Criticism. The main purpose of the WorkSEP blog is to foster a spirit of critical thinking among radical workers. We therefore encourage thoughtful criticism of any and all of the content we produce. Genuine criticism is not an attack, but an invaluable service. It forces us to articulate our ideas in greater detail, and thus leads to a higher level of clarity and understanding for all. Without a process of mutual criticism and debate, our movement will be unable to reach the level of consciousness that is necessary to move our struggle forward.
We believe that any group or community that proposes to take itself seriously ought to be able to handle criticism. If critical attitudes would break it apart, then it is not really much of a community to begin with. We believe that differences of opinion and analysis should not preclude working together on joint projects
Civility. The tone of dialogue on this blog should be one of comradely cordiality. Revolutionary ideas are vitally important, and it is right to be passionate about them. However, we should be supportive and helpful, even to – especially to – those we disagree with. It goes without saying that we will tolerate no personal attacks, accusations, name-calling, taunting, viciousness etc. Be respectful of others.
Sectarianism. We are trying to avoid the common tendency of endlessly reproducing the stale debates between various factions of the 20th century left. We especially discourage indulging in any of the silly old who-betrayed-whom arguments concerning the movements and revolutions of the 20th century. Enough has already been written on such matters.
Advertising. None. Not for commercial purposes, not for your party, your union, your group, not for actions or events, none. This is not the purpose of the blog.
Replies. The editors will do our best to reply to thoughtful comments in kind, giving preference to those we think will lead to discussion and clarification that will be most useful to other readers. Of course our ability to respond is limited by the volume of comments.
Censure. The editors reserve the right to remove any post that we feel is harmful to the purpose and spirit of the blog. If the comment is thoughtfully crafted yet contains offending bits, we will make editorial suggestions on what you can do to make the comment acceptable. If it is thoughtless and made in a spirit of hate, we will simply delete it without notice, and the associated e-mail address will be banned from further commenting.
