Bob,
The personalities bouncing around the IFWP and related lists provide a good
microcosm of some of the issues. A few who have the energy, time, and
passion post early and often, with messages ranging from the hopeful to the
bitter, professing to want reconciliation and cooperation with each other
sometimes, "battle" at others. Indeed, some of your messages--like the one
below--ring of smoke and fire ("careful or we'll be up against the wall
when the revolution comes"), while others contain detailed ideas offered up
to ignite progress to a new, and in your view, balanced and fair system (or
un-system) for net names allocation. I've visited fcn.net and seen some of
its spirit--your digital bill of rights sings--and read your notes on IFWP,
including the ones that come from a view that says there's a war on, and
people either have white hats or black hats, yours white, most others'
either black or white-but-suspect. They suggest an orthodoxy that reminds
us that any new boss--however well intentioned--can channel his or her
passion to be as tyrannical and judgmental of who's in and out, crazy and
sane, naive and grizzled, on-point and fuzzy, as the old boss.
Structuring a inclusive membership that votes every so often on a slate of
(how selected?) nominees for at-large board members is difficult; so is
structuring the membership so collective voices can emerge--an ability to
lodge protests, to have discussions with itself, to focus enough to say
something where the whole is greater than the sum of shouting members. So
here's a question I'm curious for your view on specifically; obviously you
can ignore it if you think it so inane, vague, etc., as to be worth a
"frigging stuffing":
Many of us have dwelt on how to have open, inclusive discussions, and open
email lists have been the default way of doing this. (n.b. Ronda suggests
a USENET group to get better circulation.) DOMAIN-POLICY, to the extent
that it's completely unmoderated, is a good example. The problem: there
are people sufficiently put off by the derision and jeers that so often
ride on the heels of any substantive participation--taking a stand with
which someone can, and then does, disagree violently and with more than
just words that speak to the issues--that those people lurk or, more
likely, beg off the lists entirely. Their voices are not heard. Now you
may say that's a just desert for a coward--you're certainly not the type to
back down from any personal attack; indeed, you seem not the least bit
daunted in public participation despite a whole Yahoo! category about you
--
http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Cultures_and_Groups/Cyberculture/Ne
t_Legends/Allisat__Bob/ -- which includes links to sites that accuse you of
things that are, I assure you, textbook defamation if false. To me,
though, the idea that our primary modes of discourse are ones that, while
"open and inclusive" in a technical sense, in fact repulse many citizens
from exercising their rights to participate, is a serious problem. My
question: what do you see as the best online architecture for open
discussion on contentious issues that doesn't have a small minority of the
stakeholders de facto dominating the discussion?
Perhaps your attack--however true you think its basis--can be more than
just that.
...JZ
At 04:30 PM 1/10/99 , Bob Allisat wrote:
>Wendy Seltzer wrote:
>+ An important part of the Berkman Center's study of representation
>+ in cyberspace is public participation. We are asking a broad
>+ series of questions -- first collecting responses from a subset of
>+ volunteers, then sending a sample of those responses to the lists
>+ to spark and focus general discussion. We will be sending
>+ questions every three to four days, and reading the lists to
>+ follow conversation there.
>
> How disconnected from reality can one get? Your questions
> are innane, your intentions vague and fuzzy and the level
> of naivete evidenced in your approach is impressive. My
> response is: stuff your initiative and the frigging Berkman
> Center. You've been meddling in this business vastly too
> much of late. Watch or you might end up on the very wrong
> side when the smoke and fire clears.
>
> Bob Allisat
>
> Free Community Network _ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://fcn.net _ http://fcn.net/allisat
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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