It's all about revenge and vindictiveness with you.

Anyone who appears to be educated, successful and who speaks with some sort
of authority instantly reminds you of every educated, successful authority
figure you've ever encountered in your life, hence your barely contained
rage.

-- Gary Gamble

I've never thought of our resident Donkey in quite that way, but it does explain a lot of his actions... like his stubborn insistence on repeatedly misusing a word rather than accepting someone else's correction.

Could it be that our Donkey is fighting an ongoing battle against the intelligent, educated, successful people in the world?

Is he continually recruiting and commanding an army of angry pissbums and assorted losers; leading them into battle with their banners of stupidity flying against the faces of their betters?

Is our Donkey's literary agenda a prolonged act of vengeance against everyone who's ever crossed to the other side of the street when they saw him coming?

Is he using AAPC as a means for striking out against those who can afford to have soap and running water?

I've always felt that Will and his socks were using Usenet and the Internet as an attempt to rub elbows with those who would shun them in real life. But Mr. Gamble's theory recasts their behavior in a decidedly different light.

The Donkey has had 65 years of educated, gainfully employed, well dressed and regularly washed men and women looking down on him as a lowlife; and now he's mad!

65 years of pent up rage can be safely released in the relative anonymity of discussion groups.

This is war -- Donkey war! This is a drunken, sweaty, unemployed pissbum with one pair of clothes lashing out against those who look down on him.
Somewhere a straw of contempt threatened to break our Donkey's back. So he's kicking his feet and braying at the top of his lungs.

He's mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore. And there's nothing any of us can do to stop him.

On Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 9:05:24 AM UTC-4, Michael Pendragon wrote:
> It's all about revenge and vindictiveness with you.
>
> Anyone who appears to be educated, successful and who speaks with some sort
> of authority instantly reminds you of every educated, successful authority
> figure you've ever encountered in your life, hence your barely contained
> rage.
>
> -- Gary Gamble
>
> I've never thought of our resident Donkey in quite that way, but it does explain a lot of his actions... like his stubborn insistence on repeatedly misusing a word rather than accepting someone else's correction.
>
> Could it be that our Donkey is fighting an ongoing battle against the intelligent, educated, successful people in the world?
>
> Is he continually recruiting and commanding an army of angry pissbums and assorted losers; leading them into battle with their banners of stupidity flying against the faces of their betters?
>
> Is our Donkey's literary agenda a prolonged act of vengeance against everyone who's ever crossed to the other side of the street when they saw him coming?
>
> Is he using AAPC as a means for striking out against those who can afford to have soap and running water?
>
> I've always felt that Will and his socks were using Usenet and the Internet as an attempt to rub elbows with those who would shun them in real life. But Mr. Gamble's theory recasts their behavior in a decidedly different light.
>
> The Donkey has had 65 years of educated, gainfully employed, well dressed and regularly washed men and women looking down on him as a lowlife; and now he's mad!
>
> 65 years of pent up rage can be safely released in the relative anonymity of discussion groups.
>
> This is war -- Donkey war! This is a drunken, sweaty, unemployed pissbum with one pair of clothes lashing out against those who look down on him.
>
> Somewhere a straw of contempt threatened to break our Donkey's back. So he's kicking his feet and braying at the top of his lungs.
>
> He's mad as hell and he's not going to take it anymore. And there's nothing any of us can do to stop him.

I like this, especially this visualization:
"Is he continually recruiting and commanding an army of angry pissbums and assorted losers; leading them into battle with their banners of stupidity flying against the faces of their betters? "

It could explain why he tells Ilya that he doesn't have to correct simple errors if he doesn't want to.