[Nettime-bold] What does Max Herman have to apologize for? Why?

[Nmherman@aol.com]

Men of Athens, do not interrupt, but hear me; there was an agreement between 
us that you should hear me out. And I think that what I am going to say will 
do you good: for I have something more to say, at which you may be inclined 
to cry out; but I beg that you will not do this. I would have you know that, 
if you kill such a one as I am, you will injure yourselves more than you will 
injure me. Meletus and Anytus will not injure me: they cannot; for it is not 
in the nature of things that a bad man should injure a better than himself. I 
do not deny that he may, perhaps, kill him, or drive him into exile, or 
deprive him of civil rights; and he may imagine, and others may imagine, that 
he is doing him a great injury: but in that I do not agree with him; for the 
evil of doing as Anytus is doing - of unjustly taking away another man's life 
- is greater far. And now, Athenians, I am not going to argue for my own 
sake, as you may think, but for yours, that you may not sin against the God, 
or lightly reject his boon by condemning me. For if you kill me you will not 
easily find another like me, who, if I may use such a ludicrous figure of 
speech, am a sort of gadfly, given to the state by the God; and the state is 
like a great and noble steed who is tardy in his motions owing to his very 
size, and requires to be stirred into life. I am that gadfly which God has 
given the state and all day long and in all places am always fastening upon 
you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. And as you will not easily 
find another like me, I would advise you to spare me. I dare say that you may 
feel irritated at being suddenly awakened when you are caught napping; and 
you may think that if you were to strike me dead, as Anytus advises, which 
you easily might, then you would sleep on for the remainder of your lives, 
unless God in his care of you gives you another gadfly. And that I am given 
to you by God is proved by this: - that if I had been like other men, I 
should not have neglected all my own concerns, or patiently seen the neglect 
of them during all these years, and have been doing yours, coming to you 
individually, like a father or elder brother, exhorting you to regard virtue; 
this I say, would not be like human nature. And had I gained anything, or if 
my exhortations had been paid, there would have been some sense in that: but 
now, as you will perceive, not even the impudence of my accusers dares to say 
that I have ever exacted or sought pay of anyone; they have no witness of 
that. And I have a witness of the truth of what I say; my poverty is a 
sufficient witness. 


http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/apology.html


Read that for your apology, Terrence, and send it to whoever needs one.  I 
put you in charge.  As for anything more detailed, I'd require a reciprocal 
apology for not commenting on Genius 2000 during 1999-2001 in return.  

As for recanting, no way Jose.  

Regards,

Max Herman
The Genius 2000 Network
Conference 2001 September 1-20
http://www.geocities.com/genius-2000/Conference2001.html

++

PS--I find Terrence's use of the t-word in reference to me very fucked up, en 
toute, I encourage others to pipe up on that one, tres merdement.


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