[New-imc] blocking proposals

[micmatic]

I object.

I dont think it is even right to think of a "block" in these narrowly 
defined terms at all.
If an individual raises concerns over a decision or objects to it, it 
still depends on wether the majority picks up those concerns, wether or 
not it believes the objection is appropriate.
If an objection is reasonable and justified people will naturally 
support it and a proposal will neccessarily be blocked. If noone else 
seems to be supporting the same concerns against a proposal we will have 
reached consensus.

A "block" can never actually be done by a single person or group. It is 
not even an action in itself.
All people and/or groups can do is voice their concerns, object to ideas 
and make counter-proposals.
If the large majority of people then decides against a proposal or 
chooses to abandon it for lack of support, we have what one calls a "block".

There seem to be fundamental misconceptions of how consensus works, and 
the meanings of terms such as a "block" or an "objection" should not be 
confused or misunderstood.
Any individual's and/or group's right to object to proposals or raise 
concerns shall not be infringed.

As a general guide to those who are unfamiliar with it, it could be said 
that "decision making by consensus" basically has *no rules at all*!
That's what it's all about - making decisions on the basis of how 
"generally agreed to" something is or not.
This means that no single person or group really has a "right" to 
"block" or "veto" a decision at all.


Regards,
Marco.



blue pi wrote:

>Hi,
>
>Thanks for the explanations.
>
>As far as I can see there are good reasons for having an IMC London
>and the group that is working on that seems to be commited to the
>principles of openness and transparency (and those of us who know
>them will surely confirm that they really are).
>
>I don't think we ever had a situation in which no consensus could be
>reached because only two people (and as it seems no group behind
>them) were blocking the approval of an IMC. However, I think it
>should not be possible. I mean after all, if we would allow this,
>anyone could start blocking proposals. 
>
>On the other hand we must find a process and general rules how we can
>deal with this situation and not open the door for arbitrary
>violations of consensus decision making.
>
>I think we could have the following rule: in order to block a
>proposal people need to be working in an IMC collective (which is
>defined by the IMC membership criteria). 
>
>greetings
>blue
>  
>