More Peace and Love and Politeness

[Richard Ferguson]

I agree completely with Ed's comments about the world, including this list, needing more
peace and love and tolerance.

I believe that political correctness is often used as a club to attack people who have political
views other than our own.  Just because someone has different political views does not mean
that they are a bad person, a racist, or a mindless tool of global capitalism.  (The members of
this particular list, like many internet groups, probably are more politically left than the public
at large.  I have noticed that liberals often assume that everyone they are talking to thinks that
Bush is awful, but polls show that most Americans approve of what he is doing.)  But personal
attack is not limited to the political left, the right does it as well.  Some commentators have
wisely decried the rising levels of hostility in politics.  I have seen several commentators claim
that liberal anger is a key force propelling Dean to the front of the Democratic pack running for
President.  So maybe this is an angry time in American politics, which sometimes carries over
into our Camino list.

For some reason, the anonymity of email seems to cause some people to go over the top in
terms of their postings.  This effect has been known for a long time, often leading to "flames".
Anyway, think before you post.  If you think it is possible that your posting could be
considered by anyone a personal attack, sleep on it, and post the next day.  The same applies
to personal letters sent via the US mail, the difference is that you can often retrieve the
offending letter before the postman comes!  I do not mean that you should not post your views
about subjects that matter, just that you really restrain yourself when it comes to any
commentary about individuals.  Try something like "I cannot agree with so-and-so on this topic,
I believe....."

Another thing that I have been learning in the last year or so is that many people in society are
very angry.  This sometimes comes out when people are stressed in their personal life.  I am
not sure why they are angry, but it carries over into every part of their life, including their email.
Anger is a destructive force, bad for the angry person and everyone around them, and I feel
very grateful that I don't suffer from it very often.

As far as angry postings on the listserver, I have a couple of suggestions.  1. Delete them and
forget it, do not read to the end.  2.  If you feel you must do something, send a private email to
the author, not one to the whole list, politely saying that you felt that the email was out of line,
and requesting the person who wrote the offending email to be more polite in the future.  Do not
click reply and send an email to the whole list.  If you are not sure how to do this, just take a
pencil and paper, write down the person's email address, and then compose a new message,
typing in the individual's email address in the address space.  It is a common error to hit reply,
when a person intended to send a mail to one person rather than 100 people.  If someone is
really out of control, they may be looking for attention, which replying to the list tends to give
them, so don't encourage them.  (I agree with Ed that this group has a relatively low incidence
of impoliteness.  I think that I have only sent one private message of the type I describe above
in the years that I have been on the list).

Please be polite to your fellow listmembers, and don't amplify the effects of the occasional
angry posting by angry replies.

Richard