[MD] Nest of Vipers

[Arlo Bensinger]

All,

At the risk of stirring up a now-calming nest of vipers, I feel I must 
chime in regarding the broohaha that transpired over the Baggini interview. 
My apologies upfront to Ant and Horse if this launches more silliness.

With due respect to those who feel the integrity of the MOQ threatened, I 
think Ant's editorial authority has been mischaracterized. It would 
certainly be an abuse of this power should Ant claim editorial rights over 
anything published as "MOQ". Apart from offering his help, if he actually 
_demanded_ editorial rights over anything any one of us would consider, 
this would constitute a clear immoral transgression of his "authority". If 
I wanted to launch a Pirsig-related site, and Ant told me what I could and 
what I could not put on that site, this would be an abuse worth condemning.

But we are talking about _his_ site. It may function for some as the 
"official" site, but I don't see any such claim made on any of the pages. 
On the contrary, the disclaimer is that it is "primarily concerned with the 
philosophy of Robert Pirsig". Any reasonable person reading this would 
conclude that it is (1) not comprehensive, (2) not canonical, and (3) 
expansive per the views of the site author. (To note, even moq.org does not 
make a claim to be "official" in any sense. Visitors are told exactly what 
it is, what is there, and what to expect.)

Ant and Horse do an amazing job with their respective sites, and I am 
thankful they take the time to invest heavily in a resource we can all rely 
on. Are there things _I_ would do differently? Maybe. But that's life. 
Should anyone be so motivated, however, to do better, the great thing about 
the free market is that they can give it their best. Indeed, a quick scan 
of DNS availability reveals that many website domains are available for an 
intrepid entrepreneur to "do better". For me, I am satisfied with the labor 
of Ant and Horse, but those who are not should be encouraged to create a 
site that they believe is of a higher quality. (This is, of course, not to 
say suggestions should not be made. Quality ones, I'm sure, would be 
appreciated, even if they are not used.)

Just my (admittedly late) two cents. (That's what I get for taking time 
away from the computer).

Arlo