[Noisebridge-discuss] Consensus and the "old ways".

[Crutcher Dunnavant]

I am not trolling. You may disagree with me, but I am serious.

I remain unconvinced that the 'consensus process' is anything other than a
dressed up form of oligarchy, where the 'important' community members make
'reasonable' points, and objections are frequently labeled 'trolling'. I
think its a bad fit for a large group, and the social dynamics involved make
me very uncomfortable - I am required to either be complicit in decisions,
or be the asshole who says "I block". Frequently, I simply avoid meetings,
because the whole thing feels like bullying.

The consensus process is something that I do not consent to. But should I
block every decision on that basis? Would the organization be willing to
count my block as 'not serious' or 'trolling'? I am complicit in that I have
not yet pursued this line of objection; and I have not pursued it entirely
out of fear of the social back-lash that I expect would result.

We have a governance process. It lets us make some decisions. But don't kid
yourself, this isn't a magical anarchist paradise. There is a power
hierarchy, and it is enforced.

I resent being placed in the position of choosing between complicity or
social rejection. I would prefer to be able to say "No, I don't want this"
and possibly be outvoted.

On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 2:17 PM, Jason Dusek <jason.dusek at gmail.com> wrote:

>  When we have disagreement, do we have consensus? If something
>  was consensed to by some members some time ago, do we have
>  consensus on it now even in the face of vehement disagreement?
>
>  I've understood the consensus process to be about not riding
>  roughshod over people in the community; but one side effect of
>  it is to allow early decisions to remain unchallenged without
>  incredible effort and coordination. Naturally, we can expect a
>  bad fit of past rules to present circumstances now and again;
>  we've followed consensus in a way that makes adjustment far
>  more difficult than it needs to be.
>
> --
> Jason Dusek
> _______________________________________________
> Noisebridge-discuss mailing list
> Noisebridge-discuss at lists.noisebridge.net
> https://www.noisebridge.net/mailman/listinfo/noisebridge-discuss
>



-- 
Crutcher Dunnavant <crutcher at gmail.com>
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