The Voluntarism Peoples Council Meeting
Part 1 - Intro
Author - James The Traveller
Publish Date - 4th July 2023 - 641 Words
Fiona and Gerald lived in an inner city suburbia called Frocksville.
They were new to the idea of voluntarism but were curious to hear more about how it worked and to see what it was all about.
Fiona was a project manager for a big company in the city.
Gerald had worked as a construction engineer for 20 years across the country.
They decided to go to the town hall meeting on Sunday at 6.00pm.
When they arrived, they saw that the car park was overflowing onto the side streets.
It looked like half the town was also interested in this new and alternative way of managing the community.
They weren't sure what it really meant to have their society operate without rulers.
When they went inside, the town hall was packed. Those who had got in early had seats but the rest were standing. They saw an elderly couple enter the hall and a young man and his girlfriend stood up to offer the old man and his wife the seats.
At the front was a stage where people could speak and address the community.
A woman walked onto the stage holding a mic and began speaking.
The People's Council
Introducing Rebecca
“Good evening to you all, my name is Rebecca, I’m an organiser of these voluntary society meetings.
We have a lot to discuss and a busy night ahead of us.
I will be the moderator for tonight's meeting to introduce you all to this new concept of managing our community.
All are welcome to join these meetings.
Even those who believe they may not be.
Even those who may have only come tonight to figure out a way to deliberately undermine us.
There is a saying, ‘what power does a handful of darkness have in a room full of light compared to a handful of light in a room full of darkness?’
She smiled at the whole room, taking time to make eye contact with as many people as she could.
“All are welcome.
We have a list of speakers to talk to us about a variety of topics.
First up is Charlie speaking about the idea of an alternative currency he calls The Freedom Credit.
Then we have Alex to discuss The Lore Of Morality.
Followed by Theresa and what real democracy is.
Lastly will be Larry discussing community protection.
Each of the 4 speakers have been allocated 30 minutes.
After the speakers have shared their piece, at hopefully 8.pm, we will have a break where you can find refreshments at the back of the room.
At 8.30pm we will recommence and then have time for questions and discussions.
If you would like to take the stage to share something, you can state what you would like to speak about to the crowd and we will get a show of hands if they believe you should take the stage and elaborate on your topic.
If yes, then you can take the stage and mic.
If not, then we can save your idea for another day.
There’s a lot of people here and we need a strategy to hear the voices that we want to hear the most, so that’s the best plan we have at the moment.
If you have a better idea, you are more than welcome to present it.
At the end of the open discussion, which we hope to conclude by 9.30pm, we’ll then decide if you would like me to continue being the moderator or if you would prefer someone else to take my place.
I sure do hope I do a good enough job to stay for more than one night!
The crowd laughed as Rebecca shared that.
“Ok, first up is Charlie to speak about his new innovative idea of an alternative currency.”
