[OccupySheffield] [OccupySheffieldPrivate] Fw: Citadel of Hopeupdate

[Mick Ibbotson]

David,

you wrote :)

>People are free to air their disagreements over the decisions taken with the new occupation over the public forums and via email if they wish. 

thats very generous of you....however it seems some comments posted to Occupy Sheffield's facebook page have been removed? which sort of defeats the point of the exercise - ref Sheffield Forum's various threads for details.

>I agree that all decisions should ultimately be taken collectively at GA but I myself see no reason why they shouldn't be taken retrospectively given the above circumstances and rescinded if necessary.  

therein lies the problem - as Jean stated 

> All of these decisions should have been made by OSGA at the camp - this way of working is not consensual or directly democratic - who says who is crew and can enter the building? who says what policies are to be adopted - this way of working is incredibly authoritarian and divisive

It is indeed - I think the balance between led and leaderless organisations is quite crucial. However in the case of the Citadel - I was allowed a quick look around and its not really safe for people to be in - so I agree that usage should really be kept down to the team making it safe - if only to make the work easier to control and manage, it does have huge potential. The wider picture however is different. Trying to organise a leaderless organisation is virtually impossible - its like trying to plait fog. As a result some 'leaders' emerge no matter how inclusive you try to be and when that group make decisions - its only to be accepted that sometimes not everyone will agree - but everyone needs to sign up to it - as it stands it seems more facist - 'do as we say'- sort of mentality of 'we know best' coming to the fore and its fully understandable that people will rail against it. The attitude of some of the 'camp elite' have driven me to all but withdraw from any participation - I also feel that other people are heading the same way and that the circle is getting smaller, looking inward and not actually encouraging people to participate. I think on balance I agree with Jean's point in general terms. I went also to the camp - not sure what I was meant to do there - I was a bit concerned how rundown it was looking and eventually wandered away - having stood in the rain for a while waiting for something to do - people just seemed to want to drink tea. It could do with a jobs board - rather than have people just stood around like spare parts.

I think thats all I want to say at the moment - good luck with it.

Mick

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