On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 16:12:55 -0500, "Daniel R. Tobias"
<dan(a)tobias.name> wrote:
And, to make that episode's example particularly
relevant, there was
in fact an external enemy that wished to destroy the community in
question; it wasn't just a figment of the imagination. However, the
technique used by that enemy was the very clever one of manipulating
the people within the community into scapegoating and attacking one
another. This is a technique that works fine for trolls who want to
cause trouble on Wikipedia, as well, whether they pursue it
intentionally as in the enemy in that episode, or simply as an
accidental byproduct of their other actions; I'm sure they get a lot
of merriment out of getting Wikipedia admins to do a lot of
collateral damage in the course of fighting the trolls' alleged
activities. If they play the game well, they don't need to do very
much actual direct damage themselves; all they have to do is plant
enough hints of their continued presence to cause massive witchhunts
to be launched against them, dragging in innocent victims.
I can't believe that, having read the Alkivar arbitration and
written the above, you do not see the irony in the context of what
you have already said here.
My point is precisely that: we have an external enemy who is clever
and manipulative, and those who are fellow-travellers with that
enemy right now are being manipulated in order to undermine
Wikipedia. As Alkivar was. Do you not feel that was a bad outcome
for all concerned? Except the WR crowd, of course?
The solution is to disengage from that external enemy, not to defend
it internally while taking an active part in the process of division
and scapegoating.
Or maybe consider accusations of McCarthyism to be a *productive*
contribution tot he debate? If you do, then I'm not interested.
Guy (JzG)
--
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:JzG