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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 1:18pmSanction this postReply
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Hear!  Hear!  Thank you, Barbara, for defending SOLO's primary benefactor.  He richly deserves it.


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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 1:20pmSanction this postReply
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Let me be the first (EDIT Luke beat me to the draw!) to chime in on your article Barbara with my full agreement. I'm sure there are those about who will point to your article and this post and claim that we are mere boot-licking sycophants. The truth is that, while I have disagreed with Lindsay on the tone of some of his posts in the past and during the recent incident, he has been a tireless champion for this site and Objectivism. To be constantly in the public arena having flaming bags of crap hurled at you would wear on the best of us. He weathers that all with grace enough to forgive his occasional outburst. Thanks Linz. Thanks also to Joe, and Jeff for your site.

Ethan

(Edited by Ethan Dawe on 6/23, 1:21pm)


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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 1:21pmSanction this postReply
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Jackals always wait to pounce until the lion is at its weakest.

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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 1:23pmSanction this postReply
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Barbara,

I wholeheartedly agree. Many of us have been on this site long enough to share a sense of responsibility about the atmosphere at SOLO and share in its wishes for success. Linz's positive contributions have been enormous.

Jim


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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 1:34pmSanction this postReply
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Thanks, Barbara, for issuing this reminder and heeding perspective.

Alec

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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 1:42pmSanction this postReply
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Barbara,

Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have no other words. I speak for Kat too.

Michael & Kat


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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 2:21pmSanction this postReply
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Let me join the other boot-licking sycophants in saying "Well said, Barbara."

Now lets' get on with the good works.

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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 2:23pmSanction this postReply
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Do we have to stop bashing him right now or do we at least get 24 hours notice?  :-P

Post 8

Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 2:29pmSanction this postReply
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Well, I'm certainly not a boot licking sycophant, but I nonetheless agree with Barbara's article and the comments of others here. Irrespective of past disagreements, Linz certainly does deserve praise and credit for his part in bringing this community into existence (as do Joe and Jeff for theirs).

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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 2:50pmSanction this postReply
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 Barbara,

"I don't know the motives for this malevolence..."

It's funny that you say this, as your article full on named them:

"...he sometimes loses his temper and says things of a personally insulting nature to people that he should not say, and that his targets too often include people who are blameless. This is beneath him, it does damage to his image and to SOLO..."

The leader sets the example that the followers follow. Whether or not Linz does or does not deserve the vitriol to which he has been subjected, his own rhetoric of a very similar nature makes it much easier to rationalize this sort of behavior than it otherwise would be.

(Edited by Robert Bisno on 6/23, 2:51pm)


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Post 10

Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 3:33pmSanction this postReply
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Robert Bisno

What followers?

Ethan


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Post 11

Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 4:16pmSanction this postReply
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Barbara Branden wrote:

Something very ugly has been happening on SOLO, and it has not been done by Lindsay, Joe, or Jeff. Some members have taken the fact that Linz has made a mistake as a reason to indulge in a degree of Linz-and-SOLO-bashing that is shameful. I read charges that SOLO oozes malevolence, that it is a cesspool of mean-spirited personal attacks and filthy language, that it must now submit to Rube-Goldberg-like moderation policies that would turn it into a timid and lifeless shell.




Barbara:

With due respect, I'm forced to disagree. This strikes me as hyperbolic overstatement, with considerable unwarranted generalization.

Specifically:
  • Criticism of Linz is not necessarily "Linz bashing."

    I have personally said almost nothing about his behavior, because I have not been here that long. Those comments I have read have usually been mildly critical, and well within the bounds of being construed as constructive. I see little to be ashamed of here.


  • Criticism of SOLO is not necessarily "SOLO bashing." 

    Let's be careful with "bashing" accusations. Criticism can be healthy, and accusing critics of being "bashers" can stifle even constructive criticism. 

    Many comments I read express concern and are apparently intended as constructive. Frankly, I haven't seen much to be ashamed of here, either.


  • As to those "charges that SOLO oozes malevolence," SOLO is an organization like any other. Any organization which gets smug and complacent about its nature, which meets every suggestion for self-examination with condemnation and accusations of "bashing" is vulnerable.

    Yesterday I raised the question about whether SOLO was sanctioning a course of publicly labeling others as "malefactors" or "pseudo-Objectivists" subject to "search and destroy." Linz has since satisfactorily responded to that question via Luke Setzer.

    Do we really want a group where such questions cannot be asked without bringing accusations of disloyalty or ingratitude or "bashing"?


  • A "cesspool of mean-spirited personal attacks"? SOLO has its share of personal attacks. Many of them are clearly mean. Asking whether this is a culture we want to encourage is a fair question.


  • The issue of "filthy language" is also a fair one.

    The question was whether gross language should be permitted at all and, if tolerated incidentally, whether verbal abuse involving gross language was acceptable. Examing this hardly constitutes a suggestion that SOLO is a "cesspool ... of filthy language." That's an overreaction, at least to the discussions I read.


  • Phil, Luke, myself, and others hardly suggested "Rube-Goldberg-like moderation policies." Most organizations, at some point in their evolution, find it necessary to adopt new methods for dealing with conflict. I think you're being unfairly dismissive and critical of sincere suggestions offered by people interested in SOLO's future.

Nobody I know wants to "turn SOLO into a timid and lifeless shell."

But I'm forced to ask whether overly-general accusations that criticism and suggestion amounts to "bashing" or "real malevolence" or ingratitude might not do just that, turn SOLO into a timid and lifeless shell.

After all, how many people on SOLO want to have Barbara Branden, of all people, suggesting that their motives might be "malevolent"?  I know I'm not particularly fond of the notion of being splattered by paint from such a broad brush, intentional or not.

Nor am I thrilled with the prospect of publicly taking exception to your views. But take exception I must.

A man is measured by those he pisses off, not those he pisses on.

So be it.

Nathan Hawking




.

(Edited by Nathan Hawking on 6/23, 6:05pm)


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Post 12

Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 4:36pmSanction this postReply
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Nathan: Oh, please!

Barbara

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Post 13

Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 4:58pmSanction this postReply
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Barbara:

Nathan: Oh, please!

Barbara

 

Your exasperation or scorn is noted.

I'm willing to leave it at that.

Nathan


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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 4:59pmSanction this postReply
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Hey, Nathan! Tojo pissed off 140 million Americans. Musta been a giant! :-)

--Brant


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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 5:34pmSanction this postReply
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Nathan to Barbara:
A man is measured by those he pisses off, not those [he] pisses on.
(Correction mine.)

Makes you wonder what his real reason for all this is, including the dirty language to her.

Oh yes, I keep saying that. Some think I am being sarcastic. Apparently they find value in this kind of thing.

But I'm not being sarcastic at all.

I really do wonder.

Michael


Barbara - May I invite you to share a delight? I am inviting you to read my modest notes on Swinburne's marvelous poem, The Garden of Prosperine, including the entire poem, that Robert Davison so graciously started.


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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 5:48pmSanction this postReply
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Michael, surely this is Proserpine, not Prosperine?

My poetic soul is ravaged by your error.

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Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 6:09pmSanction this postReply
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Thanks Barbara.

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Post 18

Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 6:10pmSanction this postReply
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I think the plumb line of truth falls somewhere between Barbara and Nathan.

I certainly don't think SOLO is a cesspool, or that Linz-bashing is warranted. Quite the contrary. This is an innovative and extremely valuable forum, and Lindsay Perigo can take full credit and pride for establishing it. Lindsay is also a champion for  reminding Objectivists that a philosophy of reason should not be reduced to a dry, dull, dessicated tool of detached analysis; that Objectivism is a fighting creed, and should inspire us to "the total passion for the total height." There are those who needed that reminder.

But in the name of promoting passion, those who frequently give vent to unpleasant and un-self-disciplined  outbursts have been coddled, sometimes even tacitly encouraged, I think. Must "passion" be expressed in the form of sneering ad hominems, gratuitous insults and locker room language? Isn't it obvious that this sort of anarchic atmosphere has contributed significantly to recent hurt feelings, verbal vendettas, angry departures and an increasingly negative focus in these threads?

Just as anarchism doesn't work in politics, it doesn't work as a framework for constructive discussions or benevolent socializing. No society can be maintained in the absence of basic principles of civility.

Let's maintain a sense of proportion. Insisting that participants in your "home" behave like grown-ups, not like squabbling adolescents engaging in a food fight, does not constitute repression. Calling for minimal standards of civility, prudence and personal dignity in discussions is not a demand for some Byzantine list of authoritarian strictures that would squelch all passion and spontaneity in debates.

A philosophy of rational individualism is about assuming self-responsibility. If the principals of this wonderful forum would simply embody and encourage adult standards of self-responsibility in exchange for participation here, we'll not only be able to express "the total passion," but might even occasionally experience "the total height" as well.


Post 19

Thursday, June 23, 2005 - 6:17pmSanction this postReply
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Peter, it is correct. There are just several ways to spell it over the centuries (you are thinking Proserpina maybe?) - and this is what Swinburne chose.

Talk to him about - via time tunnel maybe...

Michael


Edit - I do declare. Where are my manners? Peter, would you care to join me? Just click on this link. It will be well worth your time.

(Edited by Michael Stuart Kelly on 6/23, 7:13pm)


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