From: Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net Reply-To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@lists.wikimedia.org Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2007 13:45:31 -0800 To: English Wikipedia wikien-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] The boundaries of OR (contd)
Marc Riddell wrote:
> I admit I am also frustrated by the countless hours editors spend > weeding > out countless incidents of nonsensical, and at times malicious, > vandalism. > My background is sixties Berkeley - I am the antithesis of autocratic > bullshit. Yet, I believe, some parameters must be set to achieve a goal. > A > protest without some order is merely chaos - and achieves nothing. And, > ultimately, what or who you are protesting wins. > > It seems like Mario Savio became discouraged and frustrated a long time ago. If a vandal's goal is to sow chaos he is accomplishing that very well.. Surely some vandals may be performing an act of protest, but I don't think that that tranche provides the really tenacious vandals who just get a thrill out of competing in a cat and mouse game.
Sticking to principles consistent with what the new left wanted in the 60s was not an easy task. Principles served on a plate of squalor can be very unappetizing. It's amazing how over the long run the establishment absorbs it all.
Mario Savio and I were close friends - and, emotionally, still are. He was frustrated every moment that I knew him - it was his fuel. But, he was never, never, discouraged.
No offense intended. As a person who is Savio's junior by only two months, that seems close enough to make us contemporaries. The general points in his famous speech did resonate well-beyond UC Berkeley. If I try to reflect on those times now all I get is questions.
Are you still asking them?
M
I had to reflect on that. Sometimes these short sharp questions are more effective that way than the self-justifying diatribes intended to lead people to the answer that the questioner wants to hear. I even had to dismiss the notion that it was a trick question from a professional.
My reflective answer is, "Yes." When you factor out the effects of technological advance the world hasn't changed a hell of a lot. A strictly logical analysis doesn't add a hell of a lot of hope. But as Camus concluded, one must imagine Sisyphus happy.
There is a demanding kind of happiness that derives from remaining true to what one believes.
Ec
Ec,
I agree. The human being hasn't changed much, only the complexity of what they have to cope with to survive - much less thrive.
Beliefs are a result of learning and, in a way, are like clothing: they protect us from the elements, and may need to be altered as we grow. But, in the end, it is we, the wearer who needs to be happy and comfortable in them.
Marc
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