As someone with organizational Communication / group health education and as someone with years of seeing this done both well and terribly in leadership of religious groups, I’m absolutely over the kind of organizing I see in North Star.
It’s reactionary at best and seeks to live out the old times but with new members. You don’t put new wine in old wine skins- it’ll shatter.
It’s natural to an extent to wish there was no conflict in a group. But that’s not how groups work. This “everybody stop fighting” attitude in reaction to healthy criticisms only encourages wounds that _were_ being treated to be placed behind faux “peacekeeping” gatekeepers and left to fester and rot.
Please please *please*, everyone, please recognize that the last year in DSA has exposed so many problems in lack of due process in leadership issues. This “trust the process” reaction is woefully uninformed which is even more concerning since it largely comes from the old guard who should know there is no such process.
To that point, whether intentional or not, the rhetoric of this caucus is that of a group of people who are hurt that Fetonte is no longer around. Fetonte made his own bed. If you land on the side of thinking it was mob justice, I encourage you to talk to literally anyone who actually talked to him post election. I’m available for this role, but seek out whoever you want.
The failure of this type of reactionary to learn lessons from the flaws of the GOP and DNC is immense. “We are the good guys let us do what we want” is such a weak groupthink based argument that it isn’t even an argument. Millennials especially see right through that garbage. Listen to them or watch your group die out.
Lastly, as we continue to grow, please keep these key healthy group roles in mind:
Task Leader(s): takes charge, organizes.
Central Negative(s): sees issues, corrects, asks questions, addresses conflicts in design/path/etc
Socio-Emotional Leader(s): maintains social & emotional health. Leads celebrations, mourning, and ways to emerge from frustration.
North Star is calling for none of these roles to exist.
