<VV> Corsa Board of Directors etc. - long since drained of all Corvair content

[Roger Gault]

NOTE:  This is not aimed at Mark Corbin, his wording just triggered an
already armed opinion.  ;-)
I have a nasty cold and I'm on huge doses of hydrocodone for my back, so I'm
feeling like God's gift to governmental philosophy - sorry.

It is NOT the "inalienable right" of a CORSA member to override the
decisions of the BOD - just as it is not the right of a US citizen to
override the laws of the government we elected.  It IS the right of any
dissatisfied member/citizen to:
  a)  contact the leadership and try to convince them to change their
decisions
  b)  attempt to change the leadership
  c)  "move to Canada"
  d)  live with it and complain (the usual choice)
  e)  attempt to become a part of the leadership.

The idea behind a representative form of government is not that it is a
practical substitute for a true democracy.  It is that we (the electorate)
get to find some sucker and stick all the grubby work of government on
him/her while we are free to engage in more enjoyable tasks like working or
our cars and persuing happiness.  That way, we don't have to spend hours
stressing over what the "right thing to do" is in every little PITA issue
that comes up while running an organization.  We can let our elected suckers
do that for us.  If we find we can't trust them to "do the right thing"
often enough, we can hopefully find some new sucker to take over the job.

This actually works pretty well - much better than the mythical democracy.
It generally results in rule by those who care enough to engage in the
process.  It's slow - it takes forever to get rid of an idiot.  It's risky
because it's so hard to judge the character and beliefs of a candidate
before he/she is elected.  But, watching a few episodes of Jaywalking on the
Tonight Show should convince any thinking person that we don't want
everybody on the street actively running the government.  ;-)


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lon Wall" <corvairs at pacifier.com>
To: <sethracer at aol.com>
Cc: <virtualvairs at corvair.org>; <corsabod at corsa.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2008 2:07 PM
Subject: Re: <VV> Corsa Board of Directors etc.


> Mark Corbin wrote:
>
> >It may be the board's place to make executive decisions, but it's the
inalienable
> >right of the membership to question
> >heir decisions, and to override them when they go against the will of the
> >embership. And THAT is why I feel the question SHOULD be asked. CORSA was
> >OT set up as a dictatorship, it was meant to be a democratic republic,
and
> >pen to membership debates and input.
> >
> >
>
> So Lon Wall writes - Hi Mark, always good to hear from you. What you're
> making is similar to most political speeches. CORSA is not a political
> organization. Corsa is a Corvair club. Nearly everyone who belongs to
> Corsa does so because they like Corvairs and see a value in the National
> club. Very few of those people have any interest in internal politics,
> or playing politics. The Corsa board has the unique responsibility to
> play internal Corsa politics, when almost none of the other members want
to.
>
> In this respect, while Corsa is set up as a representative republic, the
> board is pretty much dictatorial - at thier own risk of course. These
> things may not be what you want to hear, but ask yourself why such a
> small number of members vote in board elections or return surveys. The
> board's tricky charge is to make sure that they keep the organization in
> one piece and don't alientate too many members in the process. There
> have been very few board members who did not have Corsa's best intrests
> at heart (although there have been notable exceptions) so the fear that
> the board will behave irresponsibly is pretty low.
>
> That's not the same thing as saying that the board will always do
> exactly everything you want just the way you want it every time. You and
> every Corsa member, are each one individual, with your own beliefs,
> agendas and opinions. It's not realistic to expect that the board cater
> to only one person. Even on our small board, we are each just one person
> and have to constantly make compromises.
>
> Each board member must do what they think is right. The hope is that the
> organization remains sound and that we don't do anything to upset too
> many people. That sounds like a pretty low goal, but the fact is, that's
> what it is.    Lon Wall  Western Director
>
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