That is true, Tim, but by investing in the guild and participating in it we do willingly give the authority to handle our money to a few.

If I don't know the board members, or who they are, or what they are doing, that is not their fault. They publish all of this (as they must, by law) and it is a matter of public record.

The guild is not a direct democracy. Direct democracies are ineffective.

We have a voice, yes, but it is a voice by consent. Our power, as individual members, is that if the leadership does not do the things we want them to, we can replace them. But when they are in leadership, I feel like we should try and be as supportive as we can.

In this time of struggle in the guild there are going to be unpopular decisions made, there are going to be mistakes made. The worst thing we can do is to let it divide us.

Without a board consisting of members that are unknown to some, the other alternative would be to put all decisions to a full vote of all members. This would be a challenge. This would not enable the guild to do what it needs to do to survive

That said, I do think there is a lot more guild members can be doing. Honestly, I think the apathy of many members makes the job of directors hard. We don't tell them what we want, so they are left to make the decisions more or less in the dark.

Maybe we should start a campaign -write the board of directors, send them our thoughts, our goals, dreams, etc. Show them what the GUILD wants.