Hi, Larry!  I know you didn't mean your search to be a witch hunt!!  I
have to say, I don't know the context for the Archives List messages
you've cited and don't know when I will have time to go back and try to
find the messages.  It makes a difference to me if someone is posting
in a kidding or serious vein, or whether or not they are working with
archival materials for which there might be more discretion in disposal.

Perhaps my question wasn't clear, if so, I apologize.  I've never known
any archivists who wanted  to keep everything generated in a
governmental environment:  time and attendance records; travel orders;
supply and requisition files; etc.  I'm also thinking of the sorts of
things covered in NARA's General Records Schedules.
http://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/ardor/   I wouldn't want newbies
or students in the RM field to imagine that keeping such items forever
would be a consensus view among archivists.

Maybe some of you have had unpleasant experiences with archivists and
archives.  I guess I can count myself lucky in that I've neither had
bad experiences with RMs or achivists I've known.

I'm not sure what you mean by archivists wanting to rearrange records.
In the archival work I did with White House records, we retained the
original arrangement.    As for active records being accessioned into
archives, how often does that happen?  It isn't supposed to work that
way.  Perhaps I've missed discussions of that on the two Lists!

As for your comment that "One of the problems I've seen is if the
individual who generated them doesn't see them as having an enduring
value, then how is it the archivist is able to override that??"  Since
I used Vietnam era records in my original posting, I can certainly see
National Archives officials taking a different view of the value of
records than an individual who generated them!  Archivists are supposed
to be objective, nonpartisan, honest brokers.  Can records creators
always fulfill that role?  Maybe, maybe not.

Just look at the the controversy of Henry A. Kissinger's telcoms, which
initially were placed in the Library of Congress under restriction,
rather than at NARA!  (Read more about that issue at
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB123/
The individual who generates such records may not necessarily be best
positioned to decide what should be preserved for posterity and what
access procedures should be followed.

Maarja

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