[Foundation-l] Future board meeting (5-7 april 08)

Mon Apr 14 17:43:09 UTC 2008

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Florence Devouard wrote:
> Last, you mention adulthood. Would not it be more "adult" precisely to 
> pledge to respect others and their activity, to pledge to always try to 
> have our mission in mind, to follow common values shared by the group; 
> to respect a code of conduct and promise to inform in conflict of 
> interests you might be submitted to;
> as opposed to be maintained under a legal threat ?

In a civilized society, the legal system is where we go to resolve our
disputes when we find we *couldn't* work them out amicably in person
like we would prefer to.

Contracts are a formal way to make agreements -- pledges -- written
down, so that *if* a dispute occurs in the future, we can all sit down
and point at the agreement, reason about it, and if it ends up needing
to be decided with assistance from the law, the judge will have a chance
of figuring out what it is the parties agreed to.

Being an adult is about responsibility, and that means planning for
contingencies.

That's why we put our money in banks instead of under the mattress, why
we get health insurance instead of hiding from the doctor, and why we
write down contracts instead of making all agreements under the table.

- -- brion
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