[Consensus] [Facilitation] Fwd: Weariness in Occupyland

Z Z zarawithazee at yahoo.com
Mon Feb 13 15:20:13 EST 2012


Consensus process is a way to reach and build "trust and agreement on values".
Smiles,
Zara  

--- On Sun, 2/12/12, Gregory Murphy <gsjmurphy at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Gregory Murphy <gsjmurphy at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Consensus] [Facilitation] Fwd: Weariness in Occupyland
To: "Matt Carroll" <mattbcarroll at yahoo.com>
Cc: "consensus at lists.occupyboston.org" <consensus at lists.occupyboston.org>, "Spokes List" <spokes at lists.occupyboston.org>, "facilitation at lists.occupyboston.org" <facilitation at lists.occupyboston.org>
Date: Sunday, February 12, 2012, 12:18 PM


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>
Date: Sat, Feb 11, 2012 at 3:53 PM
Subject: Weariness in Occupyland
To: Gregory Murphy <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>

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