[WikiEN-l] Test case: policing content

Fri Mar 25 20:33:36 UTC 2005

Although your test case promises to be very difficult simply due to the
great volume of edits, I am glad we have it and it has been accepted. I hope
you will spare some time to present some evidence on the matter now that the
Arbcom has accepted the case. Especially useful would be edits requesting a
source for information or edits removing material that did have a good
source.

Fred

> From: "steven l. rubenstein" <rubenste at ohiou.edu>
> Reply-To: English Wikipedia <wikien-l at Wikipedia.org>
> Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 13:58:20 -0500
> To: wikien-l at Wikipedia.org
> Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] Test case: policing content
> 
> 
>> d. wrote:
>>> actionforum at comcast.net wrote:
>>> 
>>>> What would you say the marxist definition of capitalism is?
>>> 
>>> I'd say it's off topic for this list.
>> 
>> 
>> Well, I didn't self righteously bring it to the list as if someone I
>> disagreed with was obviously wrong.   As long as we are agreed the issue
>> of which side was "correct" or acting in good faith is
>> NOT obvious.
>> -- Silverback
> 
> Well, this perfectly illustrates why I believe the "Capitalism" case is a
> perfect test case -- in my opinion, even better than crank theories in
> physics which really are relatively easy to deal with.
> 
> Some people have suggested that if someone keeps putting unsourced material
> on the page, the solution is to delete it.  Well, this is the first
> solution to any problem at Wikipedia.  Let's say it is the second, third,
> thirtieth, or three-thousandth solution -- basically what Ray Saintonge
> wrote.  The reason for any disciplinary action is
> 1) this process is not working -- after a month of deleting the same
> material, it becomes a battle of wills
> 2) to give serious and well-intentioned editors some support and relief.
> Both of these characterize the issue at "Capitalism."
> 
> And Silverback's own e-mails to this list provide further evidence of the
> problem.  He continues to insist that something like "private ownership of
> the means of production" is the "Marxist" definition of capitalism, and now
> insists that I provide my own "marxist" definition!  This list serve is not
> the place for this discussion, which has already occurred on
> the  Capitalism talk pages.  Suffice to say, "private ownership of the
> means of production" is simply not, in no way, the marxist or "a" marxist
> definition of capitalism.
> 
> And this is the whole point of the "cite sources" and "verifiabilty"
> policies that Silverback disparages.  Of course it is possible that I am
> wrong about the Marxist definition -- but if I am wrong, then whomever is
> providing the "marxist" definition should be able to provide a source or
> citation.
> 
> For Silverback to disparage these policies, and insinuate that it was
> self-righteous of me to bring this problem to the attention to the list, is
> too absurd.  His behavior mimics that of RJII's, and is the kind of
> behavior that has no place here at Wikipedia.  Our work must be
> verifiable.  If someone asks for a source, provide it.  Like RJII,
> Silverback not only scoffs at providing a source, he continues to insist
> that the definition is right, that it is I who has to provide the source,
> that I am self-righteous, that the policy is trivial ...
> 
> At what point do we characterize this behavior as trollish?
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Steven L. Rubenstein
> Associate Professor
> Department of Sociology and Anthropology
> Bentley Annex
> Ohio University
> Athens, Ohio 45701
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