|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
"What might be important to him is your silly assumption that slogans and vogue thoughts manifest reality."
That might be important to him if it were true.
Some people demand respect, but refuse to give. They are eager to give offense and to take it. They cherish highly their presumed right to be obnoxious with impunity.
That is reality.
There are other people who like to get along. They do not waste others' time. They respect other people. They want to develop a community of pleasant conversation where people can learn, discuss and argue.
That is also reality.
Respect is not a vogue notion.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529 |
Quote:
Respect is not a vogue notion...
There are other people who like to get along. They do not waste others' time. They respect other people. They want to develop a community of pleasant conversation where people can learn, discuss and argue.
Really? Respect is exactly a vogue notion when it is bestowed by design. Respect happens, you don't give it, it just is.
Did you miss the under-current theme when you first saw "No time for Sargents"?
Did you fall asleep when you first heard the Richard Strauss tonepoem, "Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks".
The point is this...
The poorest among us
Demand status quo
- And rightly so
As they have the status
And you have the hoe.
I hope I haven't wasted "others'" time. 
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
>Did you miss the under-current theme when you first saw "No time for Sargents"?
An art criticism course perhaps?
TEd
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
"Respect is exactly a vogue notion when it is bestowed by design."
Respect is not a vogue notion. I don't know how to state it any clearer than that. Respect for innocent bystanders, respect for those we do not know, respect for other people as individuals. People who do not act respectfully to others should not be surprised when they are treated disrespectfully.
"Respect happens, you don't give it, it just is. "
One can be respectful even if one doesn't feel respectful, if for no other reason, to maintain an atmosphere in which people would actually like to communicate.
One can always contrive reasons for being disrespectful. If one just "doesn't feel" respect, then one cannot be shocked when one is disliked.
I know a lot of smart people. Some of them take the view that respect and manners are utterly superfluous. These fellows are very eager to be critical of others - "I'm just being honest," the say. But any time they themselves are criticized, they take it deeply personally.
I do not get the point of your poem. I do not come to this board for status. I do not care what the people on this board think of me. If there are people on this board who enjoy each other's company outside the net, I'm happy for them and not envious - but for myself, I have plenty of things to keep me busy and I don't need any more. I enjoy reading the various fora on which I participate, but they are a very small part of my life and I would not feel threatened or left out if I am not everyone's favorite person. If the worst thing that happens to me in a day is that I get banned from a group, I would count it as a very good day.
In the very few years that I've participated on this forum, I have blasted one person outright - and that very recently. I regret wasting my time. I have refrained in the other cases for several reasons:
1. After 25 years on the net, I have at least a vague notion of the futility of it all. There is a lot I could be doing instead of arguing with someone.
2. I almost never understand how the blasted arguments get started - probably because I only read a very few threads. By the time I get wind of a disagreement, it sounds like he-said-she-said to me and my life is sufficiently full that I'm never inclined to spend time to investigate the circumstances.
3. I don't like the idea of 20 guys beating up on someone, even when that someone is obviously a horse's ass.
4. I don't want to be part of any clique or de facto governing body, even on fora I helped to create.
5. I don't need the drama.
OTOH, there are some people who love drama. They crave it. They create it ex nihilo. If they are not the centers of attention, they are constitutionally obliged to instigate it.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
ex nihilo ...annihilate means nothing left...nil-->nothing...
If ex means from, then does ex nihilo mean from, or out of, nothing?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529
veteran
|
|
veteran
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,529 |
Fallible, the simple meaning of my little poem is that all dynamic social institutions eventually evolve into organizations crafted by effete insiders who prevent any further evolution of raison d'etre. Instead they direct the resourses of the organization towards the preservation and enhancement of themselves.
This, I'm sure you'll agree, is a universal.
And, I agree with your five points completely.
Last edited by themilum; 02/09/06 10:47 AM.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 74
journeyman
|
|
journeyman
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 74 |
This, I'm sure you'll agree, is a universal.
Say, themilum? Whenever I see a formulation such as this I tend to disagree - takes me right back to HS debate days.
HTH.
The Lone Haranguer
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
 i universal statements like themilum's while they might be generally true, are never universally true. but i didn't want to prolong an already too long dispute. do you want the end it or prolong it, snoot?
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,322
Members9,182
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
159
guests, and
0
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
