[Noisebridge-discuss] My Last Statement on Prior Meta-Restraint [drama]

[Crutcher Dunnavant]

On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 2:20 PM, Jeffrey Malone <ieatlint at tehinterweb.com>wrote:

> Adding the most appropriate drama tag here.
>
> I won't waste my time responding to the substance of your post.  I will
> point out that you just called many of us nazis.
> Think about that.
>
Um, yeah. It seems I invoked the meta-clause of Godwins law. Almost like I'd
done it on purpose. Fancy that.

> Jeffrey
>
> On 1 Nov 2009 13:49, "Crutcher Dunnavant" <crutcher at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> A number of people have been very rude and personally insulting in
> insisting that I should be 'nice' and not make personal attacks. This is,
> however you look at it, hilarious. But I suppose I'll succumb to the cudgel
> of the populace, if only to demonstrate its effectiveness (again, ironic
> considering my stated goals in the original discussion, haha).
>
> So this will be my last such 'corrective' statement. You are, as always,
> free to ignore it, but I would suggest that you think on it. Surely, my zeal
> has a point of origin? Otherwise, why piss off people who's company I enjoy
> so much?
>
> NB has reached a point of transition. We've grown to a larger space, with a
> larger overhead budget. We have need of a good deal of money and people's
> time, just to continue to exist; much more so than we needed in the past.
>
> But transitions shake out old patterns, and permit new connections; and
> ours has raised the hackles of a strange new conservatism. Perhaps
> proximity, in a space that can now accommodate more, so more frequent it.
> Perhaps 'officialness', now that we have a 'real' space. I'm not sure the
> causes, they likely differ for all involved. But it is in the air. I can't
> go a week without hearing a threat of prosecution for a breach of moral
> decorum lodged by one NBer to another. And I've seen this pattern before,
> several times.
>
> This is not my first self-governing nerdery. I've been involved with many
> of them, my college dorm, scifi cons, a theatre honorary. I'm not unique in
> this, even in this space. They tend to have wild swings of lifecycle, being
> full of individuals with personal agency (eg. Assholes), and being too small
> to support effective institutional memories. So, that's my background.
>
> So, I'm concerned. I see witch hunts in our future. I see 'excellence
> trials'. "Be Excellent to Each Other" used to be used to explain why you'd
> done something awesome, now its used to tell others to stop doing something
> you don't like. A virtue transformed into a cudgel. People threaten to call
> the police on each other, frequently. People threaten to kick each other out
> of NB with the use of the consensus process, frequently. We've not actually
> done it yet, but the tension seems to be growing, not abating.
>
> To quote a great musical: "Nice is different from Good".
>
> I feel that there must be balance in the force. There must be a degree of
> wooly contempt towards the opinions and arguments of others. We are hackers,
> let there be proof, let there be working code, let there be cited case
> study, or exploding underwear, or something, anything other than "I'm
> disappointed".
>
> I am saying, openly, here for the last time; a duel at dawn on the rooftop
> is better than an expulsion by consensus. A war of pranks and one-up-manship
> and sheer awesome (such as the DJ-booth, A+ all around) is the whole Point.
>
> When you find yourself wanting to say "Don't do that", please, show some
> restraint. Be 'nice'.
>
> First they came for the E. Coli, and I did not speak out - because I was
> not E. Coli,
> Then they came for the Smokers, and I did not speak out - because I was not
> a Smoker,
> Then they came for the Drunks, and I did not speak out - because I was not
> a Drunk,
> Then they came for the Stoners, and I did not speak out - because I was not
> a Stoner,
> Then they came for the Cooks, and I did not speak out - because I was not a
> Cook,
> Then they came for the Homeless Hackers, and I did not speak out - because
> I was not a Homeless Hacker,
> Then they came for the Assholes - and there was no one left to speak for
> me.
>
> --
> Crutcher Dunnavant <crutcher at gmail.com>
>
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>


-- 
Crutcher Dunnavant <crutcher at gmail.com>
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