Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Anti-Microsoft sentiment
Author: Paul Snively Posted: 9/15/2000; 5:34:11 PM Topic: Debunking the OSS Bazaar? Msg #: 21371 (In response to 21359) Prev/Next: 21370 / 21372
David McCusker: The game is played as if it is zero sum most of the time, when it most obviously is not.David has once again demonstrated his amazing aptitude for getting to the heart of matters that are important to me.
In power exchanges it seems critically important to me to know whether or not my exchange partners believe they are operating within the same type of market as I do. This shared belief, or the lack thereof, is sufficiently important to be make-or-break in various of the kinds of relationships I have. For example, I chose to end a romantic involvement with a woman with strong feminist beliefs, not because I don't believe that women have the same rights as men (I do), nor because I don't believe that women deserve equal compensation for equal effort (I do), but because this specific woman also treated the issue of male/female power exchange as zero sum: she was quite clear in her pronouncements that, in order for women to gain power, men had to lose it. The problem with dealing with someone whose mindset is that your interaction is a zero-sum game is that they will likely act consistently with that belief, i.e. try to take your power away, instead of searching for ways to increase both your power.
It goes without saying (or at least it should) that a similar shared belief is critical to BDSM-based erotic relationships.
So this is, apparently, a make-or-break issue for me, with Microsoft as well as with others.
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