Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl00302)

Rich:

With regard to the "Gang of Four" comment,

>But Eldon -- was your remark meant to allude to the Chinese
>situation? Or yet another case of mistaken identity and
>resultant personal offence?

I was thinking in terms of what seemed to be a funny
caricature, and it was take as such by most of the people
reading it. As I was writing phrase to comment on how
Alexis and three others were fighting for a particular
position on 'theos-l', I thought, here were four people
in China that had power and had their way for a time, but
were later overthrown and fell into disfavor. From this
angle, it would say, "enjoy your power while you have it,
for all things come to an end."

Chuck and some of the others may have taken "gang" in
another context, like gangsters, or those that operate
in defiance of civil and legal authority.

As "gang of four" or "gang of five" came to take on a life
of its own, it evolved its own meaning, based upon how it
was used on theos-l. I wouldn't hold it to whatever stray
thought passed my mind when I mentioned the phrase, nor
Alexis' initial reaction to the term.

-- Eldon