Hi All,
Ok, I jump in, why not. I decided after Glenn's post.
GLENN:
«It's time for Horse to step down from his position as moderator. Horse does
not adequately represent the values of the group, at least of the members
who bothered to give their opinions on this matter (except Platt). Horse has
never been truly interested in any critical analysis of Pirsig's writings,
has a weak tolerance for dissenting views, and basically wants moq.org to be
a sanctuary for people oppressed by the larger SOM dominated world, or more
properly the world he perceives as such. Horse is saying that if you don't
like it his way you can go elsewhere and start your own group.
I might remind everyone that being a cult was never the original charter of
moq.org. Diana's intent was very basic; it was simply to understand
what the MOQ said. Given that you could do that, she was then interested in
exploring its metaphysical and sociological implications, good and bad, and
she did this until the day she left (in disgust). Under Diana's helm,
dissenting opinions were OK and people of my "ilk", as MOQers like to say,
could feel reasonably comfortable here. »
Dear Glenn, a couple of years ago, after I started the Italian version of
MOQ.org, I was subscribed for that to the "steering committee" (at the
times: Diana, Horse, Magnus, Keith and Bo). So I was a rookie when an
episode like this happened. A member (let's call him Mr. X) was "killed" by
Diana from the MF mailing list. [Note that MF was a moderated forum, while
MD was and is not. All single posts to MF were filtered by a moderator].
Well, after a period of conflict between them, one day Diana removes Mr.
X. One of the many charges was that he had insulted me (!). Actually I did
not know that, as his message had been bounced by Diana. So I asked for
clarification, as I was involved. After reading the original message, as in
my opinion it was not insulting me (even if it was ..emh, a little silly) I
told Diana that for me no problem to keep Mr. X alive. At most, I suggested
a
temporary unsubscription: my arguments were that a permanent unsubscription
was like death penalty, the "nice guy" thing and all that.... exactly all
what I read today in defense of Struan.
Anyway Diana had other reasons to unsubscribe him, and she went on. Mr. X
was
removed from MF. Horse did not unsubscribe him from MD (Mr. X anyway
resigned
for protest, I'm glad he is back now. )
Diana went mad at me, this damned rookie who was criticizing the moderator
:-) .... Anyway, I was not happy for the decision, but, after all, it was
her site and her mailing list. I sincerely told her that in the end it was
absolutely right for her to decide. I remember also a message from Horse,
trying to calm both of us.
Why do I say this? It's funny to read Glenn writing all those things. Do you
know why there is no advertising here? Horse is paying the fee for MOQ.org
domain name and for the web hosting. Horse carries almost alone the website
since Diana's departure (and, believe me, Horse was the one who tried more
than any other to convince her to stay, and, for what I know, the only one
who receives answers from Diana).
So, when we are here, I think we should not forget we are guests at his
home. When he says that we are free to open another site and another
mailing list, he is not arrogant. He (like Diana was) is just proud of his
job, and does not want someone who tries to destroy it.
Running a website takes a lot of time, and no one pays you for that. Time to
step down? Who do you think should take his place? Do you want a democratic
site? Elections? The net is democratic: buy a domain name and start your
own web site. Can you do better? Good luck. (Once I met Bo and Joao on
another list, and it was good. Here is better, anyway).
And now let's come to the current conflict. I really have no personal
problems with Struan. I've almost never discussed with him, and actually I
hardly understand when his language is out of the limits... one advantage
for being Italian! Should Struan stay or go? Well, I don't cry if he is in
or out. Like then with Mr. X, I think it is good to have bad guys with us.
One of Horse's point is that Struan's plan is to destroy the moq, by all
means, insults included. May be. A mailing list full of insults is not very
attractive.
The last word is Horse's. If I want to chat with Struan, I have his address.
I don't know the reasons for their conflict, and it's not of great interest
to me. I guess they both have their reasons. And, like for any conflict,
the best option would be IMO that they both walk a step back, restarting
from zero. They will not, I fear.
So I want just to tell Horse: Thanks, hope that this mailing list will go
on. Dieing in the trench for all that would be silly.
enough said
peace,
Marco
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