[Vision2020] Douglas Stambler posts...

[David Douglas]

Visionaries:

Tom Hansen writes:


  "Agreed, Mr. Courtney.  It would be fantastic if we could simply
  terminate Mr. Stambler's subscription to this list based soley on his
  behavior.  Where do we draw the line?


  And later on when somebody should "approach" dangerously close to
  that line, should we make subscription eligibility even narrower and
  bring the line in more.  When/Where does it end?  Who are we going to
  appoint to define "acceptable behavior"?


  When do we start issuing brown shirts?"


I'm afraid I don't find this reasoning convincing. I see the fallacy of the 
slippery slope at work (wherein getting out the metaphorical ditch of one 
error leads inevitability to the ditch of another error).

It's as if we should all be morbidly obese because if we decide to lose 
weight, we're liable to starve to death.

It would be interesting to transfer this discussion to an analogous 
disruption of a meeting of the MCA.  Would asking someone to behave herself 
(or himself) socially be akin "handing out the brownshirts"?

Drawing lines is messy, imprecise, sometimes wrong, but often necessary.

Now perhaps this list is not the place to exercise any restrictions.  I can 
accept that.  But not for these reasons.

I think societies are more in danger of being handed brown shirts if they 
are not taught analyze rhetoric, nor taught to not be swayed by emotional 
pleas and/or fallacious arguments.

David Douglas



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