[WikiEN-l] Arbcom has completely lost its mind

[The Cunctator]

On 2/8/06, Peter Mackay <peter.mackay at bigpond.com> wrote:
> > From: wikien-l-bounces at Wikipedia.org
> > [mailto:wikien-l-bounces at Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Matt Brown
>
> > On 2/8/06, Jay Converse <supermo0 at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > This is what I'm worried about, and the precedent I was
> > mentioning.
> > > All of a sudden, userpages now need to be politically
> > correct, or you
> > > risk a block.  That is, if this precedent does get set.
> >
> > You don't have a userpage in order to exercise any "right" to
> > free speech, but because it helps the project; it aids
> > communication and makes people happy.  You never did have the
> > right to say anything you pleased there; disruptiveness has
> > always been unacceptable.
> >
> > There's nothing particularly new about that proposed finding.
>
> A common example is that while you have a right to freedom of speech, you
> don't have the right to shout "Fire!" in a crowded cinema.
>
> If something on a userpage cause disruption and offence, then it should be
> removed.

The reason you can't shout "Fire!" in a crowded cinema is not because
it causes disruption and offense, but because it could cause a
panicked stampede, leading to real physical harm.

Which doesn't apply to Wikipedia.

People are entirely too touchy here.

> After all we are a community, and sometimes small individual
> freedoms get sacrificed for the common good.

Which, history tells us, is rarely for the common good in the long run.