[Theforum] Re: (was) let's kill it

Marlene Bruce marlene at members.evolt.org
Wed Apr 17 20:23:55 CDT 2002


Seb,

>I've just come back from nearly a year of complete evolt absenteeism. My
>absence has been a direct result of the atmosphere that you describe. My
>return is tenuous at best, and depends entirely upon resolution of these
>internal conflicts.

And that's why so many of the original founders have stopped
contributing or have left altogether. This is a serious problem.

>This is an exceptionally good point, beautifully made. Thanks Marlene.

<blush> Thanks.

>I'm one such person that could do a lot more for evolt. A large amount. But
>to do so it would have to be in the context of a transaction that the legal
>and financial world recognise and are comfortable with.

I *so* know you're not alone.

>A lot of people have forgotten part of our name. We created this community
>as evolt.org, and we spent a long time insisting that the ".org" cannot be
>left off.

That is such a fabulous point!

>We need rules. We need to agree to them, and we need to enforce them. Going
>from the current parlous state to this kind of framework will be a
>difficult transition, but with a bit of effort from everybody, we can do it.

So now the tough part. How do we get the rules? That's what we have
to figure out.

>If we can't at least show some professional respect for one
>another, any further attempts to resolve the situation are doomed.

We set the tone on thelist for professional conduct. We can set it
here too. We just have to figure out how to do it. If we don't
attrition will continue.

I can see two possible outcomes to our attrition problem that started
with the original founding group, and in some ways has moved to our
more public lists:

1. Eventually governance gets whittled down to the privileged few who
are actually *granted* access and given real, tangible control of the
evolt.org entity. This is known by all kinds of less-than-flattering
names: autocracy, dictatorship, despotic rule, fascism, etc. Yes, the
"citizenry" would still have a "voice" in posting articles and
participating on the lists, but no real organizational control would
rest in their hands.

2. Enough of the greater evolt family (including members of this
list) decide that the .org is as important as the "evolt" and works
for change. This is called democracy, and means that with the right
to participate in the running of evolt as an organization comes some
measure of responsibility towards seeing evolt thrive.

To pursue #2 would be akin to a mini-revolt against the status quo.

In my opinion, evolt.org really needs to move away from the status
quo. Well, no it doesn't, and it won't if we're all happy with evolt
as a hobby.

Cheers,
Marlene



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