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Oh, I get that entirely, and I don't really want to make a big thing out of this. "Sorry" is not really the issue here - because sorry is about regret and repentance. The word I rather than Vladimir used was "unapologetic".
I don't really mind whether Vladimir feels regret at his behaviour - he's perfectly entitled to think that the various people who criticised his behaviour are self-righteous pussy preachers etc. You can't force people into awareness of others.
My concern is specifically that for as long as he refuses to acknowledge that what he said could possibly have been offensive, and claims that the fault lay in the several people who critcised him for it, then he is likely to make the same kinds of statements again, and the only possible way to avert this is to try to make it as clear as possible that, whether or not such comments are generally acceptable (and V. seems pretty convinced that they are), they are not acceptable on Barbelith. TBH, I'd take a "you PC pussy preachers are stamping on my beautiful sparkle with the boots of CENSORSHIP, but I get that if I want to hang around here I have to respect your CRAZY PC IDEAS about what constitutes acceptable behaviour". It's not ideal, and I'd be happy to try to discuss with Vladimir in a less confrontational way why his behaviour may have been received with the hostility it was, but it provides a degree of confidence that somebody logging in to Barbelith won't be confronted with more comments that Vladimir feels are entirely acceptable but are in the broader scheme of things profoundly offensive. To compare, Rage may at this point, whether or not she feels that there is any justice in the criticism she received for posting a picture of a man having his head cut off without, have clocked that it's not the sort of thing you're meant to do on Barbelith, even if in another peer environment it might attract no censure whatever. It's a balancing act - people on Barbelith don't have total liberty to post whatever comes into their heads, as has been demonstrated in previous cases. However, since disciplinary action is not universally applied, peer action is in many cases the only way to regulate this.
Soooo... I don't, personally, mind whether or not Vlad says sorry, and I doubt that a reasonably able reader would place a lot of faith in such an act of contrition in this case. What I do care about is whether Vlad has taken on board that posting here may involve a different set of standards to the comments he might make elsewhere, and that he has some ability to comprehend those standards and apply them, whether or not he feels those standards to be the standards of self-righteous pricks. However, one of the rights that Barbelith does not comfortably allow is the right to make sweeping statements to the detriment of entire races in the way that V. has done previously and as far as I know reserves the right to do again. That's all. |
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