My First Post

Some people will tell you parliamentarians are a dull breed -- that they are a group of nitpickers who thrive on ancient rules and precedents, that all this has been lost to a high-speed modern world dominated by electronic flashes, information overload, and dumbed-down democracy.

Well, brace yourself for the first (or maybe the first) blog by a parliamentarian!

Could anyone be interested in such minutiae? Let us see!

Hear now, the strike of the gavel! People awake! Arise from your organizational slumber! Step out into the world and make a difference. Join up, or better yet, start your own association. Choose a cause. Find a focus. Nurture a need. Learn the lost art of democracy.

Our world cries out for order, for organization, for interaction!. Unplug yourself and become a person again.

OK. Maybe I am getting a little carried away here. My point is that America once thrived because of its associations -- school boards, charities, political groups, professional groups, avocational groups, neighborhood organizations, city councils and their multitude of committees. Today, the participation in these associations is at an all time low. DeTocqueville said that what made America great was the fact that the people didn't just use democracy in their governement but rather they used it every day -- from the dinner table to the sandlot baseball game to the community.

Pick up a copy of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised In Brief (that's the little paperback, not the big thick one). Learn the basics on how to make things happen in a group.

Or, if you are just a little curious . . . follow this blog