In a nutshell, this list is primarily for the use of libertarian academics serving as an intellectual forum for the sharing of ideas, opportunities, camaraderie, etc., with a major general purpose of educating the world populace in the philosophy and practice of individual freedom/responsibility (aka libertarianism). ================================================================= >Date: 20 Aug 2002 Welcome to LibProfs! The "Professors of Liberty" list is set up on a fairly informal basis, but there are some major players here. As of now, there are over 80 subscribers, most of whom are professors who consider themselves "libertarians", "classical liberals", "objectivists", "free-market advocates", etc. If I haven't already requested information about you, I'd be interested in such basics as: your university, department, position, web page, relevant courses and publications, and whatever else you'd like others to know about you. A request has been made for each new subscriber to briefly introduce him- or her-self, so please send a post to the list telling us a little about yourself, s'il vous plait. Disclaimer: I'm offering this mailing list strictly as a private individual availing himself of the university's acceptable use of email policy (specifically: non-commercial, incidental use of email for personal purposes). The posts appearing on this list and web pages have no connection with the positions and policies of UCSD. Since this is a private mailing list, I reserve the right to unsubscribe people for any reason, but I think I'm pretty reasonable: I generally let people stay on the list provided they don't send spam to it (including posts over a reasonable size such as 50 Kbytes), are civil to their fellow subscribers (see attached message at end), and stay more-or-less "on topic" (working out details of libertarian policy, teaching others about libertarianism (e.g., college students), coordinating efforts and working cooperatively together, academic/intellectual camaraderie, opportunities for publishing,employment,etc.). In general when joining a new list, it's best to wait a few days before posting in order to get a sense of the character/tone of the posters and discussions. When you've gotten a good idea of how conversations tend to flow on the list, then it's easier to join in smoothly. To send a post to the list (i.e., to these 80+ subscribers) send your email message to: LibProfs-L@genius.ucsd.edu ... and it will be forwarded automatically. For administrative requests (e.g., change of email address, scheduled unsubscription/resubscription, etc.), send your message to me at: LibProfs-L-request@genius.ucsd.edu LibProfs is an open discussion forum, and sometimes email volume can get rather high. This has prompted some subscribers to sign off the list, but now there is an alternative: LibProfs-Announce. This new list is much more restricted and lower in volume, serving as a way to get basic announcements, queries, articles, etc. with very little if any discussion. If at some point you want to unsub because of high email volume, you might want to consider switching to LibProfs-Announce instead. Note: As of April 1999, all LibProfs-L subscribers are automatically added to LibProfs-Announce since on occasion items appear there that don't also get sent to LibProfs-L. To send a post to the announcement list (to 120+ subscribers) send your email message to: LibProfs-Announce@genius.ucsd.edu I'm keeping an archive on the World Wide Web of some of the material that has appeared on LibProfs (and I add more as time permits), and you can access it at URL: http://genius.ucsd.edu/~john/p/libuniv_dir/libprofs.html And now, a note on civility ... >Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 19:54:05 -0700 >Subject: building bridges, not burning them When I started this list about three years ago, one of my great hopes was to facilitate the building of bridges within the libertarian intellectual community, to facilitate communications and to provide another route of opportunity to build relationships and camaraderie. The effort seems to have been successful, at least to a certain degree, though it has become clear to me that substantial differences do exist within the community. Nevertheless, it seems to me that most, if not all, of us have more in common with each other politically than not, and it would be a shame to let that 5 to 10%, or even 20%, difference divide us. It seems to me that we could benefit more from a unity based on that 80+% commonality than from splitting away entirely. So, I would encourage all subscribers to use this list to build bridges, and not to burn them. In the brief history of this list, I can remember three episodes where this advice was ignored. In each case, it appears to me that an individual "snapped", engaged in verbal abuse, apparently made a number of parting shots, and then requested to be unsubscribed. This to me looks very much like burning one's bridges behind him, and I submit that it might be damaging to one's relationships in the community. Here there is a high degree of concentration of attention from your peers ... we are all "on stage" here, and everyone has a turn in the spotlight. So, if you succumb to the temptation to act poorly here, e.g., making a number of ad hominems against your fellows, it does get noticed and by the very people who should be your natural allies. So, those of you, if any, who feel the temptation to act uncivilly in this forum, please consider that it almost surely is not in your best interest to do so. Please use this list to make your reputation, not to break it! With that, I once again bid you welcome to the LibProfs list and I hope this forum proves useful, interesting, and heartening for you. =================================================================== >Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 18:33:39 -0700 (PDT) >Subject: [Admin] complaints... I think in the future I'm going to require new subscribers to refrain from posting for two weeks, and/or make clear the point that if you're new and are posting more than 2-3 times a day, you're probably posting too much. This list has a certain evolved style and tone, or "group norm", and the main subscribers, most of whom have been on the list for years, seem to like it that way. Since this list is primarily for the use of libertarian professors, I want to keep this list the way they like it, or at least with a tolerable amount of constructive dissonance. One of my goals is to maintain and increase membership of libertarian professors, so if a choice must be made between losing a libertarian professor or a non-professor, the non-professor will be the one to leave. Recently, Robert Higgs unsubscribed from LibProfs-Announce. (Note that he wasn't on LibProfs-L). I asked him why, and the reason he gave was that he got a flurry of discussion posts from non-professors, and he was already getting too much mail to comfortably handle. So, he was already near the edge, and what pushed him over was the posts of a few new people that shouldn't have been sent to LibProfs-Announce. I'm not quite sure yet how to handle complaints lodged against other subscribers, but clearly it's not a good sign when several complaints are lodged against new posters ... as is currently the case over the past week. The main one has left the list, as I'm sure all have noticed. There are currently two others, and most probably know who they are. If they modify their tone appropriately, I'm inclined to keep them on, but this may require a number of specific suggestions, perhaps sent privately. ================================================================= >Date: Sat, 31 Aug 2002 02:45:27 -0700 (PDT) Re: the character and nature of this list ... it is most definitely not anything-goes usenet style. Consider it more of a respectful classroom or graduate seminar in tone ... rude behavior and disrespect is not part of the program. Flippant comments, "chiding", ridiculing, smearing, etc. have no place here, though it has to be admitted that sometimes established list members have indulged in these to some degree. It does seem to make a difference, however, when the conversants know each other, have a history together, have a good sense of each other established over time, etc., so when they do it, it doesn't seem as bad somehow as when a complete stranger starts doing it soon after joining the list. [...] my hand may be "forced" somewhat, based on the priorities I mentioned in an earlier email: if a libertarian professor says "either he/she goes, or I go" regarding a new (non-professor) subscriber, then chances are excellent that I'll be unsubscribing the newcomer. [...] So, this is the experimental precedent I'm setting; hopefully it will work! I want to be fair, to give new people a chance, but there are limits, and I want these to be well-understood. I think a healthy exchange and stimulus can exist between newcomers and established members, though it seems to take a certain effort to foster that environment, and I am inexpert at that ... so I need a little help and the good graces of all parties involved. With that, I hope to bring this forum to a higher level, so as to facilitate the flourishing of liberty and tolerance, both here and the world at large. All the best, John McPherson, your humble list administrator -- John McPherson * Host, Professors of Liberty Email Network send announcements to "Libprofs-Announce@genius.ucsd.edu" send discussion to "Libprofs-L@genius.ucsd.edu" send admin requests to "Libprofs-L-request@genius.ucsd.edu" * http://genius.ucsd.edu/~john/p/libuniv_dir/libprofs.html