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Lauren Ayers's avatar

As we evolve towards less government, let's give consensus a try.

Not the so-called consensus found in statements like, “99% of scientists say vaccines are safe and effective.” That fake consensus is actually public relations (i.e. advertising, i.e. propaganda, i.e. lies from professional liars). The fake consensus can persuade innocent, overly trusting people; however those who question the justifications for major public policies and dig down to the facts have and will save us from all kinds of heart-breaking, expensive-to-fix mistakes. For example, Questioners like Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) and Dr. Frances O. Kelsey (thanks to her, thalidomide was not licensed in the US).

Consensus is used by numerous corporate and not-for-profit organizations as a way to avoid the pitfalls of “Majority Rules.” (Remember, a lynch mob is an example of Majority Rules gone bad.) Policies made without consensus can cause a lot of problems to a community or a nation – just look at the majority view, which lasted thousands of years, that a woman’s place was only in the home. Another flawed paradigm was Might Makes Right, by which the winner of a war could enslave the conquered nation.

Consensus (when it’s achieved correctly) is a better process for governance than voting. I learned how Affinity Groups work when I joined the Abalone Alliance (early 1980s) to blockade the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant before it went online.

What a revelation it was to discover that getting everyone’s agreement to a policy or action meant that the minority objections were valuable – they could be crucial for finding a workable, fair plan.

And occasionally a person would still have objections to the group’s tentative proposal but would “stand aside,” i.e. quit blocking consensus, because they saw that their concern wasn’t as important as moving forward.

Achieving consensus takes more time at the start, but usually avoids a lot of conflict later.

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peter john wraight's avatar

#11 MP,s must not act like children.

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