[Theforum] Is this the Problem?

[Ron Dorman]

Erika and All Members,

Erika Meyer wrote:

> Watch out, I've got my Tura Satana outfit on, and it's no Catholic
>
> school dress.
> *revs porshe*
>
> What do/did *I* want?
>
> I want/ed to be involved with a history making org that had goals,
>
> structure, by-laws, procedure, clarity, legality, documentation,
> etc.
>
> In my opinion, evolt.org no longer holds that promise.

I am a founding member that believes the promise is still there.  I
also believe there are other founding members that believe the
promise is still there.  And thankfully, many of those who have
joined us since founding see promise in evolt.org as well.

> And as far as I can tell, Evolt belongs to Dan Cody.
>
> As Cody goes, goes evolt.  The disorganization works well toward
> that
> end.  Disorganization, chaos... these are the conditions that
> cause
> people to follow a single (charismatic) leader.
>
> Efforts to create more structure (via IRC meetings, implementing
> bylaws, etc) have been sabotaged (IMO deliberately).

These opinions have been expressed before, by a few others as well
Erika.  I do not share these opinions but I have witnessed the
detrimental effects of them.

> Power and control struggles?  What's to struggle about?
>
> Power rests in the hands of one person.  The rest of you can
> serve,
> but (despite the rah rah feel-good talk) I don't see how evolt
> *really* belongs to anyone other than the guy who owns the domain
> name and hosts the site.
>
> I know the founders have strong feelings about the org, but let's
> get
> real.  To whom does evolt really belong?

As I remember, it was to belong to the people that use it, now a few
thousand.  Most of us want it to belong to the users and spend a
good amount of time and effort to ensure that it does.

> If Dan wished to pull the plug tomorrow, could he do so?
>
> If the answer is "yes," then why are the rest of you wasting your
> time?

This is an interesting question.  In fact and reality, any and all
things Internet are subject to being unplugged by a single person.
I believe Dan and the others that help in the technical support of
evolt.org servers will do all that is possible to prevent that from
happening.  I also believe that if something does happen, they will
all do what it takes to get things running again.

Ron D.