Fred, this "authority" could bring order to the present chaos. As for my proposals, I have none that are fully formed. I would hope to work them out with persons who also believe this change is necessary.
This is for Stephanie: I had trouble reading your post the way it came formatted on my computer. However, I could make out the last sentence which contained the phrases, "meaning of consensus", and "consent of the entire community". No one has yet defined for me the "meaning of consensus", nor described for me how the "consent of the entire community" is determined.
Marc
I think you need to define the problem. What problems are not being addressed by lack of centralized authority? As Stephanie suggested we could have an elected council. What would their role be?
Fred