>It's funny.  I was kicked off of a list because I mentioned (on the list) that
>their administrative policies were repressive 'big brother' kinds of
>stuff.  I'm
>a libertarian to excess.
>
>The point I suppose is that it was rude.  Lists aren't run by big
>thoughtful and
>charitable organizations.  They are run by overworked, often harried,
>dweebs (in
>the truest sense of the word).  They actually have a right to run their
>lists in
>any way they see fit.  If it means being ham-handed or downright ugly (if you
>can imagine a rush limbaugh list)... so be it.  If you don't like it... go
>start
>your own damned list.
 
This is precisely right.  My lists have charters, and those charters state
pretty clearly what is appropriate subject matter and what is acceptable
behavior.  I'm ultimately running mail lists for my own benefit as much as
for the Greater Good of Mankind.  If they devolve away from what I'd like
them to be to the point that I'm not really interested in reading them any
more, why should I put in the effort to run them at all?  It isn't as
though I couldn't come up with other, more satisfying, uses of my time.
 
I'm amused at the invocation of First Amendment rights in cases like this.
For one thing, I'm not the government.  For another, I don't subscribe to
the sadly common notion that the First Amendment guarantees anyone with an
opinion the podium and bullhorn of their choice with which to express it.
I wonder whether there are failed authors who attempt to sue Random House
on First Amendment grounds.
 
>I exercised my right in a capitalistic society... I went out and started my
>*own* list.  And now my list is bigger and better than their list (mostly
>because I don't give people strikes for behavior)
 
You did the right thing.  But I don't know if your case is typical or not.
I run a mailing list on Waldorf education, principally intended for parents
of children in Waldorf schools.  People like me, in other words.  One of
the elements of the charter is that Waldorf education _itself_ is not an
issue on the list.  In other words, postings which are intended to
criticize Waldorf education as a whole, rather than particular aspects of
it, are not appropriate.
 
A "waldorf-critics" list was started by someone whose precise goal is to
criticize Waldorf schooling as a whole.  It seems to be around one tenth
the size of my list.
 
 
--
Lefty [gYon-Pa] ([log in to unmask])
C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.