08 Oct 1996 19:26:35 -0400 (EDT) 08 Oct 1996 20:02:24 -0400 (EDT) 08 Oct 1996 20:02:08 -0400 (EDT) 08 Oct 1996 20:02:06 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 08 Oct 1996 19:25:16 +0000 From: Steve Rosenthal Subject: Proposal to limit messages To: PSN@CSF.COLORADO.EDU Several PSN'ers have strongly objected to the plan to limit messages by individuals to 5 in 100. I am somewhat in favor of the plan. If the internet is supposed to provide an egalitarian setting for communication, I see some value in regulations that encourage wider and more equal participation. I know that I can delete messages with a keystroke, but I value PSN and do not like to delete a message without at least skimming part of it to see what it is about. After all, it might be very interesting. It is disappointing when a message is only more of the same old same old. PSN'ers should be regulated in a way that encourages self-restraint. I post an average of two or three messages a week on PSN and try to keep them to no more than 500 words in length. I recently posted a message based on NYTimes columnist Tom Friedman's assertion that "family values" prevented a revolutionary uprising in Mexico, after the U.S. "bailout" forced down the standard of living of Mexican workers. I got a few responses discussing the entire Marxist analysis of the role of the family under capitalism at great length, but no concrete discussion of how to build revolutionary values to defeat bourgeois family values. If the proposed regulations encourage wider participation, shorter messages, and better discussion, debate, and struggle, then I am for giving them a try. Steve Rosenthal