[Chicago] Talk Proposal

[sheila miguez]

I propose a reading from The Tyranny of Structurelessness.

http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/tyranny.htm

While engaging in this trial-and-error process, there are some principles
we can keep in mind that are essential to democratic structuring and are
also politically effective:

1) *Delegation* of specific authority to specific individuals for specific
tasks by democratic procedures. Letting people assume jobs or tasks only by
default means they are not dependably done. If people are selected to do a
task, preferably after expressing an interest or willingness to do it, they
have made a commitment which cannot so easily be ignored.
2) Requiring all those to whom authority has been delegated to be
*responsible* to those who selected them. This is how the group has control
over people in positions of authority. Individuals may exercise power, but
it is the group that has ultimate say over how the power is exercised.
3) *Distribution* of authority among as many people as is reasonably
possible. This prevents monopoly of power and requires those in positions
of authority to consult with many others in the process of exercising it.
It also gives many people the opportunity to have responsibility for
specific tasks and thereby to learn different skills.
4) *Rotation* of tasks among individuals. Responsibilities which are held
too long by one person, formally or informally, come to be seen as that
person's "property" and are not easily relinquished or controlled by the
group. Conversely, if tasks are rotated too frequently the individual does
not have time to learn her job well and acquire the sense of satisfaction
of doing a good job.
5) *Allocation* of tasks along rational criteria. Selecting someone for a
position because they are liked by the group or giving them hard work
because they are disliked serves neither the group nor the person in the
long run. Ability, interest, and responsibility have got to be the major
concerns in such selection. People should be given an opportunity to learn
skills they do not have, but this is best done through some sort of
"apprenticeship" program rather than the "sink or swim" method. Having a
responsibility one can't handle well is demoralizing. Conversely, being
blacklisted from doing what one can do well does not encourage one to
develop one's skills. Women have been punished for being competent
throughout most of human history; the movement does not need to repeat this
process.
6) *Diffusion of information* to everyone as frequently as possible.
Information is power. Access to information enhances one's power. When an
informal network spreads new ideas and information among themselves outside
the group, they are already engaged in the process of forming an opinion --
without the group participating. The more one knows about how things work
and what is happening, the more politically effective one can be.
7) *Equal access to resources* needed by the group. This is not always
perfectly possible, but should be striven for. A member who maintains a
monopoly over a needed resource (like a printing press owned by a husband,
or a darkroom) can unduly influence the use of that resource. Skills and
information are also resources. Members' skills can be equitably available
only when members are willing to teach what they know to others.

When these principles are applied, they insure that whatever structures are
developed by different movement groups will be controlled by and
responsible to the group. The group of people in positions of authority
will be diffuse, flexible, open, and temporary. They will not be in such an
easy position to institutionalize their power because ultimate decisions
will be made by the group at large. The group will have the power to
determine who shall exercise authority within it.



On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 10:05 AM, Joseph Curtin <jbcurtinnews at gmail.com>wrote:

> I could contribute some readings of Mencius.
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 11:01 AM, Randy Baxley <randy7771026 at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> +1 on any huge book readings or slamming large books on unexpected
>> abscesses.
>>
>> I will sit in a corner and contemplate N dimensional relationships to a
>> three dimensional existence.
>>
>>
>> http://books.google.com/books/about/Geometry_Relativity_and_the_Fourth_Dimen.html?id=IsiUudN5pD0C
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 8:33 AM, Brian Ray <brianhray at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Proposal: I will read random selections from Moby Dick... For safety
>>> reasons, we will lock all doors from exit.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Brian Ray
>>> @brianray
>>> (773) 669-7717
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Chicago mailing list
>>> Chicago at python.org
>>> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Chicago mailing list
>> Chicago at python.org
>> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> -Joseph Curtin
> http://www.jbcurtin.com
>  <http://www.jbcurtin.com/>github <http://goo.gl/d5uPH>
> @jbcurtin
>
> _______________________________________________
> Chicago mailing list
> Chicago at python.org
> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/chicago
>
>


-- 
sheila
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