|
It's not always a happy moment when what you thought was true turns out to be not. I've always thought of people who consider themselves "homesteaders" as being honest, ethical and full of integrity. That illusion has been torn asunder. Maybe I expect too much? Maybe I was delusional from the start? I'm honestly not sure. You see, over the last oooh...4 or 5 years off and on I've been a member of a certain homesteading type yahoo group. I left it about a year ago after one of the members/moderators was unceremoniously slighted, demoted and what wholly amounts to as "shamed" with nary an explanation. To this day she is clueless as to their reasons and understandably, she quietly exited the group. A true loss to the members of the group and a blow to her. This particular individual is a fine human being, intelligent, industrious and above all generous with her knowledge. What disturbed me then and what disturbs me now is that her name is treated with more disrespect and revulsion than the Harry Potter character, "he that shall not be named". Any reference to her in a group posting is deleted from the archives without a word. When the event took place any questions regarding "what happened???" were ignored or met with disapproval and snotty remarks. All posts regarding "the event" were summarily deleted swiftly. It was all very "hush-hush" and the victim was not even allowed to face her accusers. No trial by jury, no explanation or chance for redemption allowed. No, I am NOT suggesting redemption was needed...what I am saying is that someone who as far as they know did NOTHING wrong was hung in the town square without an explanation or the opportunity to defend herself IF NEEDED. So I left the group as well. I figured anyone that would do that to someone they claimed to respect, admire and even love then they were a dangerous crowd to be sure. I was sickened, truly sickened. If I felt that miserable can you imagine how SHE felt? She is someone that deserves accolades and admiration for how she's handled the whole situation, with far more grace and strength than I could ever muster. She rose from the ashes of her own destruction and has proven without question that she is cut from a far finer cloth than those who tear her down. She's proven that again and again. Recently I rejoined the group under the illusion that a) they have changed b) they had files and urls that I needed. I was wrong on both accounts. There's a funny thing about people who are morally and ethically bankrupt....they get worse. Unlike the Phoenix they do not rise from the ashes of their destruction, instead their ashes scatter to the four winds losing more of themselves with the slightest breeze. They are worse. The owner spends most of his time reposting files and information that he's already posted before, there is no "homey" feel to the group, it's very structured and sterile with a gestapo flavor. If anyone dares to post something the moderators deem inappropriate (even if it isn't) the offender is slapped down quickly. I looked over the files and was disheartened to find either files that were empty or articles stripped of credit because they were written by "she who shall not be named". Some of her files are in there, but very few in comparison. I also watched the group posts that came through, one particular post was an article that was copy/pasted from their files...and the authors name stripped. I checked the files, yes the article was still there...with the authors name stripped. I wrote the author to verify she penned the article. Indeed she did. I wrote the owner of the group asking the simple, non-combative question, "Is there any reason that the author of the article is not credited." I received back a nasty response, one that was not deserved and my ability to read the post and find files for the group was insulted. You bet I unsubscribed! They have no morals, no ethics and no respect. I say this with sadness of one group of several thousand homesteaders. Thank the internet gods for the alternatives, but I will tread carefully from here on out. |
Comments
|
|
|
|
|
Posted by Kim!
|
|
|
|
|