> We don't get to cancel people just because we would be better off with new leaders. We get new leaders.
The ease with which meritless accusations are added to the list and the lack of objectivity and critical thinking in public statements and accusations is worrying. It represents a tendency towards totalitarian stances which do not allow space for different opinions, regardless of the merits of such opinions. Allowing this to go unchecked causes collateral damage on free speech, therefore I feel compelled to call it out.
> lack of objectivity and critical thinking in public statements
Let’s try and put things into perspective: RMS defends his tech bro while obviously not giving a single fuck about the abuse victims.
A few press outlets blatantly misunderstand RMS’s words and frame the story so it looks like RMS defended child abuse.
Not everyone has the time to fact-check everything. That’s why we have the press. We all make mistakes. A mistake (if it was one) committed by a small group of people doesn’t mean critical thinking is dead in everyone.
> When someone is being attacked/accused of something and such accusations is not correct or accurate, one must point it out. But if our criteria on deciding to point it out or not is whether we like the person or not, that constitutes a denial of the very concept of justice.
He did not just technically not defend him, he literally called him a serial rapist and he definitely stated that the girl was being harmed.
This is not the only false accusation (which has been debunked to death, yet the blog posts and headlines are still there intact), he is also being accused of being a transphobic and a misogynist.
Also, he definitely cares a lot about abused women. I opened a random month of his political notes yesterday and just searched "women" to verify that I am not insane.
He might indeed not be good for a top leading positions for reasons I do not know, but he is being treated very poorly.
Edit since the post is dead:
Hackbraten:
> Even if we assume RMS never meant to harm people ...
Modern Civilization 101 and Law 101 care about the "meant" part. A lot. As for the amount of actual "harm", I am very skeptical.
Arnt:
> I hereby accuse him of randomly getting caught up in irrelevant controversies.
So you accuse him of something that is totally different from the actual accusations.
I will keep this in mind if someone wants me to sign a letter accusing you (maaaaybe falsely) of X, and I think you are Y (where Y << X, but this does not matter much) anyway. Joking, I won't, and I will call them out too. We should not take such crap lightly.
> What rms said doesn't matter, because it's harmful, whatever it is.
I hereby accuse him of randomly getting caught up in irrelevant controversies. A good campaigner for a cause doesn't do that.
I don't think there's anything an FSF official could do or say about the Epstein affair that would help the FSF. What rms said doesn't matter, because it's harmful, whatever it is.
> Also, he definitely cares a lot about abused women. I opened a random month of his political notes yesterday and just searched "women" to verify that I am not insane.
The amount of harm that RMS’s actions have inflicted to women (and by extension, to the whole industry) is not to be found in his PR statements. Even if we assume RMS never meant to harm people, people have been calling out his behavior for many years. Yet, RMS never made it a priority to acknowledge the issue and fix his behavior.
Actions speak louder than political statements.
The ease with which meritless accusations are added to the list and the lack of objectivity and critical thinking in public statements and accusations is worrying. It represents a tendency towards totalitarian stances which do not allow space for different opinions, regardless of the merits of such opinions. Allowing this to go unchecked causes collateral damage on free speech, therefore I feel compelled to call it out.