[Consensus] [Facilitation] Fwd: Weariness in Occupyland

Gregory Murphy gsjmurphy at gmail.com
Sun Feb 12 12:18:32 EST 2012


I completely agree, Matt . . . trust and agreement on values . . .



On Sun, Feb 12, 2012 at 5:43 AM, Matt Carroll <mattbcarroll at yahoo.com>wrote:

> Meh.
>
> Consensus will work or fail on the trust we develop with each other or
> fail to. The trick is making yourself available to people. Good or bad
> process is almost beside the point.
>
> Matt
>
> On Feb 12, 2012, at 12:19 AM, Gregory Murphy <gsjmurphy at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I forward this email from C. T. Butler, advertising a 2 day workshop he's
> doing on Long Island, Feb 24 thru 26. I am going to try to attend and
> welcome any traveling companions.
>
> See the attachments.
>
>
>
> Greg
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: C.T. Butler < <ctbutler at together.net>ctbutler at together.net>
> Date: Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 3:53 PM
> Subject: Weariness in Occupyland
> To: Gregory Murphy < <gsjmurphy at gmail.com>gsjmurphy at gmail.com>
>
>
>  [Greg, be sure to check out my answers to Sati's questions attached
> below. I strongly encourage you to consider attending this workshop so you
> know firsthand what I am teaching. C.T.]
>
>
> There's a lot of weariness out there in Occupyland this winter. Are you
> bunkered in, wondering how such diverse people will ever practice direct
> democracy? Are you discouraged, or already taking a break? Has your GA
> shrunk down to the loud cowboy voices and the peacekeepers trying to
> placate them? How did we know, you ask?
>
> Wren and I have been experiencing the same stew of elation, hope,
> consternation and frustration that many of you have shared with us in
> person, by phone and in emails. Occupy is our baby, too, and we are as
> deeply invested in its success as you.
>
> This is why I'm urgently inviting you to Fiopa Consensus Collective's *Consensus:
> Body & Soul* workshop, February 24-26, on Long Island, NY. The reason I
> want you to attend is that I believe, with all my heart, that value-based
> consensus process is a revolutionary decision making process unlike the
> consensus process you have seen so far.
>
> The following questions are typical of what we've been asked. These came
> from Sati, of OWS:
>
> *What do you do when you suspect there are plants in a group that would
> like the group not to reach consensus – it would like the group to fail to
> make any decisions?*
>
> *What do you do when a group of people who are just too emotional, they
> start shouting at each other?*
>
> *Consensus appears to fail even in a small group of people, how can we
> expect it to work in a large group of people like cities? They can’t even
> gather together in one place. It seems to me that representative governance
> just cannot be avoided. Once the group of representatives is down to around
> 10 or so, we could possibly think of consensus. But even in that situation,
> the interest of the super-rich is diagonally opposite to that of poor. How
> are they going to reconcile with each other?*
>
> [My responses are attached.]
>
> From our experience with groups that do ongoing deep work with this model
> for years, we know that consensus can address and resolve the serious
> problems the Occupy movement encountered with direct democracy. However,
> you do not have to take our word for this. Fiopa Collective recently taught
> this workshop to activists from Occupy Baltimore. Please feel free to
> contact the attendees below and hear directly from them what they
> experienced:
>
> Zak Wear • zakwear at gmail.com • 410.570.9322  *(graduate of Gilford
> College, a Quaker college)*
>
> Jenny Graf • jennygrafsheppard at gmail.com • 240.893.2239
>
> Ed Boicourt • eboicourt at gmail.com • 443.677.9308
>
> Lane Berck • 410.727.1880  *(leave message loudly and twice)*
>
> The 2-day workshop on consensus will be held on Long Island (Manorville,
> NY) Feb 24-26 (Friday evening to Sunday). It is accessible by the LIRR from
> Penn Station to Mastic/Shirley or Patchogue (~$34 round-trip). We will
> provide transportation from the train station to the venue. The host is an
> experienced vegetarian chef. She will be providing light fare on Friday and
> three meals Saturday & Sunday. We encourage folks to arrive Friday evening
> whenever they can. Sessions will be 9 am till 5 pm both Saturday & Sunday.
> All sessions will be held in a huge private home complete with hot tub. The
> entire package is only $250/person, including tuition, room & board
> (gourmet vegetarian food & indoor camping)! If you or anyone you know wants
> a deep immersion in value-based consensus in an excellent environment, this
> would be the one to attend. It promises to be an amazing experience! Please
> print the brochure attached below and fill out and mail the registration
> form or call Wren @ 410.458.2310 for questions or to register.
>
> Again, I believe this work is an essential part of the change we all want
> to see in our country. We need to learn how to make direct democracy work
> for real. This is imperative. We cannot fail. To fail is to perish. Please
> spread the word.
>
> C.T. Butler
>
> 301.586.2560
>
>
>
>
>
>
> <CBS Manorville Sati's questions.doc>
>
> <CBS Manorville Brochure.pdf>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Facilitation mailing list
>
> Post: <Facilitation at lists.occupyboston.org>
> Facilitation at lists.occupyboston.org
> List info: <https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/facilitation>
> https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/listinfo/facilitation
>
> To Unsubscribe
>        Send email to:   <Facilitation-unsubscribe at lists.occupyboston.org>
> Facilitation-unsubscribe at lists.occupyboston.org
>        Or visit:
> <https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/options/facilitation/mattbcarroll%40yahoo.com>
> https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/options/facilitation/mattbcarroll%40yahoo.com
>
> You are subscribed as: <mattbcarroll at yahoo.com>mattbcarroll at yahoo.com
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.mayfirst.org/mailman/private/consensus/attachments/20120212/618794df/attachment.htm>


More information about the Consensus mailing list