all volunteer collective

international | arts and media | press release Thursday October 07, 2004 17:09 by HIMC - houston indymedia houston at indymedia dot org

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Houston Indymedia is declaring itself (on our front page) an all-volunteer collective, for many reasons (see below).

We know various IMC’s already have paid positions and we are not undertaking to block this, or to make the Principles of Unity more strict. But we hope that consensually, many other collectives around the world will join us. Please discuss this matter in your collectives.

- New volunteers are encouraged to contribute more, and in the directions they most value, when they see they others working for free.

- When one person doesn't have enough time to do all the work, it encourages taking turns, and workgroups implementing collective processes.

- Payment creates hierarchies.

- Without clear boundaries, IMC's can morph into typical NGOs (at first, collectives might pay those selling ads, then office managers, and eventually editors and journalists).

- In keeping with the original purpose and roots of IMC, HIMC looks to the Zapatista model of resistance, in which teachers, members of the good government commitees, and even doctors are not paid, but must organize money for food outside of their activism.