Frelga, thanks for asking the question I was expecting to be raised from my previous post! (Because I found myself puzzled by it, right after I had posted.)
On an invitation only, member-run and potentially member-owned board, who's we? And which we are so much more important than the other we that we can tell the rest of we to leave if we don't like it?
I had spoken of "we" vs "everybody", and immediately after posting, that didn't seem to make sense to me. So I had to give it some thought.
By "we" I meant this community, the existing one. And I know that we can't please everybody even in this community. So when I speak of what "we" want, I mean something like "the greatest happiness of the greatest number" (or whatever the correct quote is).
You could see it in the imaginary result to V's poll, which I posted a while ago to explain how it works:
I had 80% of the voters happy to open at one point, and I said this meant I'd be ready to go along with that and open that point chosen by the 80%.
But read the other way round, it also means that I'm ready to displease 20% members by following that vote!
20% is more than a handful! I would very much hope that these 20% would not be so unhappy about this decision that it would cause them to leave, because ideally I want everybody to be happy - but if they left because of this, I'd have to accept that (you may call it "shrug it off").
It's not nice, but I'd make 20% less happy with the board, in order to make 80% happier.
However, I would NOT make 20% less happy with the board, in order to make two or three people happy with the board, who left or declined an invitation because the board is closed!
And I don't even think I'm shrugging it off that people are unhappy - I just realise that you can't please all.
Sorry to quote your words for my case, Prim, but:
Prim, in the Jury Room wrote: |
"Unsolvable" conflicts do solve themselves eventually, in my experience. People calm down, usually. Sometimes someone leaves, which is unfortunate
It
is unfortunate - but if someone is too unhappy to stay, "shrugging it off" is all we can do, I'm afraid.
TORN, I've been on the committee from the start, and I'm doing some adminning now. I hardly have time for chatting here myself. I've been itching to contribute to some of the symposium threads, too, for example, but I just don't get round to it.
Ok, maybe I'm such a political animal and enjoy that kind of debate, but I, for one, don't feel at all like you. Just sayin'.