No way out for this list

[Otto Sell]

>that we should not be silent about. <
Absolutely right. I'm not gonna snip much but just say: thank you for your
valuable and insightful post. No one should accuse list members of being
bigots, racists, or homophobic, or mentally ill - the fact that they're on
this list and have read this highly anti-bigot, anti-racist and anti-§175
novel proves that they're not - at least to me.
But the posting under different names you could explain to me a little bit
further - haven't even thought about that.

6
"Listen, Hermit, you know everything. So tell me, what is love?"
"I wonder where you picked up that word," Hermit asked.
"When they drove me away from the Socium, someone asked if I loved the right
things. I said I didn't know. And then One-Eye said that she loved you very
much, and you said that you loved her."
"I see. It's actually hard to explain. Let's take an example -- imagine you
fell into a water barrel and are drowning."
"OK."
"Then imagine that for a second your head came above the water, you saw the
light, gulped in some air and something touched your hands. And you grabbed
it and held on to it. Now if your whole life is like drowning -- and it
is -- then love is what helps you to keep your head above the water."
"You mean the love of the right things?"
"What you love is not really important. Of course, one can love the right
things even under water. Whatever it is you love and hold on to, it must
hold you. The worst is when you love someone else -- you see, he can always
withdraw his hand. To make a long story short, love is what puts everyone
where he is. Except maybe the dead. Well, actually..."
"I think I never loved anything," interrupted Sixfinger.
"Oh yes, you've been there too. Remember how you cried all day thinking
about the guy who waved you back when they threw us over the wall? That was
love. You don't know why he did it, do you? Maybe he thought he was mocking
you in a much subtler fashion than others. And I personally think he was. So
your crying for him was pretty foolish, but absolutely right. Love gives
meaning to what we do, although it isn't really there. "
"So is love cheating us? Is it something like a dream?"
"No, love is something like love, while a dream is a dream. All the things
you do, you do them because of love. Otherwise you'd just sit on the ground
and howl in horror. Or in disgust."
"But many people do what they do not at all because of love."
"Come on. They do nothing."
"And do you love something, Hermit?"
"I do."
"What is it?"
"I don't know. It comes to me sometimes. Sometimes it's a thought, or a nut,
or the wind. The important thing is, I know it when it comes to me, in
whatever disguise, and I meet it with the best I have in me."
"How?"
"I grow calm."
"Do you mean you worry the rest of the time?"
"No. I am always calm. It's just the best I can be, so when what I love
shows itself to me, I meet it with my calmness."
(Victor Pelevin - Hermit and Sixfinger)

Otto