Re: [OFFTOPIC] RMS and reactions to him

Jerry Cooperstein
2003-01-20T16:43:48Z

Blah Blah Blah...

I normally stay away from these kinds of discussions, but I'm getting
pretty tired of this one.

It all reminds me of the 1960's and the anti-war (Vietnam) movement.
Just two points:

1) At demos in Washington DC, with hundreds of thousands of folks,
there were always groups of dogmatists standing around the edges
selling their newspapers. These were mostly either Trotskyites hawking
literature documenting their latest splits (which occurred on almost a
daily basis) or various Mickey-Maoists dissecting in very fine print
the latest speech from Enver Hoxha, the supreme fearless leader of
Albania.

Meanwhile tear gas was falling in the streets, many people were
undergoing truly dramatic and unforgettable experiences and the world
was changing. Real leaders were with the people in the streets,
listening AND guiding.

Some people think the highest form of struggle is between different
closets. They wouldn't notice an earthquake if they were having an
ideological debate.

2) A lot of folks were offended with Gillette introduced a
'revolutionary' razor-blade, or when the Doors, Jefferson Airplane,
Grateful Dead etc. were picked up in the mainstream media, "Hair"
opened on Broadway, etc.

You can't control how people use words and being co-opted may be
painful at times but it is a sign of success.

My PhD advisor once told me when I stormed into his office in a funk
because an idea of mine had been stolen without credit, something to
the effect that as long as you have good ideas they'll get stolen.
Your only defense is to keep generating more of them.

Let's all get back to work and stop this ....

-coop

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Jerry Cooperstein, Senior Consultant, <coop@axian.com>
Axian, Inc., Software Consulting and Training
4800 SW Griffith Dr., Ste. 202, Beaverton, OR 97005 USA
http://www.axian.com/
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