From: glevy-AT-acnet.pratt.edu
Date: Sun, 3 Mar 1996 07:49:44 -0500 (EST)
Subject: The l'st in happier times


> So what went wrong for you Jerry?

The very way in which this question is posed is a manifestation of the 
first change described below. That is, instead of asking what I think 
went wrong with the l'st, I am asked what went wrong with *me*. [The 
original subject line is another example, one of many, of this trend].

What went wrong? [short answer]

1) There was a major change, for the worse, in moderators and 
moderator-style after Jon resigned and when Chris became co-moderator. 
I can't imagine Jon even asking me this question on-l'st, let alone 
posing it in the way that Chris has done, for example. I certainly can't 
imagine Jon psychologizing, libeling, or flaming on-l'st. Jon might have 
asked me off-l'st. However, the current co-mods view private 
communications from me now as "harassment" in clear violation of what it 
says in the l'st "welcome" (I reproduced the relevant section 
yesterday). BTW, Doug: If you want to know why I am discussing this 
issue now, please note who and what I am responding to.

2) There has been a major change in both:

   a) the composition of the l'st, and;

   b) the composition of active posters

Simply put (from my perspective), most of the most interesting people left 
or were driven into lurking by the nonsense. L'st volume is a *secondary* 
factor for why these people have unsubbed. When those people left, 
others (like the new breed of Stalin-loving followers of 
Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, Goffthewall Thought), take their place. The 
actions by some of the co-mods have exacerbated this trend and led to 
further l'st degeneration.

In a post in January, I warned of the possibility of the l'st being taken 
over by sectarians. All that has been prophecized has come to pass. 

Jerry


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