[quote:3i8b33pf]Your long reply deserves a full rebuttal elsewhere. I'll get to it when I have the time. The short version is: Caledon is not a democracy, we are. Democracy is messy, difficult and takes time. It's less efficient than benevolent dictatorship, but I prefer our system to living under Desmond's jackboot, even if he does apply it lightly Smile Others make a different choice. /me shrugs.[/quote:3i8b33pf]
First, on a purely personal note, as a friend and admirer's of Desmond's, I am appalled at your, frankly, idiotic comment about "living under Desmond's jackboot". I will not even dignify that with an answer. I apologise to Desmond for this entirely unwarranted and unjustifiable attack on his vision, commitment and achievements and most emphatically state that only very few here, in the CDS, think of him in these terms.
Second, our de facto oligarchy is hardly a model of democracy. Jump up and down in protest and outrage all you want. That's what we actually are right now.
Third, democracy doesn't have to be "messy, difficult and takes time". It just so happenss that our version is. We need to change that.
[quote:3i8b33pf]What you've utterly failed to demonstrate is how this kind of constitutional tinkering (which CARE is way too fond of) is likely to produce any concrete results.I think that the electorate can see through this, and have. That's why your faction came last in the recent elections, and the CSDF won with our practical 'Back to Basics' message.[/quote:3i8b33pf]
People are reluctant to change and try new things. We understand that. And yet - we got 16 first votes to your 19 and SP's 15. That is hardly last - unless of course one applies all sorts of Borda Counts and Saint League procedures to the actual result.
[quote:3i8b33pf]There's a very unpleasant tone to your dismissal of the work of the previous 6 RAs. Did you mean to be so contemptuous of others' achievements?[/quote:3i8b33pf]
Bull. I took great care to describe and comment on our 2 great achievements - our 2 high-quality sims and our continuous elections. Your blatant attempts to cast me as the "big bully" and have me ostracized because I dare spell out in detail what's wrong with the CDS did not work in the past. They will not work in the future.
[quote:3i8b33pf]A directly-elected Chancellor is a recipe for delay, inaction and inter-institutional rivalry. You need to come up with some better arguments than this.[/quote:3i8b33pf]
How so? That's one opinion only. Let's try it out and see, in practice. On the other hand, the status quo you defend has been documented, over six RAs, to produce some of the very same results (among others) you accuse our proposals of bringing about before they have been even fully discussed and debated - never mind implemented and tried out in practice. It is you who need better arguments to justify why we should go on keeping a system that has failed us on so many levels.
Vision. Leadership. Community. Transforming the CDS in a Dynamic Community at the Edge of Tomorrow. 16 citizens belive in this program for action. 19 voted for "Back to Basics". 15 voted for the SP's "simple" road. And 26 did not vote at all. The struggle for "hearts and minds" is far from over; it has merely begun. And your attempts to shift the grounds of debate from arguments and facts to personal attacks and invectives will just make the process more unpleasant - but won't stop it.
Come on, Pat. The arguments are there. They are clear. They are backed by factual evidence. Refusing to acknowledge them does not make them go away. [b:20noeusk]"E pur si muove"![/b:20noeusk]