Organisation democracy (was: Balance relationships with companies)

[Bernhard E. Reiter]

Hi Mirko,

Am Donnerstag 26 September 2019 22:27:17 schrieb Mirko Boehm:
> repeating an argument does not make it tru-er.

that is correct, but the same holds for critical arguments:
Just repeating them, does not convince more people.

Still to know the arguments and positions
is the basis for a constructive discussion.

> This issue does not go away because it remains the essential weakness 
> of FSFE in its current form. 

Or it is a strength, depending on the viewpoint.
FSFE could avoid a number of drawback of other organisations.

> Sure, "FSFE was founded to rely on a number of trusted individuals”, but
> that was 20 years ago. Outside of this echo chamber, 3/4 of them today are
> invisible or inactive. This hurts FSFEs reputation and impact.

Depends on the task, if the idea is to support the social group,
I'd rather have people that do not want to be in public light
and work constructively in the background.

> To speak in Albert Hirschman’s terms, everybody faces the choice to raise
> their voice to influence an organisation their care about or to exit. 
> If people’s voices are made irrelevant, they will eventually stop trying to
> change things and looks for better ways to invest their energy.

Like everywhere people will have to convince others that their proposed change
is for the better. Same with FSFE and a lot of change done over the years.
If you propose something and cannot convice enough others, you can leave but 
you can also stay in the organisation sharing the same values, as you never 
get all proposal implemented.

> I am contributing my time at OSI now. They do have elections.

If OSI with their less political position is a better fit for you,
I'd say this is natural. And FSFE and OSI can cooperate on good occasions. 

Best Regards,
Bernhard

-- 
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