RE: Big Finger(s)!!

["Shahab Mesbah" <meteor2@moscow.com>]

Dear friend(s),

Thank you for letting me know how you and your parents feel... I think it is
very important point. Allow me, however, to present to you a different point
of view.

Those who have been around for a while will recall me asking friends
numerous times not to conduct dialog outside of the forum. The main reason
being that this is in fact self-sensorship and contrary to the very purpose
of this list-serve. I am not insensitive to the huge amount of email... I
receive over 300 emails a day... on a light day! LuJane receives an amazing
number of emails as well... I suppose to us it may not seem that different
if we receive a few more. The key here is that if you take the discussion
underground then the rest of us cannot benefit from it. I know that there
are many friends who are silent members of this forum. I know many of them.
Most are silent in fear of retaliation.

As I see it if you are not interested in a particular thread you can easily
recognize it and delete the messages. Furthermore I would be surprised if
you would be uninterested in the discussion that is developing now. I would
assert that many of the points we have been making about democracy and
freedom coming with responsibility and hard work would be appropriate at
this juncture. If we do not have the time to spend out of our day to support
democracy in a virtual forum then our society will surely perish! This is as
easy as it gets in a democracy!

For those of you who do not think that our discussions change anything in
the national level I beg to differ. Many of us have introduced friends and
family who live elsewhere to this list. In fact the posts of this list are
often found in unlikely places. I had an old friend email one of my comments
about Iran to me from Iran! The audience of this list is not limited to the
Palouse. Also I hope that you realize that the contents of this list are
monitored by our government as well as others. I am proud to be on the
Iranian governments s**t list because I am so vocal about their hypocrisy,
dishonesty, and deceitfulness. I am sure the Taliban and the Iraqi
government are not in love with me either... though I have no contact to
confirm this!

Recently even some of my beloved Americans have focused their anger and
prejudice towards me. This is understandable. Perhaps I am desensitized to
it due to my experiences but we cannot allow a few bullies to silence us. We
must speak our minds. We need to be cautious to speak in the spirit of
justice and love and with the aid of intellectual thought and logic. But as
members of a free society we have the duty to exercise our rights even if
that means to tell me to get lost!

This is democracy friends... this is freedom... by not exercising it, it
will atrophy and disappear. Effective discussion skills are learned... if we
do not practice them we will never develop the tools. This is our patriotic
duty. This is our sociological duty. Is it time consuming? Yes... is it
difficult? Yes... is it beneficial? Without a doubt.

"Your brother in arms"
Shahab...



-----Original Message-----
From: susanp@moscow.com [mailto:susanp@moscow.com]
Sent: Tuesday, September 25, 2001 7:59 AM
To: Shahab Mesbah; vision2020@moscow.com
Subject: Re: Big Finger(s)!!

Shahab,

Thanks for recognizing how much of the discourse has been yours (although
you
are not alone). I recommend that more extended exchanges that are largely
between two individuals be directed off the listserver--that is, "reply"
rather
than "reply to all." I know that my parents have already unsubscribed
because
they found the volume overwhelming and not relevant for the larger list.

Best,
Susan

> Dear friends,
>
> I have to say I am starting to worry that I am hogging the stage here. I
> hope in my excitement of this great and rewarding discussion I have not
> extinguished the will for friends to express their opinions. I have big
> fingers! (As in... big mouth... get it?!) Please do not let me intimidate
or
> discourage you from contributing to this discussion. The more people
> involved the better... please allow us to learn from your perspective.
>
> "Your brother in arms"
> Shahab...
>
>


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