3 ms·
I question a fundamental assumption here: that Stallman was let go or pushed to resign because of "SJWs." I don't see much evidence of that. "SJWs" have had pr
by api 7y ago
I question a fundamental assumption here: that Stallman was let go or pushed to resign because of "SJWs."
I don't see much evidence of that. "SJWs" have had problems with him for years and nothing happened... until now.
What's different this time? Stallman's comments on Epstein added to the embarrassment of MIT. He waded into a political bonfire and added fuel. The last thing MIT needs is someone affiliated with MIT with a history of (at least sounding like he was) defending pedophilia holding forth on the Epstein saga in any way whatsoever, let alone by apologizing for or at least minimizing his actions.
This time he embarrassed and offended much more powerful people.
- emiliobumachar 7y agoStallman did not defend Epstein in any way, shape, or form.
- api 7y agoHe minimized it. What he intended to do doesn't matter. That's not my point. What matters is that his words could be interpreted that way and that he was affiliated with MIT.
- ng12 7y agoIf there's one place in our society that should welcome discussion of ugly issues it should be our universities, particularly the few as storied as MIT.
- erik_seaberg 7y agoIt might be only CSAIL, not all of MIT, that made this call.
- lostjohnny 7y agoI thaught that I in CSAIL stood for Intelligence ...
- emiliobumachar 7y agoHe did not minimize Epstein's behavior. The original interpretation of his words in that way is not reasonable and may well have been an outright lie instead of an honest misinterpretation.
- manfredo 7y agoThis is not only untrue, this is the direct opposite of what said: > (Now) Labor Secretary Acosta's plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein was not only extremely lenient, it was so lenient that it was illegal. I wonder whether this makes it possible to resentence him to a longer prison term. I disagree with some of what the article says about Epstein. Epstein is not, apparently, a pedophile, since the people he raped seem to have all been postpuberal. By contrast, calling him a "sex offender" tends to minimize his crimes, since it groups him with people who committed a spectrum of acts of varying levels of gravity. Some of them were not crimes. Some of these people didn't actually do anything to anyone. I think the right term for a person such as Epstein is "serial rapist." Stallman called Epstein's sentencing extremely lenient to the point of being illegal, and that calling him a "sex offender" was too weak of a term and that he prefers to call him a "serial rapist".