board system*, which
implies a public posting of information for public consumption, with some
sort of private party line you share for conversations with your friends.
gelinas
response 92 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 04:10 UTC 2004

It's really not that hard to do, cyklone.  You meet lots of the people whose
responses you have read, and just forget that others are reading, too.

People are strange.
naftee
response 93 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 04:35 UTC 2004

 re 90
 > I resent some people insisting that obviously everything needs
 > to stay online forever because otherwise there will be no free speech.

 That was never said.  Please leave it alone.

>  because there's no community here.

Ask yourself what happened.
cyklone
response 94 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 04:57 UTC 2004

LET ME TRY!

Once upon a time there were two tribes. The mnet tribe was a bunch of
foul-mouthed party animals who enjoyed hot cars, hot women, hip hop, punk rock
and other loud pleasures.

The grex tribe was formed when some of the more introverted mnetters, who
much prefered bicycles, gardening, folk music, classical music and other
quieter pastimes, set out to create a life of their own. 

Because of family connections, and the periodic reunions forced by
equipment failure, the tribes had fairly regular interactions. 

Some of the mnet tribe would make humorous comments about the grexers.
Some of the grex tribe would make snide comments about the mnetters.

THE END
aruba
response 95 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 05:22 UTC 2004

Re #68: Saying "I want people to feel free to say what they want here" 
is "positively Orwellian"?  Huh?  Are you saying that's not what you 
want?  Or are you saying that because I interpret what free speech is 
differently that you do, then I am trying to exert mind control over 
people?

Free speech is *not* as simple as "Anyone can say whatever they want, 
wherever they want, however they want, and it will be preserved 
forever."  You can't yell fire in a crowded theater.  You can't paint 
a message on the street and expect it to last forever.  You can't 
make threatening phone calls.

The reason you can't do these things is that we have agreed, as a 
society, to balance the good of the whole against the freedom of the 
individual.  If that's Orwellian, well, tell it to Oliver Wendell 
Holmes.

Mary asks: if we make this exception for jep and valerie, then where 
do we draw the line in the future?  I think it is a very good 
question.  And a hard one.  But just because it's hard doesn't mean we 
can't address it.  And it certainly doesn't mean we *shouldn't* 
address it.  We shouldn't say, "Oh, it's too hard to balance people's 
feelings against our principles of allowing free speech.  Therefore, 
we are forced to not value people's feelings at all, because it's too 
hard."  That's a copout.

cyklone "maintains" a lot of things in #69 - let's see if I can 
address some of them.  He seems to make have a big problem with value 
judgements.  Apparently, he thinks we should all be able to get 
through life without them.  He is correct that voting against Jamie's 
proposal and for jep's involves making a value judgement that the harm 
done by restoring the items is greater than the harm done by leaving 
them deleted.

I am not calling for an "earthshaking change" in Grex's operation.  
Nor am I saying people should "have the power to remove any words 
anyone else may right (sic) about those deepest fears and thoughts".

I am saying that we, as a community, ought to be willing to make an 
exception to our general policies when we feel there is a good reason 
for it.  Of course this involves making value judgements.  Of course 
any such system is imperfect.  But, in my opinion, it's better than 
the alternative.

In general, smaller organizatons need less rigid rules than large 
ones.  To take an extreme example, all of us individuals have rules 
for ourselves, but almost everyone violates their rules from time to 
time, and it's not the end of the world.  This is normal and good.  If 
you made yourself a rule about your diet, and then a month later your 
Mom makes your favorite dessert when you're visiting, it would hurt 
her feelings and yours not to eat it.  So you break your rule, and 
nothing tragic happens.  It doesn't mean you will begin binge eating 
every night.  It was better to break it than not to break it.

The same is true for families - they have rules which sometimes get 
broken, and no one dies as a result.  But the bigger an organization 
gets, the harder it is to be flexible about rules.  When you get to the 
size of a large corporation or a government, most people agree that 
you have to have rigid rules, otherwise people will choose to exploit 
them.  Why is that, exactly?  I think it's because, in a very large 
organization, people's attachment and committment to the organization 
is generally weaker than in a small one.  People feel insignificant 
and weak compared to a large organization, and as a result, some of 
them feel little sense of responsibilityand attachment toward it.  

Grex is somewhere in between a family and a large organization.  But 
it's a lot closer to a family.  And I think on Grex we don't have to 
make rigid rules and always be bound by them.  I think there are a lot 
of people who see that as the only way to run any kind of 
organization, and they want Grex to fit into that mold no matter what.  
Some of them, like Jamie, want that so they can manipulate the system.  
Other people just can't imagine anything without a lot of rigid rules.
boltwitz
response 96 of 157: Mark Unseen   Feb 7 05:54 UTC 2004

Am I allowed to cough, though?
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