"The Spirit of 'The
Community'"
(Adopted Dec 20,
2002)
And Guidelines for Posting to The
Community Mailing List
(Adopted September 30, 2005)
As
Members of "The Community", we accept the concepts that:
a)
non-Japanese (and foreign-looking peoples) are residents, not merely guests, in
Japan,
b)
non-Japanese (etc) make similar contributions to their communities as Japanese,
c)
non-Japanese (etc) should have the same access to the fruits of Japanese
society, with as few restrictions as possible,
d)
non-Japanese (etc) should be treated with dignity and respect, and should
likewise treat people in their community the same way,
e)
non-Japanese (etc) have an obligation to show respect for the laws of Japan,
and respect for and interest in the language, culture, and society of Japan,
f)
non-Japanese (etc) have the right to ask for reasonable changes and
improvements in their social status and surroundings in Japan in a calm,
reasoned manner,
g) the
actions of individuals do not and should not reflect upon a group of people as
a whole,
h)
people should be cordial, constructive, and civil in their discourse with one another,
i) all
people are equal under Japanese law in the spirit of Article 14 of the Japanese
Constitution and the UN Convention on Racial Discrimination.
We adopt the above as
"The Spirit of The Community", and ask that Community Members abide
by these concepts in their interactions with both Community Members and their
Japanese communities at large. If the reader has trouble accepting these
concepts, we respectfully ask them to form their own community elsewhere with
similar beliefs to the reader's own. With these understandings in mind, The
Community will seek to undertake projects and promote ideas to make Japan a
better place for everyone to live.
(Originally drafted
by Arudou Debito, incorporating amendments from Community Members, and passed by
all voters unanimously in an open Community poll on December 20, 2002.)
Okay, less tatemae,
more honne:
WHY WE ARE DOING THIS?
What is the
reason behind the above clarification of goals?
(Written by One Community
Coordinator Arudou Debito on December 26, 2002)
After three years in
existence, The Community Mailing List by year-end 2002 reached a stage of
growth and effervescence where some posts were showing lower signal-to-noise
information ratios. Some have said that the List was being
"Fukuzawa-ized" (The Dead Fukuzawa Society was a seminal unmoderated
mailing list; it eventually collapsed due to internet trolls trashing it for
sport).
This has been a special
concern for The Community List because in future, "internet trolls"
are being attracted here by the controversial Otaru Onsen Lawsuit (even though it is not a Community Project) merely to make trouble. Many active members quit the List
due to (they say) the debate arena's concurrent unconstructive and
overargumentativeness.
Don't get us wrong:
Differences in opinion are fine, but apparent tendencies towards argumentation
just for the sake of it--without attempts to draw conclusions--are not
productive in the long run. There are plenty of other usenet lists for that
sort of thing.
This is why we decided
that it would be helpful to have Members on the same page "in spirit"
(i.e. as per the above ideals).
We are all Community
Members for a reason: to accomplish something.
Let's keep that in
mind when we post.
On that topic:
Posting
Guidelines For "The Community" Mailing List
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/communityinjapan/
By The Community Moderators
Dave Gutteridge, Jens Wilkinson,
Scott Hards, and Arudou Debito
September 30, 2005
BACKGROUND
In 1999, "The
Community" was created, in part by Arudou Debito (then Dave Aldwinckle),
as a forum for people living long-term in Japan to share ideas on 1) how to
improve their life here, and 2) how to make Japan a more open and tolerant
place for its growing multiracial and multicultural community. The original
mission statement and goals are available at:
http://www.debito.org/TheCommunity/proposal.html
Over time, The Community has
taken on projects raising awareness about the need to protect human rights in
Japan. Information on these activities is available at:
http://www.debito.org/TheCommunity/communityissues.html
As the group has grown, postings
by some new members have questioned our basic goals, or the need for or
existence of "human rights." This is why, in 2002, we created
guidelines called "The Spirit of The Community" to establish a clear
common ground for agreement between members regarding certain issues. For
example, members of The Community should agree that foreigners are taxpaying
residents of Japan with the right to push for change, not merely guests. The "Spirit
of The Community" may be found at:
http://www.debito.org/TheCommunity/spiritofcommunity.html
As these goals are the group's raison
d'etre, we feel no need to entertain debate about their merits, which should be
obvious to all participants here from the start. Devil's advocacy is tolerated,
but only if it is employed constructively to review and sharpen our approach to
achieving our goals.
People who feel they don't share
these goals or this understanding about them are asked to go to other mailing
lists which may better serve their needs.
By 2005, it became clear that we
needed more specific guidelines about what topics are germane to discussion on
The Community list and what actions may be taken by the Moderators in order to
maintain the list's focus and quality.
GUIDELINES FOR POSTING
Although one need not
specifically confine discussion to human rights, please keep in mind that the
overall goal of discussion is improving one's life in Japan.
Appropriate for
this list:
1. Discussion of
human rights in Japan
While actual actions and their
planning remain fundamental to the purpose of The Community, discussion which
may not necessarily lead to action is also encouraged. Cross-pollenization of
ideas is a good thing, as it leads to new ideas and understandings.
2.
Questions and advice for dealing with issues related to living in Japan
Procedural problems and questions
about living in Japan are generally welcome. These issues would include how to
deal with a landlord or an exclusionary business, immigration and visa issues,
taxes, health insurance, and other legal, business, or official matters that
directly affect quality of life. Ideally members will have pursued a few simple
avenues of research, such as searching on the Internet, before posting.
Collectively, our membership is very experienced in dealing with issues that
confront foreigners, and helping each other is precisely why The Community
exists.
3. Political and
social commentary about Japan
Other topics which can directly
affect our standard of living are also appropriate for discussion. Elections,
new government policies, legislative pushes, media campaigns, labor laws, and
other newsworthy matters fall into this category. Generally, this kind of
discussion starts with reference to a specific event or article concerning
Japan, coupled with a comment from the poster as to why it matters or a
question related to it. Some topics may be contentious, so keep it
constructive.
Not appropriate for
this list:
The following topics will most
likely be stopped by the moderators:
1. Issues that are
not related to Japan
We stress that this is a list about
Japan. This group has people from many backgrounds, and the only thing many
have in common is some connection to Japanese society. While some may believe
that international issues carry universal importance, we believe the discussion
of most of these issues is not of benefit to a good portion of this list.
For example, forwarding a post from a separate human rights organization about
genocide in Africa would not be allowed. While the topic no doubt deserves wide
public release, this is not the forum for it, as it has no connection to
Japan. Political and legal developments in other countries are also not
appropriate, unless the poster can demonstrate some strong relevance for
residents of Japan.
2. Life in
Japan topics
Casual topics, such as favorite
ramen shops, amusing local encounters, why you hate enka, and
other topics that relate to Japan but are not fundamentally about improving
life for us here will be halted. The poster must show how it relates to the
goals of The Community or the thread will be stopped.
Fortunately, there is another
Yahoo! Groups list for a more open discussion of anything at all to do with
Japan, entitled "Life In Japan":
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/life_in_japan
3.Sales, promotions,
or any kind of "spam"
Anything deemed to be promotional
or of a commercial nature will be halted immediately, the posting removed from
the archives, and the poster removed from the list immediately and without
warning.
4. Postings
that violate "The Spirit Of The Community"
Again, all postings to this list
must comply with the "Spirit Of The Community" (see above)
so that we do not waste time debating what we believe to be the shared beliefs
of our members.
5. Postings that
violate basic "netiquette," debate ethics, or common courtesy
We ask that posters avoid the
following:
Inappropriate
quoting. Repeating the relevant parts of someone's post is fine and
encouraged, but avoid using entire long paragraphs, or worse, their entire
post.
Posts that don't
contribute. Don't enter a debate by
simply saying "I agree" or "I don't think so" without
offering new information, viewpoints, or logic. Each post should
contribute something fresh. Ad hominem attacks, posts which criticize another
group member's character, motives or qualifications, rather than the logic or
ideas in their postings, are not allowed.
Impoliteness. Foul
language is always unacceptable, as are insults of any kind. We also
discourage sarcasm when criticizing the views of others. Please keep it
polite and professional.
Being a troll. Even
without violating any of the above, posters who exploit the anonymity of the
Internet to deliberately mislead the group about their identity or motives, or
who appear to be attempting to flame bait, or otherwise intend to stir up
trouble will be summarily banned. The Community does not require
signatures with full, real names, but encourages forthrightness regarding
identity, so that people are more likely to stand by their comments.
(More on the phenomenon of
"trolls" at http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm)
MODERATOR ACTIONS
Foremost, the moderators stress
that we do not feel threatened by plurality, and welcome posts that further
discussion. More important to us, however, is constructiveness. If a post to
the list violates the above guidelines, or a previously productive discussion
deteriorates, then the moderators will step in and take any or all of the
following actions, depending on the situation:
Warnings, which may be
done on-list or off.
"Switching
off" of posting privileges. Being "switched off"
means a member may read, but not post messages to the list. The time period is
at the moderators' discretion.
A full ban on
membership to the list.
We also generally give only one
warning, either on-list or off.
Anyone who disregards a moderator
warning will be acted upon. These decisions may be appealed to the moderators,
though appeal is no guarantee of a decision being changed.
In cases where someone feels a mistake
in moderation policy has been made, or an unfair judgment passed, the
moderators can be contacted at:
communityinjapan-owner@yahoogroups.com
While some of this may seem a bit
strict at times, we're proud of the fact that this list remains active and
productive after several years, and we believe policies like this have
contributed to that.
We look forward to good
discussions on The Community List with active and constructive participants,
with the goal of making Japan a better place for everyone.
THE COMMUNITY MODERATORS