Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 beta 3/9/83; site tellab1.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!ihnp4!tellab1!heahd From: heahd@tellab1.UUCP (Dan Wood) Newsgroups: net.politics Subject: Re: participative democracy Message-ID: <175@tellab1.UUCP> Date: Tue, 22-May-84 10:40:31 EDT Article-I.D.: tellab1.175 Posted: Tue May 22 10:40:31 1984 Date-Received: Wed, 23-May-84 19:05:32 EDT References: <2285@harpo.UUCP> Organization: Tellabs, Inc., Lisle, Ill. Lines: 19 It strikes me that the net is already an experiment in participative democracy: Users are free to participate or not as they see fit; new news groups are added according to the votes of interested partys; we have no legislative bodies, executive branch, or judiciary; and the only restraints placed on net users are those self-inflicted ones of discreation and restraint. What more do you want? (I know some of you out there are thinking "What about the case of Tim X who apparently lost his position at NCU for speaking too freely"? Well, I didn't get involved in that contorversey until rather late in the game -I've only been on the net for a couple of weeks- so I'm not aware of the facts of the incident. But, from what I have been able to gather, Mr. X over stepped the self-inflicted bounds I listed above. As anyone can see by reading the other articles I've posted on the net I'm no friend of the christians [see, I don't even capitalize the word], but I see no reason to get personally abusive about it either. I try to make my point with logic and reason, not by name calling.)