Date: Mon, 29 Nov 93 17:10:48 PST From: lefty@apple.com (Lefty)
I have seen a man arrested ostensibly for "disturbing the peace", who was actually just giving a speech. The charges were thrown out. If you don't like free speech, don't log in. The U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence state very clearly that our form of government is based on the recognition of human rights, not responsibilities. You might be able to find a system more to your liking in China or North Korea for a little while longer.
There is little I less enjoy seeing than the spectacle of someone who has never actually bothered to find out what the Bill of Rights says and what it means blathering about "free speech". I am aware of what the Bill of Rights says, but I am not required by the political philosophy cops to make sure my own notion of free speech is isomorphic to it's, thank you just so much. Mr. Wilson: does my right to free speech entitle me to come into your living room and demand that you provide me with a podium and a megaphone in furtherance of my expressing my opinion? Nope. But you can send me unsolicited mail as long as it doesn't contain bombs, threats or frauds. That's all Detweiler is doing to me. I can turn him off just like I can turn off junk snail mail, if I take the appropriate steps. Not a big deal at all. Just like turnin' off a TV channel I find particularly asinine. Technically cypherpunks is private since it is administered from a private site, but it is freely accessible. I don't think excluding someone from the list should be illegal, I just think it's misguided, like trying to fix a leaky faucet with a revolver. If you think it doesn't, then you have no cause for complaint. If, on the other hand, you think it _does_, then I've done you a grave misservice by mistaking you for nothing more than an uninformed chowderhead. You would constitute, at the very least, a full-blown loon.
After all the speech criminals are rounded up, what next? Got any ethnic groups in mind?
That's low. Or, to be more precise, on a par with the rest of your little screed. Not any lower than the groteseque bastardization of the word "rape" I was responding to. I don't have much tolerance for that kind of P.C. doggerel. I was alarmed by the control-freak strategy of the poster I was responding to. Excluding "disruptive members" is a non-solution. They'll just come back with a different account if they really want to. What particularly incensed me was the crap about "rights without responsibilities". It's not anyone's responsiblity to make sure that their posts are entertaining to everyone. That's what kill files are for. As for ignoring people not being a solution because it interferes with "outreach", the members of this list, and the Extropians list, include some of the most atrocious examples of "outreach" I've encountered. Perhaps Mr. Detweiler wouldn't have gone off the deep end if he hadn't received death threats. But then again perhaps he's just a dadaist... or another one Tim May's pranks... Andy -- Lefty (lefty@apple.com) C:.M:.C:., D:.O:.D:.