The Danger of Factions

Factions are a part of life, in fact democracy in our country is faction based. The simple act of voting at Federal or State elections enables, in its simplest form, a faction of individuals to be assembled in a governing body to run the country or state in a reasonable, economical and safe way creating the best infrastructures and living standards. The smaller "losing" faction becomes a voice to point out any alternatives to the governing body in the creation of policy or laws. A separately elected "faction", the senate, is the safety valve for the whole process of governance. The largest faction however is the populace of the country and with the power of combined voice and lobby will ultimately have a last say. Whilst factions can be generally considered the norm in any organisation the real danger is where the majority faction uses its position to oppress minority factions and any views that they have. The same is true of volunteer organisations. These volunteer organisations often do have a "senate" in the governing organisation under whose auspices the individual cell exists, but often their reactions to factional problems are far too slow, if at all they know of any problem in the cell, to react and prevent permanent (and often irreversible) damage to that cell of volunteers. The largest faction, the populace, are usually never aware of issues in their local support organisations, unless the problems are so extreme that they attract media attention, and therefore cannot exercise they powers of protest. Simplicity, teamwork and fellowship are the keys.