Mediating Mediation Itself: The Easy Opt-out Model Settles the Perennial Dispute between Voluntary and Mandatory Mediation

The year 2020 forced all of us to confront the notion of what "voluntary" means, and whether society should mandate behaviors that experts acknowledge as beneficial for individuals and society or leave people to choose such behaviors on a "voluntary" basis. While we do not always talk about the concept of voluntariness at its most fundamental level, most of us would agree, I think, that before you can choose whether to act, you need to know something about the action requested and how it can benefit you. You also need to check in with yourself: is what you think you "know" accurate? Without accurate information, the notion of voluntariness is meaningless and results, all too often, in non-action or irrational rejection.