The Listowner Speaketh.
If this list is to have any value it has to remain open. I'm not
interested in running a closed one, though naturally this doesn't stop
someone else from setting one up. With an open list, like a pub, you get
all sorts, and at least the potential for exchange not available in the
closed list (?back kitchen?) scenario. You also get the occasional
brashness, the occasional blurter. Your presence there signifies that
this is acceptable, but you don't have to get beer thrown all over you.
People will join your conversations who don't have your experience or your
take on things. Treat them civilly, unless they show more-than-minor
uncivility to you, and then use backchannel i.e. handle the matter
directly. Be prepared to explain, introduce yourself (a puff for your new
book is, in many respects, a pretty effective introduction). Beyond that,
and in spite of the self-evident differences between members of the list,
there are enough commonalities between us to make co-existance and
exchange of information possible and desirable (unless you're really so
self-sufficient that the back-kitchen is all you need). This isn't, of
course, intended as a neutering of any conflict, it's intended to focus
our attention on the issues which are the main point of the list.
This message was brought to you by our sponsors, the John Redwood One
Truth Party in association with the Serbian Government of Croatia in
Exile.
Richard "Keep-the-Peace" Caddel
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