25686: Corbett: Aim of this mailing list

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

> From Bob Corbett

Folks,

For years I ran a hard copy magazine on Haiti and it was mainly used
as a fund raising tool to generate funds for the various works my
organization was doing in Haiti.

Over the years I began to add book reviews, historical essays,
political analyses and so on, and found that those things were not much 
read.  THAT particular audience I sent my magazine to was mainly 
interested in working to improve the living situation in Haiti.

I shared that aim, but also wanted to operate from a position of 
knowledge, not emotion or ignorance.

Eventually I decided to raise money in other ways (unsuccessfully by the 
way) and close the magazine and with 7 people as subscribers began this 
list in 1994.

The primary aims then and now were:

-- to discuss issues about Haiti in order to better understand
-- to share and challenge ideas so that those of us interested
	in such ideas had a better chance of hearing all sides
	and evaluating more positions in order to have a
	better chance to understand
-- to ask questions
-- to share basic information and events (and news stories)
-- to seek out contacts and such.

The aim of this mailing list NEVER was political activism, nor
social improvement of Haiti though I was happy to post calls for such 
from others.  For years I continued my efforts in development works
in other ways, not via this list.  This was a place for discussion and 
information for me.  Still is.

As most of you know, I don't post fund-raising calls.  None.  At all.

I don't view this as an activist list and won't use it that way on purpose 
and would probably make changes were it to take a primary movement in that 
way.

What some may find as useless quibbling over this or that is, on my view, 
is the way our knowledge grows.  Albeit, I come out of a discipline 
notorious for such quibbling.  I was 36 years a professor of philosophy 
where we could spend whole days in heated screaming at one another over 
the possible meaning of the word "being" or the word "nothingness."

Alas and alack, folks, that's the moderator you're stuck with!

Bob Corbett