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  %FORMAL TRAPS INFORMAL CONSENSUS SOLUTION DILEMMA+011227
 %PATTERNS ATTITUDES ASSUMPTIONS BELIEFS CONVICTION+011227
  %AUTHENTIC PEOPLE'S HEARTS MINDS SOULS DOMINATION+011227
 %SYSTEM TECHNOCRAT CONTROL ADDICTS CODEPENDENT SIN+011227
  %ROBERTS RULES ORDER EITHER DICHOTOMIES POSITIONS+011227
 %STANDS CONFESSIONS DEMANDS COMMANDMENTS PRESCRIBE 011227
                                                          
        On the importance of an Informal Consensus        
                                                          
     We  often fall into the trap of feeling and  thinking
that  what  really  counts are  formal  votes  and  formal
decisions   ---regarding     formal    proposals    placed
before     formal  legislative  assemblies  and   judicial
bodies.                                                   
                                                          
     I suggest that what really counts are the patterns of
informal  consensuses  which are registered  in  authentic
people's hearts, minds and souls; places where the efforts
of  domineering  supporters  of  "The  Domination  System"
cannot  reach;   places where domineering people cannot be
in control.                                               
                                                          
     What  really  counts  is NOT the count  of  how  many
people   have  taken   public   stands   for  or   against
particular   formal proposals  ---    but how deeply  many
people   of   integrity  understand  the   hidden  issues,
questions,     and  inter-relationships  ---    which  are
hidden   by    the   superficial  public    stands    that
domineering  people have  taken  about  particular  formal
proposals.                                                
                                                          
     What really counts  is NOT how many and powerful  are
the leaders  of collusive games of mutual self   deception
---but    how  clearly  articulated  are  the  penetrating
questions  and   affirmations   which  expose  the  hidden
rules   of  the collusive games of mutual self  deception;
e.g,  (1)  There are no such games.  (2)   Do not say what
their rules are.  (3) Do not describe the bitter fruits of
the games. (4)  Don't you dare drop out of our game!      
                                                          
     What  really  counts  is  how  well  authentic-people
communicate  with each other their own insights  into  how
"The Domination  System"  works to undermine both personal
and  communal integrity ---thereby revealing its  lack  of
integrity.  Through  such communications  authentic-people
can  expose,   clarify, subvert,  and undermine the powers
of domineering  people. When  authentic-people  have fully
exposed    the    lack   of   integrity   in   traditional
domineering ways,   the tide  will turn  in  the  counting
of  votes  on  formal  proposals  which  are  devised  and
proposed by domineering people.                           
                                                          
     What  really counts is how powerfully-gentle are  the
ways   in  which   authentic-people  expose  the  lack  of
integrity    of   domineering     people    who    advance
themselves   by  taking advantage of vulnerable people who
are:  thirsty,  hungry, weak,   sick,  dis-eased,  ill-at-
ease,   naked,   homeless, confused,  ignorant,  hopeless,
powerless,     female,    young,   and/or    traditionally
oppressed.     When  there is  a   broad-based    informal
consensus   that   domineering  leaders   lack  integrity;
they lose their power and  advantages.     The first shall
be last, and the last shall be first.                     
                                                          
     Formal   proposals   (which  take  for  granted   the
continued abuse of vulnerable people) collapse in the face
of  an informal  consensus  on the part of many  authentic
people  who  reveal  the lack of integrity in  the  formal
proposals.  Many proposals lack integrity because they are
grounded  in  one or more collusive games of  mutual  self
deception.     We  are   called  to  reveal  the  lack  of
integrity  ---    by  how clearly  we  speak   the   truth
about   powerful  collusive leaders  ---   exposing  their
lack of integrity for all  to see.                        
                                                          
                                                                                                                               
                         (c) 2005 by Paul A. Smith in      
                    (On Being Yourself, Whole and Healthy)  
                                                                                                                               
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