[ale] as promised/threatened, an overly long post with probably nothing of real importance

[Richard Bronosky]

This email began as one of the few reasonable presentations of
political ideas that I have seen on this list. Jim, in the recent past
I have seen you personally (as well as others) send emails that do
little more than attack everyone who disagrees with you politically.
Everyone on this list seems to think that everyone else who is
politically less liberal, is that way due to a combination of
stupidity, ignorance, and evil. And, you don't hesitate to tell them
that.
The problem with all of this is that the political discussion here is
always wielded to insult dissidents, inflate self, and call people
racists. It is rarely presented in an informative and persuasive
manner. The ALE list is about information. I have on occasion replied
to people who I believe to be quite intelligent but distracted. (When
I was new here I assumed that Aaron was a 15 year old, wild eyed, kid
who had never held an IT job and had no idea how the world actually
worked.) If you want to inform someone of a political idea that you
think may benefit them and the rest of society, do so in a persuasive
manner in a dedicated, non-hijacked thread. There is no room here for
the insulting thread hijacks. They should be squashed by the community
at large and never started by the foundational members.

I just don't understand why this kind of conversation needs to happen
here at all. It is counter productive to the cause of spreading Linux.
If I were the one running the list I would discourage these insulting
discussions. I would not moderate or censor political discussion
unless it was used to hijack a thread. (It really pisses me off when a
political flame fest ensues from an OP who had a valid question, or
idea.)

I think Jim should give up the reigns. I don't think anyone should
hold a responsibility like this for as long as he has. It's not
healthy for him or the community.
I offered to take over. I don't expect to be taken seriously since my
personal belief in Freedom includes the freedom to disagree
politically and still work toward the same technological and social
goal. It worries me that Jim may have been speaking of me as "1 has a
history of involvement in political crap" for refusing to call Scott
Castaline a racist and trying to inform our community of the subtle
differences between terms like racist, bigot, prejudice,
discrimination.

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.!# RichardBronosky #!.