[desejados] [extropy-chat] THE WTA IS ROTTEN FROM THE TOP

[BillK]

On 1/12/06, Diego Caleiro wrote:
> So, is this a problem that Can, or that Can not be solved within  WTA?
>
> Is it already an institutional problem? so that it would be worth to "restart"
> it from scratch.  Or is it just about some people, that once taken away will
> be gone with the problem?
>

There seems to be more than one problem.

The immediate problem is:
What should a list do if a Stalinist sympathiser joins the list and
many times posts that Stalin wasn't such a bad guy, just
misunderstood?

1) Jose and Joseph support his immediate expulsion from the list and a
formal WTA statement disowning such Stalinist views. This would be a
clear solution and set a precedent for the future (like the previous
WTA neo-Nazi expulsion).

The disadvantage is the loss of some Russian WTA help. But this may be
necessary  if it stops the WTA associating with a pro-Stalinist
Russian WTA site that wants to use transhumanist technology to promote
a Stalinist-like state.

2) The current state of affairs appears to be to try to keep the
Russian assistance by not expelling this person, but to moderate his
offending posts so that Stalinist propaganda does not appear on the
wta-talk list.  The current moderation also bans any discussion of
this problem from wta-talk by other list members as well.

IMO this is a mistake. The moderator has a job for life because the
Stalinist is unlikely to change his views (unless he emigrates to the
West). The Russian WTA site is free to issue Stalinist propaganda and
associate such with the WTA. Any Russians attracted to the Russian WTA
site will meet with Stalinist support and future useful members will
flee in disgust. Those remaining will be more Stalinist die-hards. The
future problem will be worse if a larger Russian WTA organisation is
created which supports Stalinist views.


Financial mismanagement charges require an audit of the books.
Every organisation that requests donations from the public should have
an annual audit and issue an annual financial statement so that the
public can see how their contributions are being used.
This is a very basic requirement, no get-out excuses allowed.


Organisational faults and mismanagement should be dealt with by the
WTA board. They should provide guidelines for the day-to-day
management of the WTA. The guidelines should, of course, be developed
with the co-operation of the line manager to make sure that he is
happy to work within these parameters.


BillK