Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Regretfully
H.
~
“Haveyouevermadeacommentthatyouthoughtwasperfectlyacceptable
only to discover the group felt otherwise? Elaborate on that/those experi-
ence/s. How did it/they feel? Why? What part of that/those experience/s
hasstayedwithyouandaffectedyouron-lineinteractions?”
IhavelivedinEuropeformanyyears,andthoughtIunderstooddifferent
societies. Yet I still go into shock when my letters are flamed. This hap-
pensmainlywhenwerunintoculturalboundariesthat,despitemyregu-
lar trips to America and my very regular virtual contact with Americans,
stillblowmeaway.Inresponsetoaletter,Iwillmakeaperfectlysensible
comment that in England, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia or India
wouldnotevenraiseaneyebrow.YetIamfacedwithincredulity,atbest!
For example, I could not conceive of any citizen being allowed to have a
gun in his house, and would expect anyone with a gun to be imprisoned.
AsfarasIknow,anysensibleCommonwealthcitizenwouldthinkthat...
itisnotaradicalthoughtintheslightest.YetIhaveseensomeAmerican
[discussion list members] dismiss my views out of hand, thinking I am
either a dreamer or a left wing ratbag or worse.
Thetroubleis,whereasoneknowsperfectlywellnottotauntArabsabout
Hebron, there is no way of knowing in advance what otherwise perfectly
mainstream view in Commonwealth countries will receive this hostile
and demeaning reaction from some Americans. Universal health care?
Mandatory voting for all citizens? Migration laws? Pensions for the
unemployed? Unionization of work sites?
Myresponseistobehonestandopenonlyduringthehourswhenthewest-
ern hemisphere is asleep (my apologies to Canadians) and at other times,
to be very cautious about expressing philosophical views. On one hand,
the_joy_ofircistospreadone'sexposuretopeoplewewouldnotnormally
meet in our own society. On the other hand, the _misery_ of irc is when
thoseverysamepeoplearetotallydismissiveofone'sbeliefsystem.
~
>
mind when [our channel] was created. The ground rules of the new
channel were absolutely simple: no
>
racism, no anti-semitism, no sexism, no adolescent nonsense.
(Continued)
