Not a clue

Editor's note: This is a special 'guest essay' written by Diana of The Ø Family. We believe hers is an important viewpoint, and the following comments well worth reading. It explains her very well-thought-out reasoning for not participating in the so-called "l4oa collective". Her arguments and beliefs are closely aligned to those of the prince.org editors on this issue, so we have chosen to publish the essay here (with her permission, of course!).


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Why we chose not to join the unified L4OA "collective"

We received an invitation to discuss creating a unified website...

"I've been asked to arrange an online meeting of as many web site operators as possible with a Paisley Park representative 'asap'."
—Pierre Igot 11/02/98
...and we refused the invitation, so we received a follow-up invitation...
"a representative of paisley park would like 2 chat online with u soon if u can..."
—Opnmind 11/09/98
...which we also refused. Prince alluded to our refusal himself:
"Truth b known...
???...what website declined an invite 2 discuss TRUTH and POSITIVITY on the Web? ...1der Y?"
—L4OA 11/09/98
As you can see above, there was no reference in either invitation to discussing "truth" or "positivity," but nevertheless, now that the new Love4OneAnother website is in existence, we thought it would be interesting to Prince—who 1ders Y—and to the fans to explain why we refused to participate.

COLLECTIVISM

Collectivism is a socialist ideology which refers to "centralized control." For example, persons working on a "collective" farm would not be their own masters but would be under the control of a central committee or the state. In selecting this term for his new website, Prince has - probably inadvertently - showed his hand (talk about your Freudian slips!). We're betting he meant "unity" when he chose the term "collective," but the real definition of "centralized control" is much more indicative of his true motivation. The most important reason we refused to participate in any "collective" is that it does not benefit the fans to have information under "centralized control."

TOTALITARIANISM

Totalitarianism is an ideology of absolute control that aims at suppressing initiative and individualism. One of the means utilized by totalitarian regimes to gain absolute control is the repression of freedom of expression, such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of assembly. Totalitarian regimes find this kind of suppression necessary because their power does not stem from the people or from any other legitimate source, but solely from fear. We find that requiring that any website think, speak and publish only "positivity," which on the surface may sound like a nice idea, is in reality nothing but censorship in sheep's clothing.

ELVIS (yeah, we said Elvis)

This being near the day of Elvis Presley's birth, we cannot help but think how destructive being surrounded by yes-men and toadies was to Elvis' career, his health and indeed, his very life. We wrote several years ago, "God help Prince when he has no one left who will tell him the truth," and we still believe we can do him no greater benefit than to continue to bring him, and the fans, the truth in whatever form it may exist.

DIVERSITY

We happen to be an American site and as such we hold dearly to the concept that strength comes from diversity. We believe that the fans can most benefit from there being a multiplicity of fansites, free and independent of Prince and each other, so that the most information, in the widest variety of styles, can be disseminated.

1999

We deeply regret, now that the millennium approaches—a time Prince fans have looked forward to for over a decade, a time when Prince was expected to create his greatest work—that Prince's personal eccentricities have far overshadowed his musical abilities in the eyes of the press and the public. We deeply regret that Prince has obsessed over money, control and even, yea and verily, what we post about him on our amateur fansite, rather than focusing on his music, which has suffered greatly in the process. We hope that Prince can take some time during this transitional year to reconsider his tactics, to stop making excuses for no longer being the star he once was and to make a new beginning to becoming the star we all know he has the ability to be once again.


Diana

Then a couple years later they did a 180 and attacked her

Tom said:

Well technically they never attacked her or her site. But in solidarity with the others that were sent letters, she shut everything down.

She was cool peeps! Hope she's doing well.

Whats funny is at one point Prince's camp showed her some support by releasing some cassette singles of Dinner With Delores to her to give away.