[TheThinkTank] full-timers/directors/project coordinators: how's the job treating you?

[Adam Weber]

I think Macho has hit the nail on the head in many respects, but I
find his attitude toward declarations of the necessity for hierarchy
too sympathetic--in particular, accusations such as those so
flippantly leveled by Jay Varner and Mark Rehder.  Their patronizing
attitude of leftist theory vs. praxis is exactly the type of
pompousness that breeds coercive hierarchy, the consequences of which
stretch well beyond the walls of our bike shops.

Rehder declares simply "good luck" to those who have been working
tirelessly, uncompromisingly, and quite effectively on projects that
don't depend on the singular power of someone such as himself.  The
fact is, these projects do exist even if he would prefer not to
acknowledge them.  Like Macho says, "no hierarchy" is by no means the
same as "no accountability" and "no structure".

This thread is hinting at something much deeper than the question of
hierarchy.  In the end I feel it is a division between those who see
the goal of their project as "more bikes on the streets no matter
what" and those who feel we are working toward something more, like
creating institutions and community spaces that resemble the type of
egalitarian society we are trying to build brick by brick.  I have
found that folks who advocate hierarchy in their shops are much more
likely to be of the mind that bikes and bike shops are an end rather
than a means to a much greater good.  How else can hierarchy be
justified by pointing to the filling of higher quotas of bikes and
open shop hours?