Wikipedia’s Request for Financial Support

Wikipedia’s Request for Financial Support

[The following letter has been posted with the permission of the author, Michael Baleanu.  –WHS, 2010 11 15]

Männerpartei [Men’s Party], Derbystr. 5, D-85276 Pfaffenhofen, [Germany]

Hypo-Vereinsbank Pfaffenhofen, BLZ 721 200 78, Kto: 3849 23194

Dear Sir or Madam,

In my daily work I learned to appreciate Wikipedia and Wiktionary. Especially the untiring work of all the unknown voluntary contributors makes Wikipedia to envy of everyone. We are up to one’s ear in debt to all these authors.

It is a matter of fact, such a project could not be realized without errors and frictions. Corrections and improvements are always necessary.

But, due to my personal engagement in the field of men’s human rights, the following bothered me:

The decisions – at least in the German section of Wikipedia – to cancel contributions, reporting in a fully neutral way about social problems of men were taken in a fully undemocratic way.

For this reason www.wikimannia.org was founded by stout-hearted women and men.

The necessity of such an information site was demonstrated by a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights, Zaunegger vs. Germany (December 3, 2009):

It demonstrates that fathers (and men) are strongly discriminated in Germany

The censorship of themes addressing mens rights is in our opinion a violation of the freedom of opinion promulgated by Wikipedia.

I would support Wikipedia in the case a democratic structure is implemented. Actually, as shown by the German Wikipedia, this not the case.

The only way to demonstrate that Wikipedia has a democratic culture, would be the public disclosure of decision processes, the obligation to perform a democratic voting for the approbation or cancellation of contributions. That is the only way to guarantee the diversity of opinions. As long as in an article there will be place only for feminist opinions, we do not see any reason to support undemocratic authors.

It would be nice, if Wikipedia subjects the own organisation to a self-critical analysis.

It seems for us, that especially in social, political or cultural themes, a disproportionate onesided opinion get the upper hand, but not the actually diversity of opinions. Such a one-sided orientation is dangerous for the excellent idea behind Wikipedia.

Hence: Either democratic structures, or limitation on pure scientific, informational or other themes free of political interpretations.

Free, democratic citizens do not like censorship.

Sincerely yours

Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Michael Baleanu

Dipl.-Phys./Dipl.-Ing.

Erdinger Str. 30A
85356 Freising
Geschäftsführer der Männerpartei [Manager of the Men’s Party]
www.maennerpartei.eu
0179 – 2356536
089 26213484

_____________________________________________________
Männerpartei, Derbystr. 5, D-85276 Pfaffenhofen
Hypo-Vereinsbank Pfaffenhofen, BLZ 721 200 78, Kto: 3849 23194
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