Wisdom. Some things are structural and come down to resources.
Yes I do see your points David. And I do recall that conversation. I also very much appreciate your stepping forward with advice, with a clear offer to back it with your time and resources. I am replying as myself not because I agree with your reading of who is responsible for Edgeryders’ successes. For one thing, Noemi has been at the heart of Edgeryders since day 1. Not to mention Matt and Arthur, and many others who have contributed throughout the years.
Re transparency in planning and strategy: It is a lot of work distilling things which are tacit knowledge, or processes which are long and windy, into legible information/knowledge such as this post. Or this one. These take hours to prepare. Getting the word out so that more people get them also takes hours of work. And so on. Assuming things not happening, or happening, are due to malicious intent are a great way to demotivate this effort.
Being able to “put a hand on the tiller”, or “move to the back”, would be wonderful. Organising the community calls. Producing weekly newsletters to keep everyone updated, maintaining the website, welcoming new arrivals, driving the building of LOTE events and fundraising to cover participants travel etc. . The work we all do on Edgeryders, myself included, has involved a huge commitment of unpaid work. And the paid/resourced opportunities that have been drawn into Edgeryders could just as easily have been channeled into personal consultancy gigs. So I consider myself one of those strand of ER volunteers. It has also involved finding personal resources to cover costs of travel etc in building relationships with clients and or funders that result in our having resources to pay for travel grants etc. Or getting into closed spaces where we can interact with certain societal actors for those in the community who’s desire for change requires engaging the old school political/institutional machinery. I have stepped back to see who would indeed step forward to keeping the ship afloat.
It seems that people, rightfully ask, what is the personal return on investment for doing this largely unseen work.
All components which people say they appreciate, and which contribute towards bridging gaps in information, making people feel welcome and invited etc. require commitment over long periods of time. Making calls for help which is engaging and does not feel like just asking for someone’s unpaid time but offers something in return costs a lot of time. Especially when constantly facing suspicion you might be taking advantage of people. My choice to do any of this work is not unconditional. What you refer to as a sharp tone w.r.t logistics comes down to making it clear what I am up for doing, and what it is up to others to make happen if they really care enough about it.
People’s perception will vary. Pseudo corporate, communist, hippy, too rough, too smooth, too tough, too soft, anarchist, politician, totally unstrategic, machiavellian. The list of what I have been called is long. Time required for engaging in longer, slower personal processes is something which can be requested, not demanded. I can spend time dealing with personal issues or I can spend time creating the work opportunities for work that rarely is valued but important, there are only 24 hours in a day. Economically, it would be a much better investment of my personal time to just do for-profit work in a corporate environment. I do not want to do that because think it is an irrational position in the long run (who cares what you earn if the air is poisoned). Nor do I think self-exploitation catering to never ending demands for my time/attention is acceptable.
If others wish to build other organisations or spaces with different rules, good for them. At the moment I cannot afford to commit more time than I already to do Edgeryders. In a few months this might be more feasible for me. Especially if it is within the context of a community event such as the next lote, and especially if someone neutral and not vested in any interpersonal conflicts takes responsibility for driving it.
If we start the work of organising lote from now it’s possible we can find resources to cover the costs involved, but this requires more hands on deck.