Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Great moments in consensus -- Moment 2

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

Maybe.  I might conclude that the furiously contested 60/40 disposition was
not an illustration of consensus, but rather of partisanship and brute force
majority rule at its worst.  (And the actual ³reform² passed was lame in the
extreme.)

Now as for Russia and China, do we think their side thumbs mean, ³We remain
deeply concerned, but we will cooperate²?  Or, ³Do as you please, but we¹ll
be doing something else²?  Or even, ³Pretend we¹re not in the room, and
remove us from the quorum²?  This is in fact the unclarity of sidethumbing
in our community.  Which is why some communities don¹t allow for side
thumbs.

Philip Dowds
Cornerstone Cohousing
Cambridge, MA


On 3/21/11 2:47 PM, "David Heimann" <heimann [at] theworld.com> wrote:

> 
> 
> [Moment 1 was 60 Democratic senators coming together on health care just
> about a year ago.]
> 
> 
> 
> Hello Everyone,
> 
>   Another great moment in consensus -- the UN Security Council vote
> authorizing the use of force in Libya.  There were negotiations that took
> place 
> leading to the vote, support from the various political groups including the
> Arab League, and discussion with potential opponents.
> 
>   Most of all, Russia and China, while disagreeing with the proposal,
> were willing to stand aside ("thumbs sideways") rather than blocking ("thumbs
> down").
> 
> Regards,
> David
> 
> 
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