Headed out the door to do a little business.

'Fore I go, Noah asked me to state an opinion and I thought about it a while.
Can't find the thread it was attached to. Sorry.

The NG belongs to everybody. It's a public forum. The value of a forum is that
it functions as a place where ideas can be freely exchanged. Our topic is
supposed to be "boating," yet many of the people here do not own a boat or
never comment about any boating they might do. The question before us is: "Do
we restrict the NG to boaters and wannabe boaters only?" (or at least people
who want to discuss only topics rather directly related to boating). Arguments
can be made for and against, with some merit in either case.

My opinion is that if the majority of the participants want the content
restricted, moderated, censored, and policed by individual ISP's, then that is
exactly what should be done. I would be among the minority in such a decision,
and would regret the turn the NG was taking. At the same time, enough people
participate here who lack the self respect to exert any self control over the
tone, content, and
intent of the petty or offensive posts they produce that it is understandable
how many people are put off by the so-called discussions. Some of these people
are truly "poison pens." Would those people who lack the necessary self respect
somehow miraculously respect a list of "rules and regulations"? Likely not.
Is there a danger of deteriorating (even more so) into a group of
bridge-playing dowagers, staring accusatorialy across the top of little
bifocals to make sure
"so and so" isn't cheating somehow?

The more unrestricted rec.boats can be, the closer it resembles the real world.
The world where arguments are more often impassioned than logical. A world
where insult, slander, gossip and personal attack are common currency. A world
where many feel it is more important to "win" an argument than to be right.
Should there be places in such a world where everybody agrees to behave in a
civil manner and exchange ideas restricted to subjects agreed upon in advance?
Yes, that would be nice.....but is it realistic?

Know what's missing from most of the censored and moderated sites, IMO?
They aren't at all dynamic. While they reflect a greater concentration of
on-topic material, reading through them is a boring as watching a tortise race.

So, Noah, and the other people who even give a rat's behind about my opinion
(both of you, maybe), the group should take rec.boats whatever direction the
group wants it to go. There will be some who would not stay with the changed
group, but that's the general point, right? Whatever losses the group suffers
from dropouts will likely be made up by enthusiastic newcomers when the
transition to a more highly restricted format is complete.