[Wikipedia-l] Wikipedia moderators and moral authority (wasRe: Repost: clear guidelines and the power to enforce)

Mon Nov 11 17:48:18 UTC 2002

Your solution to the "dilemma" I posed fails to take the bull by the horns.

Our goal is NOT to build a free Wiki encyclopedia, but rather to build a free encyclopedia. Our choice of the Wiki Way is a means to the end, not an end in itself.

Open source software development, such as the GNU project, allows the submission of any change, but the unusable forks are quickly discarded. Only good forks remain.

In writing an NPOV article on a controversial subject, the forks must be incorporated into the text. X says Y about Z.

We cannot continue with the one-pronged, he-who-laughs-last-laughs-best approach. There must be a standard, if there's a standard there must be enforcement.

I trust YOU to be a sysop, moderator or developer. That's because you're dedicated to the cause, which is a higher value than whatever your current opinion happens to be on a subject.

But I do not want Julie's articles mangled. And I do not have the time to follow Helga around, checking whether each edit is constructive or destructive.

I might be an anarchist, but if I see a gang of kids going down the street, methodically knocking out car windshields with baseball bats -- I'm calling the cops. And I want them to have handcuffs, mace and guns. Sometimes having a police force is the lesser of two evils.

Now, I'm not dismissing the risk that "law and order" can turn into fascism. Hitler is ever on my mind. But have you ever lived in a gang-controlled neighborhood? 

With no legitimate authority, mob rule develops. With excessive authority, dictatorship ensues. What are we to do?

Just wait and see? No, I think we should plan ahead. Please work with Larry and Erik and others (me, perhaps) to come up with a plan to present to Jimbo.

Ed Poor