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Sarah stated for the record:
On 6/11/06, Sean Barrett sean@epoptic.com wrote:
Oh, I know what you mean. I also find that principles can be extremely annoying. Life is so much easier if one ignores them when they get inconvenient.
It's not that principles should be ignored. It's that they need to be formulated and prioritized carefully. If the British government had stuck to the principle "never negotiate with terrorists," the Provisional IRA would still be blowing people up, but it was decided instead that the principle of saving lives was more important, and the gamble paid off.
Sean, if someone points a gun at your head and asks for your wallet, you don't think: "If I give in, they'll just move on and do this to someone else." No, you hand over your wallet, because you value your life.
Sarah
Sarah, when someone pointed a gun at my head, what I thought was "if I give in, he'll just do it to my wife and daughter." No, I did not hand over my wallet, because I value their lives.
If we give in to Brandt's extortion, we are actively worsening the danger to everyone on this site, because we will have demonstrated what it takes to control us. The next guy (and there will be one and more than one) will do his own research and make his own demands. Why shouldn't he? It works! Then one of the many times that personal data are published, someone is going to act on that data. Brandt is not the only evil person in the world.
What you assumed was a "slippery slope" hypothetical was nothing of the kind. There are those who think Wikipedia should not exist. Delete Brandt's article, and within days we will receive the demand "shut down completely or I will publish your personal data."
- -- Sean Barrett | Yes, I am the last man to have walked on the sean@epoptic.com | moon, and that's a very dubious and disappointing | honor. It's been far too long. --Gene Cernan