[matilda] Re: a whopping great hole

[Mr Jase Malgod]

atw writes:
> ...I think this perhaps points to a massive hole in our thinking. I'd
> actually assumed the point of Matilda was to build community. But I
> realise now that this was just an assumption.

I would argue that we should not be building a community, because such a 
community could become inward looking, rather we should build an 
intersection for many different communities. However that leads to, 

> In fact there are no agreed aims or objectives at all for Matilda.
> This makes things very tricky. 

We may well not reach concensus on the issue of selling stuff. I think there 
should be a concentration on people making their own art and expression 
rather than saying 'buy this cos it's cheap and then you will be able to 
have some art to brighten up your life' (I realise no-one is actually saying 
this but hope you get the point). I would rather a concentration on how to 
change lives so that what we need is borne from the efforts of our own hands 
rather than from the money we are given for pointless labours elsewhere. 

> But Matilda is simply a space used by different people with different
> ideas and objectives.

Thus we will not reach concensus, however I hope we would be able to reach a 
concensus on agreeing to keep talking rather than succumb to a hardening of 
thought. 

Perhaps issues such as profit should be kept within collectives so that only 
general guidelines are decided amongst the whole group. Then... 

> The only other basis I can see for reaching decisions is by how one
> group or persons project will affect others. If it doesn't negatively
> affect what others do then its OK. If it does then some discussion
> needs to take place.

Course there may be disagreements about what negatively effects others, 
however if we are to be sensible then it shouldn't really be a problem(:!). 
To have Matilda as a real intersection between communities means having a 
level of autonomy for groups and individuals rather than a need to prescibe 
everything that happens in the space. 

Does require a fair bit of trust and awareness. Which links back to Anthony 
MC's point about 'How' rather than 'What'. The Seminars idea sounds good but 
it may be good to have a continual process which oils the creaky gears of 
Matilda. Perhaps a course exploring how people interact with each other, on 
a personal basis (respect, power, tolerance or acceptance), through 
materials (fair trade, recyclables, waste), and as a whole (environment, 
politics). 

Anyways, more than enough. Matilda is obviously many things to many people, 
I caught myself saying Matilda is this or is that. Which is cobblers. It is 
all the people in it. May we always be able to agree to disagree. 

Jason