No Leaders

I should say that I a a member of Unison - currently undergoing a General Secretary election. Now, first, some points. Unison's rulebook explicitly states that it is a member lead organisation, there is no reference in the rulebook to a leader, or a leadership, so in essence, the General Secretary is a secretary, not a general.

In reality, the public image is that he is the leader. Currently, the post is held by a member of a bizarre entryist cult called the Labour Party, that puts their organisation first and foremost while pretending to put members first. They are being challenged by Militant. Dave Prentice is being challenged by Paul Holmes, and Roger Bannister. Now, the only issue at hand should be experience of the union, and capacity to carry out conference instructions, but they are all vying to be a leader.

I think, on due reflection, I'm going to wipe my arse on my ballot paper when it arrive. We have no leader, we are all leaders.

Share a bonobo?

This isn't election related, so I'll blog it here - Bonobo's share! - our nearest cousins (5 million years ago, ISTR, we shared a common ancestor) have a capacity for sharing: "[researchers]gave a hungry bonobo access to a room with some food in it. This room was adjacent to another two rooms, which the creature could easily see into. One of these rooms was empty while the other contained another bonobo. The hungry primate could then choose to eat the food alone or unlock the door by removing a wooden peg and share his fare with the other bonobo."

A dog would not do that, simple and flat. Hardwired to share? Inherently social animals? Playing a long game to gift giving? But a fascinating glimpse into what we are.