Re: [atlarge-discuss] a legitimate election?

[DannyYounger@cs.com]

Sotiris,

I see that you take issue with the presence of a gadfly in your midst.  Too 
bad.  As long as this remains a discuss list that is open to any individual, 
I will continue to post my thoughts whether you like it or not.   

The abolitionist Angelina Grimké once wrote:  "The tendency of organization 
is to kill out the spirit which gave it birth. Organizations do not protect 
the sacredness of the individual; their tendency is to sink the individual in 
the mass, to sacrifice his rights, and to immolate him on the altar of some 
fancied good." 

At this time I have no overwhelming desire to join a group that won't even 
send an "announce" message to its full membership advising them of the 
commencement of an election nomination period.  You treat your own members as 
less-than-important and seem to extend no measure of courtesy to your guests 
either.  You and your fellow panel members have failed to engage the broader 
membership and have effectively killed the spirit of this group.

There are many people that are reticent to join associations, many that 
"lurk" for years before committing themselves to some group.  Most seek to 
evaluate whether a group is open-minded, or if it is controlled by a select 
group of Napoleans-in-the-making.  As Henry David Thoreau once wrote, "If I 
were consciously to join any party, it would be that which is the most free 
to entertain thought".  

This sentiment was also shared by Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote:  "Each man, 
if he attempts to join himself to others, is on all sides cramped and 
diminished of his proportion; and the stricter the union, the smaller and the 
more pitiful he is. But leave him alone, to recognize in every hour and place 
the secret soul, he will go up and down doing the works of a true member, 
and, to the astonishment of all, the work will be done with concert, though 
no man spoke."

At the moment, this is an organization that purports to represent 
individuals, yet those that vie for "leadership" in this body don't even 
respect the very nature of individualism.  How sad.  Soon, like the IDNO, you 
will have just a handful of members and nothing but discussions on charters 
and discussions on how to expel founders and guests.  

Since the inception of this organization, has anyone actually attempted to 
discuss issues of concern to users?  Of course not, all you seem to care 
about is getting elected... and once elected, you certainly don't get the job 
done, do you?  Now you seek to game the election process by rushing through a 
set of candidates without the benefit of full membership notification... how 
typical of those that seek to remain in power at all costs.  Bravo!  I 
commend your audacity!

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