Re: Digital Bazaar corporate position on upcoming election

HA!
The KHD extreme weirdness soft spot is a vulnerability you should keep
close to the vest/chest
<https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/15468/is-it-close-to-the-chest-or-close-to-the-vest>
.

If willing to explore the Rajneesh cult/cheese-making/electoral
college/blockchain voting system, then I might suggest we look at radical
democracy and Quadratic Voting
<https://www.radicalxchange.org/files/The_Handbook_for_Radical_Local_Democracy.pdf>
as well (forum here
<https://forum.radicalxchange.org/t/quadratic-voting-qv/66>). I happen to
think it is actually a fairly sound and superior system. </derail>

On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 4:05 PM Kim Hamilton <kimdhamilton@gmail.com> wrote:

> I swear you all are lucky I have a soft spot in my heart for your extreme
> weirdness. This is not at all how I thought voting would go down.
>
> But yes, if in the future the community decides on a Rajneesh
> cult/cheese-making/electoral college/blockchain voting system, then
> goddammit I will help make that happen.
>
>
> On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 2:16 PM Moses Ma <moses.ma@futurelabconsulting.com>
> wrote:
>
>> First, I wanted to thank Manu and Digital Bazaar for hosting the meeting
>> system for so many years. It was a significant contribution!
>>
>> Second, about voting and governance... a simple one member/one vote model
>> is fine for now, and we only need something more exotic if there's a chance
>> that a bad actor wishes to subvert things by leveraging the "hope for the
>> best" voting rules. The best example I've heard of, for what a bad actor
>> can do to an optimistic collective, is what the Rajneesh cult did to a
>> church in Laguna Beach California. They moved a large number of cult
>> members to that area, posed as Christians and infiltrated the membership.
>> Eventually, it voted out the board and turned the church into an ashram.
>> Obviously, lawsuits followed.
>>
>> If the chairs feel that it would be wise to install a safeguard – for
>> example, using the UN model with a "security council" that can veto things,
>> installing a poison pill into the charter, or establishing a "separation of
>> powers" system like the US government. However, the model I like the best
>> for decentralized management of the commons is based on Elinor Ostrom's
>> work (https://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Ostrom.html).
>>
>> One of the best pieces of work on public choice was done by Elinor Ostrom
>> of Indiana University, *Governing the Commons*. Her best example is the
>> Swiss alpine cheese makers. They had a commons problem. They live very
>> high, and they have a grazing commons for their cattle. They solved that
>> problem in the year 1200 A.D. They have a simple rule*: If you’ve got
>> three cows, you can pasture those three cows in the commons if you carried
>> them over from last winter.* But you can’t bring new cows in just for
>> the summer. It’s very costly to carry cows over to the winter—they need to
>> be in barns and be heated, they have to be fed. [The cheese makers] tie the
>> right to the commons to a private property right with the cows.
>>
>> In this case, what we can do is provide a "proof of work" staking
>> process, by requiring voters to have actually attended one workshop and/or
>> have contributed a minimal number of comments on the discussion forum. Or
>> whatever else the chairs and membership decide.
>>
>> Moses
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 6/10/20 10:55 AM, Manu Sporny wrote:
>>
>> Dear W3C Credentials Community Group,
>>
>> I'm sending this email as a representative of Digital Bazaar based on
>> our concerns related to allowing multiple individuals per company to
>> vote. As some of you know, W3C Member voting polls (a different process)
>> limit voting to one vote per company. This ensures that organizations
>> cannot pack a room with employees and skew the outcome of a vote. The
>> CCG has chosen to do individual votes, which we believe is a fitting way
>> for a community group to pick its leaders.
>>
>> This triggered an internal ethics discussion at our company, which we
>> are sharing in the spirit of being transparent about the guidance that
>> we've given our employees.
>>
>> The question raised in the company was whether or not we were voting on
>> our personal behalf or on behalf of the needs of our company. We
>> explored voluntarily restricting our organization to one vote, which
>> almost immediately led to concerns around vote suppression among
>> employees. We explored voluntarily restricting our organization to only
>> the people that are actively involved in the work here, which led to
>> concerns around inclusion.
>>
>> Ultimately, we decided that the only choice aligned with the morals of
>> our corporate culture is to publicly state that Digital Bazaar (the
>> corporation) will not be participating in casting a vote in this
>> election. Our employees and contractors, however, are urged to make
>> their own decision on whether or not to vote and, if they choose to
>> vote, to do so according to their personal conscience, with no direction
>> from Digital Bazaar.
>>
>> We are stating this on this mailing list to ensure that it is in the
>> public record. I realize that this may come across as being overly
>> concerned about a simple community vote. Nevertheless, this vote is
>> setting a precedent and we want to make sure that we are being
>> upstanding citizens in all communities in which we are involved. We also
>> recognize that other corporations in this group may not choose to do
>> this, and that is their choice.
>>
>> On behalf of Digital Bazaar in my capacity as CEO,
>>
>> -- manu
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> *Moses Ma | Managing Partner*
>>
>> moses.ma@futurelabconsulting.com | moses@futurelab.ventures |
>> moses@ngenven.com
>>
>> v+1.415.568.1068 | skype mosesma | *linktr.ee/moses.tao*
>> <http://linktr.ee/moses.tao>
>>
>> FutureLab provides strategy, ideation and technology for breakthrough
>> innovation and third generation blockchains.
>>
>> Learn more at *www.futurelabconsulting.com*
>> <http://futurelabconsulting.com>. For calendar invites, please cc:
>> mosesma@gmail.com
>>
>>
>> Or whet your appetite by reading *Agile Innovation*
>> <http://www.amazon.com/Agile-Innovation-Revolutionary-Accelerate-Engagement/dp/B00SSRSZ9A>
>> | *Quantum Design Sprint*
>> <https://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Design-Sprint-Application-Disruptive/dp/1799143864>
>> | my blog at *psychologytoday.com*
>> <http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-tao-innovation>.
>>
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>

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