[HCoop-Discuss] Proportional Representation?

[Franklin Gordon Bynum]

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Michael, I just don't think many people share your criticisms.  They are appreciated, but ultimately unpersuasive.

I share many of Nathan's feelings.  I can't possibly understand how the Sainte-Laguë and Borda methods would be implemented here.  Dividing into factions would be utterly ridiculous.  The "technical" and the "non-technical" users will each have representation?  This is counterproductive, to say the least.

Our legal structure-- a corporation-- necessarily involves some measure of majoritarianism; various legal mechanisms can distribute power in different ways between shareholders/members and the board, ultimately there will be some kind of a majority vote at some level.  Hcoop is not some perpetual trust set up to provide a set level of service that is merely to be administered by trustees.  This is a fluid, democratic organization.  It is inclusive (radically so, I hope and believe), deliberative, and, yes, responsive.  

At a certain point, our legal structure requires members to remain vigilant and active if the coop is going to "act" like it should.  This is a requirement if we are to be an organization that can grow to include others that share our values and want to be involved in their web hosting setup more than a mere customer of a business.  

We would not be able to function as well as we do today if we were bridled with byzantine formulas that reflected contrived divisions.  

More than that, again, Hcoop is not a trust.  The decisions are largely not made in advance, because they cannot be with a technology service provider.  Moreover, inability to make certain kinds of binding decisions in advance is to a certain extent part of the corporate form itself, as well.

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