Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Consent & Responsibility

[R Philip Dowds (rpdowds]

Now that's interesting:  I stand aside with some regularity.  The main reason 
is that I can often see I am the only one with reservations about a proposal, 
and that the whole group wants to go ahead even though I have voiced my 
objections.  We have a minimum two-thirds participation rule, so when I stand 
aside, it's like I'm not in the room, and some other household must fill my 
chair to meet quota — so standing aside has some consequence, it raises the 
participation threshold.  This feels better to me than insisting that I alone 
know more about what's good for the group than the group itself.

But here's the difference:  I expect to be bound by the decision that I do not 
participate in.  Maybe the group thinks that we should move all our cars out of 
the parking lot during a major snow storm.  Maybe I have argued that this is 
counter-productive for reasons A, B and C, and refuse to let my thumb be added 
to quorum.  But if that's what the group chooses, I will indeed move my car 
when the big storm strikes.

I never fear making a decision and being held accountable what happens next.  
Standing away from quorum is as much a decision as thumbing, and I can assure 
you some of my neighbors find this more disturbing than blocking.

RPD


On Sep 28, 2011, at 12:32 PM, Sharon Villines wrote:

> In dynamic governance there is no option to stand aside — the only options 
> are consent or object. If you don't have tangible objections, ones that can 
> be teased out and addressed, then you consent. It maybe a passive consent, "I 
> don't see any reason not to do this", or an active consent, "I really think 
> this is a good idea." Both are consent.