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<div>"And when dealing with a community of different shades of skin color,<br>
languages, cultures and levels of exposure to our ecosystem, you need<br>
to be mindful that the way you argue, not the substance of your<br>
argument, is what mostly drives the point home"<br>
<br>
>>>this worries me, and I hope you are wrong. It means the community is willing to buy just about anything just because it is "presented" well. And that in my opinion is dangerous.
<br>
<br>
We must be willing to look beyond color, regionalism, personalities and attitudes and nature objectiveness all with the common goal of the good of the community.
<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Christopher
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<div id="x_divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" color="#000000" style="font-size:11pt"><b>From:</b> Jackson Muthili <jacksonmuthi@gmail.com><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, December 6, 2016 2:13:55 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Andrew Alston<br>
<b>Cc:</b> rpd<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [rpd] Inbound Policy</font>
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<div class="PlainText">I before wrote here that I am always in principle siding with most of<br>
your arguments.<br>
<br>
It is the manner in which your arguments are put across that comes<br>
across as disrespectful and divisive.<br>
<br>
And when dealing with a community of different shades of skin color,<br>
languages, cultures and levels of exposure to our ecosystem, you need<br>
to be mindful that the way you argue, not the substance of your<br>
argument, is what mostly drives the point home.<br>
<br>
<br>
On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 1:24 PM, Andrew Alston<br>
<Andrew.Alston@liquidtelecom.com> wrote:<br>
> Jackson,<br>
><br>
> Let me now respond because I had a feeling that was coming, and I have<br>
> thought long and hard about how I would respond to that.<br>
><br>
> Firstly, I do not agree – the positions I have taken on this list – if you<br>
> go back and read – are always backed very carefully by substantiation,<br>
> numbers, figures, and yes, my own interpretation of the data. The fact is –<br>
> there are many that follow what I say because of that substantiation – and I<br>
> have always said to everyone – if you wish to argue a point with me, I<br>
> welcome the debate – but dispute the figures and the facts and the<br>
> substantiation of what I am saying, do not dispute the man. What I have done<br>
> is lobbied very hard for the positions I have taken on the lists where I am<br>
> present and a regular. People there may have seen the positions I have taken<br>
> and chosen to take those positions, but I have never, ever, gone out and<br>
> said, support this position without understanding it.<br>
><br>
> If you read the emails I have sent to various lists endorsing candidates –<br>
> or the emails I have sent endorsing policies – in every one I have said,<br>
> these are my positions, clearly explained – if you support them, vote that<br>
> way, if you don’t that’s ok – but still get out there and vote your<br>
> conscience. If you disagree with me – argue with me – but argue the facts.<br>
><br>
> That is not the same thing as regionalization and blind block support, it<br>
> just happens though that the people I have conversing to and lobbying for my<br>
> positions agree with the *substantiated* positions I have taken. Yes, I have<br>
> published figures openly that show the financial good standing positions of<br>
> various regions – its public data – it may not be pretty to read – but its<br>
> factual and it needs to be addressed. Yes, I have published data with<br>
> regards to the IP space in various parts of the continent – again, public<br>
> data, again, things that need to be considered and thought about. Yes, I<br>
> have published data about the allocation statistics as compared by country<br>
> and region, again, public data that needs to be discussed.<br>
><br>
> What I have not done – is advocated a position based on who wrote a policy,<br>
> where they are from, the language they speak, or any other such detail – and<br>
> I challenge anyone who disputes this to provide substantiated evidence.<br>
><br>
> What I have never done – is gone to the microphone to take a position<br>
> against a script that I did not understand – I have been able to argue with<br>
> and substantiate the position – even if people don’t agree with them – and I<br>
> have said to every person I have ever lobbied to support or not support to<br>
> take their positions from a position of understanding. I have explained my<br>
> views, and told them to read the policies and understand the positions they<br>
> are going to take.<br>
><br>
> I understand that when positions are taken sometimes those positions are<br>
> influenced by the view of a market from a perspective, we have very diverse<br>
> markets, we have very diverse points of view driven by the dynamics in those<br>
> markets, and I have no problem with that. What worries me though is when I<br>
> see people advocating positions that when questioned on, they cannot explain<br>
> their own position. I worry when I stand behind someone at the microphone<br>
> and they are holding a notebook and giving something to the author of a<br>
> policy, which is reading word for word from an email sent to him by the<br>
> author himself. I worry about the blatant politicization of policy as seen<br>
> by a large segment of the PDP community wearing shirts that make<br>
> inflammatory claims about their smooth transition to ipv6 being opposed –<br>
> which is an unsubstantiated accusation that is sensationalist at best.<br>
><br>
> I have long argued that in the board space, this is political – it’s an<br>
> election – there is politics involved. There is lobbying, there are<br>
> preferential candidate’s dependent on the view of the electorate, there is<br>
> gathering of support from regions of support – I get that – that’s politics<br>
> – it occurs worldwide and its part of any elective process (and I don’t have<br>
> an objection to it, let democracy reign).<br>
><br>
> However – once we walk into the policy forum, where policies affect all of<br>
> us, where a policy binds the whole community, I argue there that anyone who<br>
> wishes to argue a policy should be arguing from the perspective of the<br>
> policy and not the regional point of view, and arguing it from a holistic<br>
> perspective. That in my opinion is not happening. If people are going to<br>
> take a position, at the very least, take your own position from a position<br>
> on the policy itself – not the authors, not where the authors live, or the<br>
> language the policy was written in.<br>
><br>
> At this point – I am refraining from giving specific examples of the<br>
> behavior that I have seen – and I will continue to do so unless I have a<br>
> good reason to so – since I do not wish to turn this into another person on<br>
> person, finger pointing blaim game. I believe that myself, and every single<br>
> active person in this community at some point has been guilty of this to a<br>
> lesser or larger degree – and we need to deal with this in a holistic sense<br>
> – but we cannot deal with it unless we talk about it – so, in conclusion, I<br>
> never claimed to be perfect or not to have made mistakes, however, I do say,<br>
> we have to fix this. I will also say – the positions I have taken have been<br>
> substantiated – and its possible people may not agree with my interpretation<br>
> of the data, and that’s ok – but then lets argue the facts and the<br>
> interpretation – not the person.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Andrew<br>
><br>
> On 06/12/2016, 10:44, "Jackson Muthili" <jacksonmuthi@gmail.com> wrote,<br>
><br>
> On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 6:34 AM, Andrew Alston<br>
> <Andrew.Alston@liquidtelecom.com> wrote:<br>
>> Hi David,<br>
>><br>
>> Firstly – I write what I say below in my own capacity – and PURELY my own<br>
>> capacity. What follows is not stated as fact – it is stated as<br>
>> observations<br>
>> and as it is stated as my own beliefs, which I hope are not accurate, and<br>
>> I<br>
>> am (extremely) open to being PROVED wrong.<br>
>><br>
>> You know – I watched that inbound transfer policy fail – and to be honest<br>
>> I<br>
>> expected as much – because let me say it like it is – I do not believe<br>
>> that<br>
>> the people who stood against the policy stood against the policy itself –<br>
>> I<br>
>> believe this was very much a case of what was described by Chris and Jan<br>
>> at<br>
>> the microphone at the end of the meeting. It seems to be stances are taken<br>
>> against the regions the policies come from or the people who author the<br>
>> policies. Until we fix the blatant regional splits in the policy process –<br>
>> we will not come right.<br>
><br>
><br>
> Indeed No conceivable explanation why such a proposal could fail apart<br>
> from above.<br>
><br>
> It seems to me that these regional splits were started by you Andrew.<br>
> And some of your actions tend to continue championing these splits<br>
> unfortunately.<br>
><br>
> You may need to be part of the effort to fix the issues you created.<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
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