Do any of you have a mission statement?  it is a great thing to have written up and put on a wall, so that you can refer to it as a reference point. If a large part of your purpose as a co op is to oppose economic structures based on scarcity, or paradigims based on status, or environmental degradation, put it in there and read it every once in a while to remind everyone why the group started. If its just to promote bikes and provide them at minimal cost, it will be much easier than taking on broader issues.  But is it worth doing?  Oh hell yeah, we are only a few centuries removed from total feuadalism and unfortunately the neo cons are pushing the world back to it as fast as they can.  Good luck and godspeed!
    I am impressed to no end by institutions like KGNU in Boulder Co (KGNU.org) which has hundreds of volunteers, 5 full time workers, and plays the most progressive programing anywhere. Kudos to them! There is also a great non profit Music school in Denver called Swallow Hill.  They bring amazing music and classes to Denver. For over 20 years no less.  I would love to see basic human needs like music and food and clothing and heat brought to us all through co operation.
                                                                                         Ok, time to ride bike now, Art

---

> Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:27:40 -0600
> From: adamlweber@gmail.com
> To: thethinktank@bikecollectives.org
> Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] full-timers/directors/project coordinators: how's the job treating you?
>
> 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?
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