[sudo-discuss] Backspace Space proposal

[yar]

On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 12:58 PM, yar <yardenack at gmail.com> wrote:
> It's not your fault, it's not anybody else's fault either. I really
> hope the confusion isn't interpreted as bad faith or a lack of
> support. We all need to get better at that, of course, but also get
> better at forgiving each others' mistakes, in the spirit of jubilee.

I want to just reiterate this in light of the past few days of
conversation. I have heard a lot of different narratives about what
happened with Backspace over the past few months. I don't claim to
know exactly what happened anymore, but it seems to boil down to a
huge string of communication failures that resulted in Backspace
paying for space to operate, yet having no space until now.

At Thursday's meeting, the subject of past-due utility bills came up,
but it seems apropos to mention that lots of Omni groups have not paid
utility bills, or even rent, and one of the amazing potential things
about Omni is our capacity to be a non-evil landlord - each according
to their ability and their need.

It's clear that most backspace folks are WORKERS whose primary concern
is being able to see their clients and students and make a living
wage. It's also clear to me that the primary benefit of having
Backspace at Omni is NOT the money they'd bring in, but the new
people, energy and perspectives. It would REALLY SUCK if we lost all
that by fighting with them over money.

Other than money, the only other concern I'm hearing about this
proposal is about space. While I have expressed concerns about
"enclosure" in the past, Backspace's plans for the den or "storage
room" are NOT enclosures. They're stewardship of commons. This is
exactly the model I always dreamed of for our building!

Finally, there's BAPS. I think it might help to separate BAPS'
pragmatic need to host many evening classes from BAPS' position as a
roving "nomadic" group without dedicated space, and both from the
concept of "enclosure". Because it seems to me like Backspace's
pragmatic needs are similar to BAPS - to assemble in spaces and occupy
them for a finite period, for classes and 1-on-1 sessions. So what are
the ways we can frame this as a collaboration rather than a
competition?

I think these problems would get solved a lot faster if we were all
able to trust each other, the best path to building trust is for
Backspace to begin operating at the Omni ASAP, and the best way for
that to happen is to show support and forgiveness all around. Thanks.