RE: [ALSC-Forum] RE: Options A,B,C

[Karl Auerbach]

On Thu, 2 Aug 2001, Bruce Young wrote:

> ...  I don't discount the fact that the industries represented by these
> SOs deserve representation on the board.

Why?

One can extend that logic to justify giving industries a vote in our
Presidential and congressional elections here in the US.  But we haven't
done that.  And I'm not aware that there are many places in the world in
which votes are given to non-human entities in elections on matters of
public policy.

And even despite that lack of franchise, industries have had no trouble
getting their political voices heard.  In fact, the concern is not that
companies are unheard - to the contrary the concern is that they are heard
too loudly.

A company that has a position on some issue is free to evangelize its
point of view to try to get human electors to go along with it, or not.

And because companies are composed of people, giving a vote to a company
is tantamount to giving those people extra votes - once as the company and
once as people.  Is that fair?  Not in my book.

I hew to a simple principle: one person-one vote.

		--karl--