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Submission PARKER-1506 (Online)

Submission By Margaret Parker
AddressKaslo, BC,
Organization
Date20040901
CategoryDemocratic government, Other
Abstract
More and more small groups are finding that consensus is the most practical and successful way to deal with matters which must be dealt with. [2 pages]

Submission Content

I am sorry my health does not encourage me to carry through on my volunteering to run your needs through our community and report to you.  Large stumbling blocks are learning (and sorting through reasonably but carefully) law with respect to representation of every adults’ opinion.  Sub-thought:  How about including a separate category of  kids say 14 to legal age in whatever defining agency (law).  As to who shall, may, and may not vote—Dealing with this and the mess ‘law’ has made of it as “jurisdiction” comes to be considered.  I thought on what else might be devised.

More and more small groups are finding that consensus is the most practical and successful way to deal with matters which must be dealt with (see dictionary for meaning) Caution:  Care must be taken that necessary record-keeping and action-taking be done rigorously, fully and publicly.  Each group is the ‘public’ here.  As careful thought about how such ‘decision’ trees would naturally function.  Aim: 1 person of each beginning groups survives to join another surviving one person.  Thesis: In a community of our size and make-up, some non-exclusive definitions must be devised (only one) (at the outset) to be sure that every single individual within the entire target population is in one and only one ‘beginning’ group and so on up to and finally pinpointing ends of each groups’ determinations and conclusions, to last groups decisions for government formation.  Quakers functioned like this from outset but have not managed to avoid changing fundamentals out-of-bounds to and ‘every persons’ aim—their aims and population is exclusive, not inclusive.

Recap! (!!!) (Side remark)! As I reread this for clarification I wish I could go into a social studies classroom and kick this around with the kids (high school) (but a really good teacher’s upper elementary class too) and I am just physically not up to it now.  I wish some of your citizens with the yearning to get kids involved now might do something to get them in so they will know there are people who take them seriously—see and long for the enlargement getting them in (and make it plain they do) would. (End side remark)

One kind of management of political needs never used generally is consensus.  It could work.  One strength that might be missing in any other way is that 100% of population would be involved through continuity of word-carrier at ‘next step’ times.

Another questionably positive or negative strength might be that of the ‘type’ of group each group would be.  Thus every step would contain largest response from a given “type” of person.

Bless you all in what you’re doing.  It needs doing.

[Entered from scanned document]

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