alias_sqbr

This is very much my feelings about the OSBP, I think - I reacted to the dog pile aspect, and reacted with some automatic sympathy to a point of view I felt had clearly been missed in the whole record.

And I was quite confronted by the very strong arguments from a couple of people that insufficiently aggressive condemnation was tantamount to (in their view) tacit acceptance, which mostly just made me shake my head in bafflement.

I think I am very much with you -- don't demonise people because it muddles the message is, indeed, the main point, and a reduction in meanness is a cheery side effect.

One of the big lessons I took from my time in student politics is that Johnny Lydons old lyric about 'anger is an energy' is, indeed, correct -- but it can also be a subtle poison, and it is unwise to overuse it or rely on it too much, as your ability to perceive the situation properly shrinks (sort of like emotional amphetamines).



As a sort of aside -- I am coming to an idea that much human social behaviour ultimately comes down to a sort of instinctive idea of game theory, the idea that those who attempt to evade their responsibilities must be punished to force people into the right social strategy. Haven't quite thought about it enough to say much yet, though.