helper2

Hi all, At least we're getting a decent discussion here now. Please take a few moments to read through the documents that are available on the internet right now. And please do not make the same misstake as the BSA leadership: some of the issues discussed, notably the real-estate options, are internal WSC papers. Things that served to help a discussion, they are not decisions and some are really in an immature state. (Discussion about other options of the WSB building in Geneva have been going on for at least the past 15 years, considering various alternatives). One of the WSC members is a BSA member who unfortunately could not recognize this and presents info as if the World Organization is overspending in the wrong things. Check for yourself in the WSC minutes on line and convince yourself. Based on these and other misunderstandings BSA thought they had the right to use money to overthrow the Secretary General. Now this is interesting. The SG reports to the World Committee and takes orders from them. Your BSA board member is a part of that same WSC that approved all actions in the past. So who are you launching a rebellion against? Right, against decisions that were taken with consent of the same person who now launched this unfortunate situation. The SG simply being used as a scapegoat and the real guys who are critized are still in their seats. What remains is that BSA thought it right to bypass the democratic decision making proces in WOSM and just simply push people in the way they did. This is what heavily upsets other Scout Associations. In the end, they may come up with a solution that does no longer rely on BSA and its money. People may simply not want it anymore, nor its so called "help". Scouts are after mutual respect and equality, discussing differences in a Scout like manner and handling it in a proper way. If we cannot give this example to the world, who can?

Hi Scouts, I have been reading through your posts and start to wonder if any of you have any idea what the "great BSA" has actually done? Do you realize that BSA and the Scout Association of Sweden have actually attemped to destabilize the Scout World Organization? A country like the USA, that is always presenting itself as a defender of democracy, has shown a completely different face here. BSA has used the power of money to bypass all democratic decision making bodies in the WOSM to get her way. Very un-Scoutlike. Yes, BSA did win this short move. I hope you realize what enourmeous damage has been done to BSA's reputation and how this move is received by the Scouting world. Read the comments in othere fora and discover how people elsewhere react. See e.g.: http://savescouting.1sthost.org/wordpress/ or read the details at: http://www.eduardomissoni.net/CV/worldscout/WOSMcrisis/crisisindex.html Regardless of what criticism there is or might have been on the world organization, it does not justify in any way what BSA has just done. This is so fully against all principles of Scouting and BSA's own values, that is it really unthinkable BSA actually took this course of action. Given the reaction of many Scout Associations around the world, it is very likely that the upcoming World Conference will impose sanctions on BSA. An rightfully so. BSA ought to be deeply ashamed of herself. Want to make it right? See if there is a way to put a new management in control of BSA, one that respects Scout values, other people's opinions and handles differences in the way a Scout would do. Up to you guys.