Tag Archives: ego-fodder

The People’s Assembly Line – #Manchester fails to be revolutionary yet again

History lesson: In the mid-1920s Henry Ford had the car market sewn up. His Model Ts were everywhere. Thanks to automation and his clever anti-union action, the sale price was dropping year on year. Model T’s were also very reliable, … Continue reading

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Crucial distinction: Participate versus Attend #socialmovements

A well-designed event allows people to participate without attending (by collecting their opinions beforehand, by phoning them during) A poorly-designed event* allows people to attend without participating (by creating sage-on-the-stage models, of the Great Speaker and rows upon rows of … Continue reading

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“getting in the way of politics” #leninists #epic-fail #unintentionallyhilarious #smugosphere

Politics, it seems, is what happens when a bunch of people sit at the front of a room talking at a passive audience, allowing them to ask questions of one or more of the speakers.  If you challenge that, you … Continue reading

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“De-fragging the movement” or “The definition of insanity…”

I went to the first half of an event today that was all about how important it is to organise (hold meetings, “do” activism) differently. From one hundred feet up the meeting would have appeared to be almost EXACTLY like … Continue reading

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How on earth does ANYTHING get done?

No wonder your average entrepreneur so loathes meetings. What was it Dave Berry said – organisations have meetings because they can’t actually masturbate? Either they are poorly conceived (death by powerpoint, serial-sage-on-the-stage) or else they are adequately conceived and then … Continue reading

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Ego fodder definition – opinions sought

What do you guys think? Modifications/expansions etc welcome.

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As a white m/c male, I am beginning to tire of race, class and gender-baiting

I have privilege, I have entitlement. I do not deny either. I used that privilege a few weekends ago when an avuncularitis-ing muppet chose not to have a co-facilitator in a room of 30 people, even though he is – … Continue reading

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XX marks the spot? Female-dominated meetings

Yes there are exceptions (many exceptions), but as a gross generalisation – for reasons that may have to do with genetics, or socialisation (and I am not particularly interested because the ‘genetics’ argument is a red herring) – women are … Continue reading

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I explain (to myself) my obsession with (my) ego*

So, what’s with this obsession with ego? I’m forever wailing about ego-fodder (since you ask “the audience at any public event (big or small) which has not been structured by the organisers to provoke the highest possible amount of participation, … Continue reading

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