[governance] Reinstate the Vote

[Kieren McCarthy]

Ad hominem attack.


Kieren



-----Original Message-----
From: Milton L Mueller [mailto:mueller at syr.edu] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 21, 2007 6:22 AM
To: governance at lists.cpsr.org; Kieren McCarthy
Subject: RE: [governance] Reinstate the Vote


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kieren McCarthy [mailto:kierenmccarthy at gmail.com]
>
> What you are saying is: I want you to reinstate a system that broke down
> and has caused seven years of argument.
> 

Kieren, if you're interested in "public participation" then you have to
offer people some form of direct influence. What Dan Krimm was saying was
simply that rational people don't invest time and effort in participation
for participation's sake. They want a reasonable chance that their voices
and preferences matter. Voting gave them that. Things like ALAC and sending
emails to a comment board that has no influence other than what those in
positions of authority choose to give it, don't. 

To say that voting for the Board "broke down" is factually false; this is
all well-documented and there's no need to rehash the debate. 

To say that voting was wrong because it caused "seven years of argument" is
a rather dangerous statement for you to make: ICANN has caused ten years of
argument and the arguments will continue for years -- does that mean should
we get rid of it, too? 

Apparently, your real job is not promoting "public participation" but
promoting "public participation on terms and conditions that ICANN's
managers choose." I would encourage you to look into Hong Kong's system of
selecting a Chief Executive, which was imposed on it by mainland China. It
was designed to block direct elections but provide some form of public
input, while making sure that nothing can happen that the mainland
government does not control. Some of us with broader political experience
are quite familiar with such structures. 


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