Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.csd.uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!nuchat!moray!splut!flatline!erict
From: erict@flatline.UUCP (J. Eric Townsend)
Newsgroups: news.admin
Subject: Re: Site Admin stuff -- what if I give boneheads accounts?
Message-ID: <2382@flatline.UUCP>
Date: 6 Sep 89 04:39:07 GMT
References: <2380@flatline.UUCP> <1489@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US>
Reply-To: erict@flatline.UUCP (J. Eric Townsend)
Distribution: na
Organization: Cabal of B-Boys
Lines: 30

In article <1489@jolnet.ORPK.IL.US> rich@jolnet.UUCP (Rich Andrews) writes:
>In article <2380@flatline.UUCP> erict@flatline.UUCP (J. Eric Townsend) writes:
>>Usenet is an elitist medium.  To participate, you must either own
>>a system; go to school or work at a place that has a system; or own
>>a terminal or computer and pay money to call into a public access system.
>>People who don't have the resources can't post.  Right off the bat, it's
>>an unfair (in terms of who can post and who can't) system.

>I disagree.  Access to the usenet or any bbs is
>no more unfair other than excluding those who don't have modems.

Bingo.  It is not a "fair" system.  It can only be accessed by individuals
who are high-enough in the class-structure to either afford a system/account;
or who can afford to go to a university where they can have an account;
or are employeed in a position where they have net access.

*Within* the structure of usenet, things are rather fair, with "fairness"
varying from site to site and nation to nation.

It is elitist in that it can only be accessed by individuals with
a relatively high social standing in our society.

A person is, however, "free" to gain access *IFF* they can get the resources
together.  Just like a person is "free" to travel, or "free" to run
for office...
-- 
"Watch has a clock on it" -- ficc!peter's 3.7 year old son, on seeing
                              an analog watch.
J. Eric Townsend unet!sugar!flatline!erict com6@uhnix1.uh.edu
EastEnders Mailing list: eastender@flatline.UUCP