[OPE-L:6318] Re: Historical, real and current costs

Gerald Levy (glevy@pratt.edu)
Fri, 20 Mar 1998 16:29:28 -0500 (est)

Andrew K wrote on Fri, 20 Mar:

> Jerry: "Andrew responded to me in a somewhat less charitable way than
> he did with Mike W:
> > See how easy it is to find someone guilty of internal inconsistency?
> > You have the makings of a great economist!
> "To begin with, this response seems unnecessarily sarcastic."
> Well, I thought your initial interjection:
> "Since no direct or indirect labour is being performed on the widgets after
> 5 p.m, you are asserting that the additional value created after working
> time was created by *nature* (the Sun in particular)."
> was unnecessarily confrontational and dismissive.

There was nothing confrontational or dismissive in attempting to draw out
the logical implications of your example.

> Instead of telling me what
> I am asserting, you might have written "Since ... , I don't understand
> how this differs from the notion that .... Could you please explain?"
> This would have allowed me to *explain* what I'm saying instead of
> having to *defend* it to your satisfaction.

I don't think Andrew applies this same standard to his responses to
others. And I think most others on this list agree with the previous
sentence.

Someone notified me today that s/he unsubscribed from OPE-L because
s/he was sick of Andrew's "method of argument." Hopefully, s/he will
change her/his mind and return shortly.

In solidarity, Jerry