[Foundation-l] Provisional Volunteer Council - proposal sent to the Board

[Ray Saintonge]

Aphaia wrote:
> I am moarning for Wikiquote which is so completely forgotten that
> anyone forget it has not been mentioned in that list.
>
> I don't complaint however that it is forgotten. I presume simply none
> from Wikiquote community is unwilling to improve. When Eia came with
> the idea to form a provisional committee, I poked some friends on the
> project. They seem to decide not to spare their time.  It is their/our
> matter, not the organizer.
>
> But of course I'll more than happy to see someone who knows Wikiquote
> on that committee ...
I do well to confess from the beginning that on a personal level I have 
never been a big supporter of Wikiquote, but I acknowledge that others 
call it home, and that needs to be respected.

The fundamental conflict here is on the one hand we would love to have 
every perspective represented, but on the other providing that 
representation detracts from what someone really loves to do on his home 
project.  We cannot demand that Wikiquote provide a representative, but 
we do need to find ways for the _views_ there to be represented.  The 
same holds true for any other small project.  Just look at the total 
list of all those who participated in the entire Wikicouncil discussion 
on any side, and it is still very small.

When we ask, "'Whom' do the Council members represent?" we may very well 
be asking the wrong question.  Asking about _what_ someone represents 
would be a more important question.  The ability to consider a different 
point of view fairly is more important than a blind dedication to making 
one's own point of view prevail.  When a vote results in a successful 
victory with the support of between 50 and 51%, is democracy really 
served by giving the victors an exclusive power over subsequent events?

Ideas, especially new ones, deserve greater attention.  Anthere dares to 
introduce new ideas, or ideas that show a deep grasp of the 
philosophical underpinnings of our movement, yet the most remarkable 
result of her recent "Barnraising" thread starter has been complete 
silence.  Maybe others, like me, are just launched into dreamscapes by 
such essays, but in that I have difficulty in believing my own theory.

Ec