Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: politics: The Market System

[Stuart Staniford-Chen (stanifor]

Scott Cowley's anonymous friend writes (concerning Mac Thompson):

>     "The person who wrote that message is an incredibly narrow-minded
> and self-centered, selfish person.

and 

>  Obviously for this jerk, who has plenty of resources,

Whoa, hold it!  You don't agree with Mac's opinion - fine.  I'm glad you
made your critique of his position.  But you don't know the guy and you
have no basis for calling him insulting names.  

Think for a moment about how he might feel receiving your message.  Is he
likely to think 1) "What a cogent refutation of my opinions; I'd better change
my mind."  Or is he more likely to think 2) "This guy is calling me a jerk!
Now I'm mad - I bet he's an idiot and I'm going to ignore everything he
says."  Unless Mac is considerably wiser and more tolerant than most of us
he's more likely to choose something along the lines of 2).

Let's please keep discussions civil,

Stuart.