[IRP] RESPONSE REQUIRED: Revising the Charter

[Meryem Marzouki]

Le 15 oct. 10 ? 20:39, shaila mistry a ?crit :

> Hi Lisa
> Just to clarify with reference "to what was agreed in Vilnius" In  
> fact what transpired was a small meeting out of which we lost many  
> members  who left to attend the opening ceremony. In the end were  
> only a handful remaining, I too was going to leave. Only a couple  
> of people were of the view that we should proceed with the charter  
> as it stands. There was no agreement reached in any direction. This  
> needs to be known by other IRP members and others on this list.

I'm happy to leave it to Lisa answering this one, in her capacity of  
IRP coordinator and in case she feels it needed to answer: notes from  
both the IRP business meeting and charter launch meeting have been  
posted to this list a while ago.
In any case, there is the current call to all IRP members on this  
list to indicate their views. We'll see, unless one finds again that  
"only a handful" answered.

> Secondly I am intrigued by the concept of " perfect is the enemy of  
> good" . I applied it to newborn babies who are universally thought  
> of as "perfect" .Interesting conclusion

Don't know what newborn babies have to do with this (and whether  
they're universally thought of as perfect, but I digress), but this  
is a well known expression, quoted by Voltaire in French as "le mieux  
est l'ennemi du bien" (in both the "Philosophical dictionary" and "La  
B?gueule", one of the "Contes de Guillaume Vad?". BTW "b?gueule"  
stayed as a colloquial adjective, now meaning "prudish", but I  
digress, again) from the saying of a "wise Italian": "Il meglio ?  
l?inimico del bene". And "La B?gueule" tale says it all: when one is  
never satisfied from anything, in the end, s/he may loose everything.

"Ma ch?re enfant, rien n?est si p?rilleux
Que de quitter le bien pour ?tre mieux." (in "La B?gueule")

in English, more or less (well, Voltaire translated by Google, that's  
a bit horrifying -- or dadaistic, who knows?)
"My dear child, nothing is so dangerous
But to leave the good to be better."

Back to our business: I don't know for Sylvia but when I say "the  
perfect is the enemy of good" here I mean that, by asking for some  
more months to rediscuss everything in the same closed circle that  
discussed the Charter for one year or so (instead of reaching out to  
new people - HR NGOs and institutions - to consult them, get their  
thoughts, comments and suggestions, and have a renewed and enriched  
discussion among the coalition afterwards), the risk is very high to  
find ourselves next year, close to the next IGF date, with no real  
progress made.

Best,
Meryem