Hello everyone!
I would like to inform you that the next weekly meeting of the nameless discussion club will be held next Sunday (April 12), starting at 20:00 at Nieuwe Rijn 2.
During last week’s meeting, “The Easter Concilie”, (Monday April 6) we continued the discussion about societal problems. We have now identified—or should I say ‘distilled’—one societal problem that we all agree on: Society does not to satisfaction promote individual people’s agency (that is, going with the flow is promoted while utilizing one’s own strength is hindered). In which ways individuals’ agency is hindered is not yet made clear.
There was the feeling among some group members that the meetings could benefit from a little more structure. I will do my best to accommodate the group in their desires, and therefore I have formulated the following discussion questions that will be of help in guiding the discussion that I believe to reflect the group goal:
1. What concrete societal problems are there (if any) that we can identify?
2. What possible solutions to these problems are there (if any) that we can identify?
3. Can we create an utopian vision that encompasses those solutions and (if yes) what will this utopian vision look like?
4. In what way(s) can the utopian vision (if we succeed in shaping one) be achieved and what is our (group’s) role in the process?
In order to keep track of our progress, I propose that we conclude each discussion question with a written document containing a detailed answer(s) to the discussion question. This would result in four written documents which could be titled (1) Societal problems, (2) Solutions to societal problems, (3) An utopia, and (4) Working towards utopia.
Do note that discussion questions might change during the course of discussion, resulting in a different structure.
The next meeting
Currently, we are in the phase of finding an answer to discussion question 1: What concrete societal problems are there (if any) that we can identify?
We started by brainstorming about our individual frustrations, a process that is still ongoing. For the next meeting, I (or the assigned chairperson) will try to keep the group a little more focused on discussing each individual frustration. I will also try to be more strict in separating frustration, problem, and solution. I propose that we first finish discussing each individual’s frustrations, and then move the discussion toward distilling larger societal problems. Only after discussion question one has been resolved and we have created the first document, will we move on towards discussion question two which focuses on solutions. These are all just proposals though, and I would first like to discuss this email with you during the meeting and see if we all agree. If you feel like commenting straight away, please do, but remember to reply to all and not just me.
Proposed agenda:
20:00 start
1. Establish definite agenda and appoint tasks (like minutes and chair).
2. Discuss e-mail.
3. Read last week’s minutes.
21:00
4. Discuss frustrations and identify broader problems (someone should write these down I feel, so that the minutes can focus more on the progress of the discussion).
5. End by deciding upon a new Name of the Week (I thought it would be more logical if we moved this one back).
00:00
6. General talk, music and drinks.
Everyone bring something to drink! Also, please reply to me if you’re coming or not!
With kind regard,
Piet
P.s. Next Sunday Tegenlicht will air an episode on basic income, check http://tegenlicht.vpro.nl/afleveringen/ ... -geld.html
(sorry no English).