hi Shambles

I enjoy your poetry.. but think about this...

One of the ways authoritarian figures can scapegoat a particular group is by getting the general population to identify as victims, and by painting a particular minority group as their persecutors.

Thus, the majority of the people feel justified in getting stuck into the minority.

people feel a certain power in making accusations - by placing themselves in a victim role, they can feel justified in persuing their perceived persecutors,(the minority group) quite relentlessly, and in feeling virtuous about it.

it is worth considering whether this becomes an emotional habit, that can be satisfied by attacking "soft targets" eg smaller communities that a person may be a part of. It is much easier to attack a soft target that allows you to speak, and doesn't punish you (as a fascist govt would) than to challenge a genuine enemy of freedom.

i think mudcat can be an easy soft target. it's an open forum, lots of people read it, and you can be political in a sense by challenging its structure.

as i see it the only power people have here is in their ability to influence through their own words and argument. any perception of there being an "in group" is stretched in such an open forum.

i think it would be more effective to challenge a political hierarchy that has power, such as a government, than to spend time arguing against a soft target like mudcat.

freda