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We are a small group of friends who are working to eliminate exploitation, domination and the effects of hierarchy on ourselves, our community and nature. To overcome these problems requires changing ourselves and changing community practices and structures. We have chosen to establish a book service as our way of contributing to this process.
Our collective identifies with the ideas of anarchism, as a social and political philosophy. As we understand it, an anarchist society is one in which each person must learn to take responsibility for their own actions and how their actions affect the community.
This requires that we learn alternatives to our customary reliance on hierarchical organisation, such as government, bosses, union officials, and learn to think and act for ourselves, both as individuals and as members of a community. Voluntary cooperation and solidarity would replace competition as the functional basis of society. Skills and resources would be shared on the basis of needs not privileges.
Thus as individuals we join together to work collectively with the following principles and aims:
We see consensus as a practical approach to making decisions within our collective. When consensus is reached it means we have a result which all members agree is the best possible in view of the issues and circumstances involved.
For consensus to be reached it is necessary that all participants share some agreement as to underlying fundamental issues, and that they are able to communicate their ideas effectively to each other. In seeking consensus, each person needs to contribute their thoughts in a non-dogmatic and flexible manner so that these thoughts can be woven together to formulate an overall position which respects the essential elements of each person's thinking.
With consensus the group seeks to resolve disagreements by finding new solutions which participants understand as a new and better way of seeing the question at hand. For those taking part it means the answer changes because the question at hand becomes clearer. The process is thus felt as one of growth rather than one of diminishment or loss.
By using consensus decision making we make a commitment to each other to unlearn the ''territorial" approach to ideas encouraged by society at large. Even after acquiring the skills needed to use consensus it may not always be possible to avoid dissent at all times. Therefore, in some difficult situations it is possible for a person to agree to the group making a decision, but record their dissent from it. While this is a departure from consensus, it is not going as far as voting. Provided that this remains a last resort and is used infrequently, employing this method will not endanger the ongoing consensus of the group.
This decision making process requires of all members a responsibility:
As we have agreed on a set of responsibilities for decision making, each member: