In defense, sort of, of Phill Hallam-Baker

[Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>]

At 10:24 pm -0400 9/26/96, Timothy C. May wrote:

> Any, I had several e-mail exchanges (in private) with Phill on this
> subject, and I hardly think he's a "thoroughly lousy human being."


Let me first say that I have my Mac Eudora filters set so that if any
message contains Phill's e-mail address and cypherpunks it goes straight to
the trash.

Sorry, Phill, but most of what you say here only raises my blood pressure,
so I'd rather not read it, or any of the justifiable but predictable
responses people have here to it.

Having said that, I do not bozo-filter Phill anywhere else on the net.

The reason is, he makes valuable contributions to lists like micropay
(which he started), or dcsb (which he is a founding member of), or any
other non-political discussion he's in. With the exception of politics, in
my opinion, he is *not* clueless.

More to the point, Phill even shows up at DCSB meetings, and I think he's a
nice guy, and I like to think that I can call him a friend.

However, I also think that Phill has this passion for order that sometimes
borders on the pathological. Maybe because, like Bertrand Russell (who
Phill and I both admire) says, romanticism, leftism and communism are
basically feudalism in disguise, and Phill's a closet aristocrat. ;-).
Maybe not.

I think what we see as his blustering trolls on this list come from
passion. But, I don't think they're trolls at all. I think they show, more
often than not, his outrage at the way the world's going to go. Which,
obviously, is *our* way, and not his. He knows very well the power of the
technology we talk about here, and deep down, I think he knows we're right.

Phill, and Dorothy Denning, and David Sternlight, and other smart, nice (I
haven't met Sternlight), and otherwise clueful people like them, are all
living in a state of heavy denial right now, and they're very articulate
about it. :-). I figure the best way to give them room is to just filter
them out in places where they disturb me, and get on with the business of
proving them wrong.

They'll wake up. Everybody will, sooner or later.

Cheers,
Bob Hettinga




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Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com)
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