Nov. 7, 2001, 9:24 a.m. (Message 28067, in reply to message 28061)
I would add a rider to Jim's comments. There seemed to be some antagonism to the fact that Option 3(C) was resurrected in the face of the Exec councils support of 1(A), and that to seek an alternative was undemocratic. Jim wrote: "> there comes a point when, whatever form of democracy has been agreed, it has to be accepted." This is true, but does not mean that a decision is then cast in tablets of stone for ever, otherwise there is no point in Jim, and others of us, continuing the fight from within. It means that one works to make the decision work, but that one does not, and indeed should not, give up working to make it work better. This is the beauty of a democracy, that one can always work within a constitutional framework to try to get one's views across while still supporting the work of the organisation. (Otherwise there are some political parties which would have had to put up the shutters years ago.) Equally, one cannot take one's ball home and leave an organisation (if a decision has been taken with which one does not agree), and still hope to influence that organisation, because in a democratic society change can only be effected from within. (Even if it is in response to external forces, it still has to be accepted by the majority. By definition, I would suggest, democracy is dead when very major change is imposed from outside.) Andrew.