Hey Yaroslav, thanks for sharing your view. I find very interesting what you mention, and if you have experienced yourself it must be a real effect on people. Five years ago, when I was awarded an IEG grant, I didn't feel the same effect on me. In fact it was quite the opposite, I felt under pressure to be worthy of it, and I made an additional effort to make sure that all people I talked to felt listened. This is not easy, because it requires the will to understand what the other person is trying to say, and admit that they have a point. Of course this is just limited to my experience, but if there was a requirement to commit to listen empathically before receiving any kind of fund, perhaps the effect of feeling "superior" or "entitled" could be neutered.
One of the things that I appreciate most about our movement is the capacity to look deeply into potential pitfalls and to put safeguards against them. I see this here too. That something seems risky doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done, but it is necessary to discuss it thoroughly and see under which conditions it would be safe(r). And still, the experience is invaluable and can show whether the fears were justified or not, and from there, iterate and improve. Now that I think about it, wouldn't it be wonderful if the incentive of the donation could be used as a way to ensure that the recipients are commited to train themselves in a set of values? For instance you mentioned one that is extremely important, the ability to listen, to make space for what the other person is saying, and to incorporate their view into the conversation. I think that there are more values that would be very welcome in our community, like easing the pressure on one another, calming arguments instead of fueling them, and in general ensuring that civility and harmony have priority above anything else. There must have been initiatives before to introduce these kind of values, but I am unable to find them. Any pointer would be appreciated. You also mentioned "paid contributors, who would be defending their output just because they need it to report for their salary". As said before, I do not envision donations to volunteers as a "salary", but more as a token of appreciation from the community, while keeping the independence to act according to their will. I do not know which kind of mechanisms should be put in place for the community to make sure that only the right people would receive this kind of gratitude, however I doubt that they would be "reporting for their salary" (another kind of slavery), but instead interacting with the community normally and making sure that they behave excellently. Thank you for digging deeper into this topic. Regards, Micru _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
