Well, I'm glad there's some clarification here. Because I do think Allyson is basically talking about respect and what goes with that. Not riding First Class at B.Org with free champagne, and dog food pate for the grubby masses in Coach.

Right, David.

I'm sorry if I implied I thought that we were in danger of going that way -- I was basically speculating, and running my discomfort out to the logical limit to show why I didn't like the concept that much.

Bad Suela, too much theorizing.

Wait, I'm sorry, not all of you guys get the Extra Special Fancy Buffistas.org with massage attachment?

...oh, man. I shouldn't have said anything.

Carry on.

(Oh, actually, I do have something to say about lurkers voting and stuff: I think it's very cool that there are dedicated lurkers, and I'm glad some of them vote, and I appreciate the financial contributions some of them have made. And when they do post, I think it's cool that they already know us, even though we don't know them yet.)

Oh, actually, I do have something to say about lurkers voting and stuff: I think it's very cool that there are dedicated lurkers, and I'm glad some of them vote, and I appreciate the financial contributions some of them have made. And when they do post, I think it's cool that they already know us, even though we don't know them yet.

I'm fond of the lurkers too. As I've mentioned before, I think of them as the angels in Wings of Desire.

What benefits do we have that we can hand out

Some folks (not me) seem to think voting is one such benefit.

I think of them as the angels in Wings of Desire.

Hee! That's a great image, David.

I think voting is a priviledge of citizenship, and I have different definitions of citizenship.

I also think creating a system of government without leadership is odd.

And we do actually have leadership here, in the form of social status, and I don't really get why that is so repugnant an idea. I find the All Buffistas Are Created Equal idea repugnant. I get the social lubricant analogy, but really and truly? I get the feeling that some folks depend on believing that it is Truth, though I concede that is completely a value judgment on my part, and I'm often guilty of not giving people enough credit.

I also think creating a system of government without leadership is odd.

I don't think we have either citizenship (since the barrier to entry is so low) nor government.

But there is some leadership, yeah.

eta: I don't think voting is a privilege, per se, or no more one than chiming in on a consensus was.

I think we don't have formal leadership, but certainly during the process of deciding to vote, some people became leaders in for that process. Some people are leaders in Technical Stuff. Some people are leaders in charity drives, others in planning F2F.

And we do actually have leadership here, in the form of social status, and I don't really get why that is so repugnant an idea.

I guess I'm not sure what you want done about it. I know this is supposed to be a theoretical conversation, but I'm not sure why people agreeing "okay, yeah, some Buffistas are more important than others" and having that be that isn't enough.

Let's say we got together a list of the 20 Buffistas with the most social capital and everyone admitted that they were the leaders. What would they theoretically do?

Just what they usually do. (Which, I think, is your point.)