> Subject: Some other discussion lists
>
> Dear List,
>
> In the spirit of letting a thousand flowers bloom,
When I started a web company, Webmedia, in 1994, I chose the slogan 'Let a
thousand flowers bloom' to signify that the Web was going to bloom. I also
liked the thrill of revolutionary China attached to it.
Some time later, when it was splashed all over the place and in all our
literature, someone pointed out to me that Mao had said 'Let a thousand
flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend'. A lot of people
took him up on this, and stated their positions in opposition to the
communist party or whatever. Then they were killed or exiled.
In other words, if you ask for a thousand flowers to bloom, you are asking
the opposition to show themselves so that you can suppress them. Not that
I'm suggesting you are :-)
I only point this out because its bugged me ever since.
Actually, our other slogans were 'Beneath the pavement, the Internet'
(France, May 68) and 'It's the Internet, stupid' (Clinton election slogan,
1994).
I'll shut up now.
Cheers,
Ivan
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Ivan Pope
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http://ivanpope.com
Absent WithOut Leave: My life as an artist
http://blog.ivanpope.com
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