Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Declaration of the Society Any company or society (in English law) needs a document saying what it's going to do, and why the shareholders (of a company) or members (of a society) have come together. So, if we assume that the Society is going to be a mutually-held society, on the model of building societies, it will need to have a contract that sets out the agreement that members make with each other. It seems a bit legalistic, but in fact it's a great opportunity to have a readable statement of principles and agreement rather than a document stuffed with "heretofore hereinunder". The trick is to write a brief statement that hands off the detailed description of the Society's rules to its own laws and practices. In other words, we say: This is why the Society is needed These are the Society's fundamental principles We all agree that we'll follow the laws of the Society This is how those laws will be defined As for what the principles are, they need to be broadly drawn, so they don't imply a political position, but not content-free. They need to state the essence of the democratic mind-set - equality, tolerance, and so on - without sounding preachy or bland. I'll try and post a draft in the next few days. 9:09:57 AM    comment []

Welcome wellblog readers I've just heard that this blog is now part of the wellblogs list, and hence the wellblogs RSS feed. So a big HELLO to all fellow WELL members out there. A very brief glossary for one part of this discussion: this blog is in part my thinking out loud about a new society/framework for democratic deliberation. When I talk about the Society, I mean this new society/framework (working title: The Athenian Society, hence the name of the blog). If you want to read on, you can see all relevant posts together at the Athenianism page . 8:51:59 AM    comment []

Canonbury It's a while since I've been back to North London, so it was good to head to Canonbury this morning for a meeting. I'd forgotten how leafy this part of Islington is. God knows how much money it must cost to live there - millions for a three-bed house, I'd have thought. And I think I've fallen in love with a conference venue - surely the only time this is likely to happen. 12:06:35 AM    comment []