[matilda] the PGA - my little bit

[gavin at cyber-rights.net]

This was really helpful and constructive, except the last bit, 
which was really rude (maybe I'm misreading email-ness) towards 
Joe.



On Thu, 06 Oct 2005 07:32:52 -0700 cuthbert at riseup.net wrote:
>hi everyone,
>
>  Sorry for causing so much chaos and destruction but i got home 
>from work
>about 3 am, was a little tipsy and thought 'what the hell!'.  
>However on a
>more serious note my last email reflects the fact that on 
>wednesdays
>meeting we could have ratified the PGA halmarks!  In my opinion
>depending how we interpreted dan's contribution by email we would 
>have
>been within our right to.  From what i gathered i was the least in 

>favour
>and on a point a principle if the 7 other people decided that they 

>really
>wanted them i would have stood aside.  People have put quite abit 
>of time
>and effort into trying to sort out this PGA/ what the hell are we 
>thing
>and when nobody from the 'i really really dont want the PGA 
>halmarks' camp
>turned up it stole the opportunity from the people in favour of 
>the PGA to
>present their case.
>
>My personal disagreements with the PGA halmarks are:
>1)There is not a good enough reason to ratify them - the three 
>reasons i
>have been given to adopt them so far are symbolism, symbolism and 
>that
>they are a no sell-out clause (i realise that i have abbreviated 
>and
>generalised on this but - sorry).
>2)There is a potential that they will be used to 
>exclude/restrict/devalue
>other peoples activities and these are activities that arent evil 
>and
>arent being carried out by state-infiltrators etc... but maybe 
>arent as
>political as people want them to be (e.g. art & music) or include 
>trying
>to persuade (lobby) certain NGOs or regeneration bodies etc...
>3)If the PGA halmarks are our statement to the world then i think 
>the
>world (and therefore our attitude to it) is far too complex 
>(mainly
>because we are such a diverse group of people) to be summed up in 
>a matter
>of a few statements (maybe we could have the PGA as one of many
>guidelines/mission statements).
>4)I dont think that the PGA halmarks are designed to be applied to
>building and are better applied to direct action/affinity group.
>5)I think that this debate is a dishonest one because it appears 
>to me
>that part of the 'no sell-out clause' is the idea that alot of 
>people dont
>want the building to turn down the road of trying to apply for 
>funding
>etc... they would prefer it to be held in a more confrontational 
>manner
>(squatted etc...) and fear that unless they get the PGA halmarks 
>ratified
>we will slip down the road of becoming like so many other wooly-
>liberal
>organisations.  If this is the case then we need to have a proper 
>debate
>on the medium term use of the building which includes information 
>from the
>legal and futures collective.
>
>I have watched and participated in this debate for a while and in 
>my
>opinion my disagreements with the adopting the PGA halmarks are 
>not based
>on anything that can't be solved so if someone can allay my fears 
>then
>they can have my vote.  To be clear on this, i dont have a problem 

>on the
>wording of the halmarks or what they stand for, my main issue is 
>about
>whether they are suitible for the matilda collective and therefore 

>whether
>or not it is right for us to adopt them.
>
>Lastly, i would like to assure those that were worried about an 
>anarchist
>dictatorship emerging(!) the people in the meeting were well aware 

>of
>other peoples feelings on the PGA halmarks and one of the reasons 
>we
>decided not to ratify was because we wanted to take into account 
>how the
>people who werent present at the meeting felt.
>
>That is enough from me for now (although it might not be the 
>last!)
>cuthbert
>
>P.S. I have just discovered a new reason to ratify the PGA 
>halmarks - i
>think it might be the only way to stop joe from moaning about 
>them(!)
>
>
>
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