A nation of exurbs and chain stores, teeming with individuals.
Joanna
----- Original Message ----- From: "Voyou" <voyou1 at gmail.com>
That reminds me, actually, of a caveat I should have mentioned in my reply to Doug. Most of my own experience of consensus decision making has been in Europe, and I think the US may well have a stronger tradition of individualist anti-majoritarianism (I'm currently a TA for an Intro American Politics class, and it's a struggle getting students to articulate _why_ it's a good thing that Wyoming has as many Senate seats as California - the assumption that "minority protection" in the form of equal representation for smaller states is a good thing, is very strong). So, even though I don't think Bookchin's theoretical arguments against consensus are very strong, there may be reasons why consensus is more likely to be interpreted in problematic ways in particular contexts.
--
"When placed in value-relation to the linen, the coat signifies more
than when out of that relation, just as many a man strutting about
in a gorgeous uniform counts for more than when in mufti."
-- Marx, _Capital_ Voyou Desoeuvre http://blog.voyou.org/
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