For the most part, I do not like people to conceal their identities here. There are a couple cases that I know of in which people hide their identities because they could not participate here otherwise because of their professional positions. In other words, they're hiding their identity from their employers rather than the list.
I have never required that people reveal who they really are, but I do not think it is a good idea. The problem is that I could not prevent people from hiding that they are hiding their identity. In other words, instead of calling myself by some identifier like liberal, which is obviously an alias, I could use a pseudonym that would seem to be my real identity. On Sun, Mar 27, 2005 at 07:20:27AM -0800, Doyle Saylor wrote: > Greetings Economists, > This it seems to me is the right place to debate the issue about Disabled > Rights for the Progressive Community. Not so much there is an economic > angle that leaps out but that the rules of participation here create a space > where debate can be limited to arguments not personal attacks. That when > the thread is exhausted of content we move on without calumny. For another > day to bring fresh perspectives. > > On the other hand most identities here are open identities. I want to > register a protest about this person, 'knownot'. Anonymous statements from > people I don't know their history makes my accuser an abstraction. I want > it made clear that someone inventing an identity to conceal their aims is at > question here. What Michael Perelman does with this is his business, I find > it an unfair challenge to have someone question my knowledge when they call > themselves 'liberal' 'BSR', and etc. People can go on indefinitely > inventing personas, but the left must deal with the real world and hidden > identities can lead to attackers abuse. I recognize that people have > legitimate need to conceal their identities as well and respect that. I > leave it to the Pen-l community as a whole to judge knownot's motive here. > To be plain and simple, to attack the disabled rights community with the > purpose of casting us out of the progressive world or to illuminate by as > careful argument as possible the divisions that have emerged. > thanks, > Doyle Saylor -- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929 Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
