Theos-Talk Archives (June 2001 Message tt00085)

There has been a number of msgs on the topic of democracy in TS in the 
Theos-NZ list. The topic is relevant to other sections as well, in this 
world of Internet and instant communication. One message posted by Murray 
Stentiford is timely and thoughtful. In the message he comments:

"The question of democracy is closely tied to how leadership works, across a
whole spectrum ranging from autocratic/hierarchical at one end, to
spontaneous enjoyable co-operation at the other. Democracy falls somewhere
in between. It's interesting that the business world is turning from
autocratic leadership styles to open ones where more people participate,
and aspects of leadership and contribution are passed rapidly around the
group with the result that people identify with the decisions more, and
feel more responsibility for carrying them out. It's all a matter of what
kind of group processes go on."

"How control is effected is part of the picture; it's high and focused in
one person in the first case, and minimal, widespread, at the other.
Democracy is actually a way of gathering up authority and directions to act
in from a wide base of the people, processing it and "showering" it back
down onto them in the form of laws, services, facilities etc. It's a big
energy loop but, unfortunately, it's often a rather inadequate one because
everything is filtered through the pinhole of elections."

".... now that information can flow much more easily between people, on
the internet and other ways, it is becoming realistic to contemplate a
better implementation of democracy where opinions on different issues are
communicated to those who manage and act in society on a day-to-day basis.
So a leader actually know what the people want, right now, rather than
inferring it from an election way in the past. The flattening of
organisations that has been happening throughout the world on a big scale
for a couple of decades, is making information flows more open, while rigid
vertical structures are being replaced by level ones.

And where does the TS fit in? It has, today in New Zealand, an opportunity
to modify some of its ways of being to more actively shared ones, at the
national level, with more of the benefits of participative decision-making
noted above. So that people who are vitally interested in an issue and have
something to offer, can add their knowledge to others' knowledge and take
part in doing what needs to be done. So that creative synergies arise from
complementary skill and knowledge sets."

--------------

MKR: Obviously something may be going on at the organizational level in TS-NZ.