On posting personal political views
a sort of apology by Oded Goldreich
The question of whether one may post personal material on
web-pages of the Institute's server is a non-trivial one.
Of special concern is the posting of personal views regarding
various controversial questions (e.g., political views).
Several issues that are typically raised are:
- Abuse of public resources.
Since the resources being abused are relatively inexpensive and
more expensive abuses (such as using e-mail for personal purposes)
are typically tolerated, this concern seems quite purist.
- The expression of such views contradicts the ethical code
of faculty behavior.
This concern can be raised only if the views expressed are
illegitimate to the extent that expressing them in any public
forum would have constituted a criminal offense.
- The expression of such views may create tension among the faculty.
What I mean is that it would be undesirable if disagreements on
non-scientific matters will create tension among faculty members.
This was the reason that I have refrained from creating such a
page till now. On the other hand, the danger of such tension is
unavoidable if I am exercising my legitimate right to express my
views in public via other forums. In such a case, refraining from
posting these views on this web-page is also rather purist.
Thus, since I have recently started to express my views
in public and intend to continue to do so,
posting these views here feels right.
Still, if you feel that you may be offended by political views
(and specifically such that are considered "radical leftist"),
please stop reading. If you reached this page by looking for
scientific material and got annoyed by its non-scientific
contents please forgive me.
Back to Goldreich's homepage
or to Oded's political web-page