In 1963, the German
political theorist Hannah Arendt made a convincing case that the principal
cause of the Holocaust lay not in the inherent evil of Nazi leaders like Hitler
and Eichmann but rather in the tendency of ordinary people to conform to
"mass opinion”, without fully reflecting upon the results of their action
or inaction. Does a similar "mass opinion mentality" dominate the
ordinary people of Eastman?
Mr. Goldman's hero, Winston
Churchill said "Criticism may not
be agreeable but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the
human body, it calls attention to the development of an unhealthy state of
things. If it is healed in time, danger may be averted; if it is suppressed a
fatal distemper may develop." Could the suppression of governance
criticism at Eastman lead to a “fatal distemper”?
In January 2014, Mr.
Goldman addressed the ECA Council (and in referring to ECA members who were
intervenors at the NH PUC hearings of the transfer of the Eastman Sewer Co. to
the Village District of Eastman) related a story that he attributed to Winston
Churchill:
Goldman said: And
now we come to my concluding remarks with regards to the Village District of
Eastman I'm reminded of an interesting Winston Churchill quote:
In May 1942 in perhaps the most bizarre incident of
the war Rudolph Hess who was the third highest Nazi parachuted into Scotland in
a Messerschmidt and was put in jail and it was never clear why he came, what
the purpose was and Churchill said of it, “this is one of those cases in which
the imagination is baffled by the facts.”
Goldman said: I want to be clear I'm not calling anybody
a Nazi. I'm sure that line will get out but that was not the intent. That
was however the focus of the comment but clearly my imagination at least is
baffled by the facts.
Source: Jan 2014 Council Audio Tape
Mr. Goldman's suggestive
and inappropriate remarks at this meeting (stated above) do not indicate that
the actual purpose for which Rudolph Hess parachuted into Scotland was to
negotiate peace. History has demonstrated that Churchill used trickery and
withheld information from his allies. Obviously, Mr. Goldman emulates his
political hero in that regard as well.
Are there no innuendo or
trickery limits as it pertains to top level Eastman governance members: Board
Members, Council Executive Committee etc.?
All governance opinion at
Eastman emanates from Mr. Goldman's Inner Circle: the Eastman Board, the
Council Chair, the General Manager and Assistant General Manager etc. These
governance opinions are defined as the “Community’s” opinions through the
governance’s total control of all communications, including the listserv. In
return for their absolute fidelity, Mr. Goldman has declared that no one can
criticize his compensated employees or his volunteers but it is “open season”
on members who express disagreement. Such a policy does not exist in a
democracy, only in totalitarian states.
Does the tendency toward self-interest
dominate their actions and communications? These individuals, who no doubt are
in the top 10% economically of this country's population, want their
recreational and social facilities to
include a manicured resort golf course, a resort restaurant anchored by an
elaborate resort bar, and plush building facilities consistent with their elite
status to be paid for primarily by the less prosperous members of the Eastman
community. Further, their thirst for POWER
denies DIRECT VOTE to more
than 90% of the community constituency.
By accepting Eastman governance’s dictates as facts, are
the unintended consequences that we, ECA members, have created a culture of
conforming to a “mass opinion” mentality?
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