> -----Original Message-----
> From: David B. Klein [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 9:12 PM
> I had actually quit the list when Dave Gordon posted his note
> concerning
> the genetic stuff. I have resubscribed momentarily to set the record
> straight,
I can confirm that David Klein has left the Radstatst list. He left,
resubscribed to send the Valentine day message, and left again. Social
ostracism was effective and formal ostracism unecessary. I am glad that I
was not obliged to take any formal steps exclude David Klein, and I have
serious misgivings about the nature of the social ostracism that we
witnessed.
One the things that that attracts me to Radstats is the willingness to put
things on the agenda - like discussion of the social construction of
statistics, or as I argue, the *organizational* construction of statistics.
But to suggest that statistics are nothing but a social construction would
be intellectual anarchism. Unemployment, to take a familiar example, is an
organizationally constructed statistic. The Claimant Count is based on
entitlement to JSA. The ILO measure does not even ask respondents whether
they are unemployed. But to deny the reality of unemployment would be
ridiculous. Yet to deny the reality of race is the kind of suggestion that
seems to have been made in criticism of David Klein.
I recognise the necessity to limit unfettered freedom of expression. But
this list is not a crowded theatre. There is no cause for great concern if
someone shouts 'Fire!' Members of this list are exceptionally well
qualified to deal assertions that illustrate inequalities in society and
their consequences.
Ray Thomas (list 'owner' i.e. caretaker)
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