From: Mark Walker (mdwalker@quickclic.net)
Date: Sun Dec 22 2002 - 06:47:23 MST
Reason wrote:
> > My current thoughts on managable distributed activism run along the
lines of
> > letter writing campaigns to research facilities, corporations and funds
> > putting money into this sort of thing. Tell them we appreciate what
they're
> > doing, want them to stand up to government luddites, think the
government
> > should mind their own business, and that we'll be first in line to buy
real
> > anti-aging products. I think that will do more good per letter than
trying
> > to talk to politicians.
>
Anders wrote:
> This is a nice idea I hope we do (a friend at a political journal told
> me that if they received more than two letters about an issue it
> demonstrated to them that it was a relevant issue; OK, this is little
> Sweden, but scale it up by twenty or so and you get the same effect in
> the US). But I also think you are aiming at the wrong groups (with the
> possible exception of the funders): these are end-users of ideas,
> influenced by ideas in society and academia rather than the producers
> and distributors of ideas.
>
> To really get an effect we should aim to influence the "purveyors of
> second-hand ideas" as Hayek put it, the intellectuals and pundits that
> produce and magnify our culture's ideas. They range from the pure
> academics to journalists. So start to write essays for journals, or even
> better suitably controversial and interesting books. One can always
> start by writing heartfelt letters to get one's writing style, then go
> on writing articles for journals and websites, then essays and academic
> publications. It is fun, and it has important effects.
>
>
The letter writing idea has been discussed before but we have not followed
through on it. As the above exchange makes apparent, there are three sorts
of groups one could write to: corporations, politicians, and
journalist-types. Which group to write to? Well some experimentation is
probably in order, but a little technology might amplify the results. A
letter to one group should be cc-ed to the other two groups. As Reason
suggests, a hand-written letter might be the most effective, but this could
be photocopied on the cc versions. With sufficient numbers, there is perhaps
some hope that we might influence politicians and the political landscape.
Imagine a politician receiving copies of letters sent by activists (us) to
corporations and idea purveyors (journalists, etc.). Not to be too cynical
but one can see the politician counting the lost votes in her head as multi
front battle shapes up..... It might help if we had a central repository
for mailing lists of these three groups and also at least a few examples of
letters. Also, we should keep count of who has been sent something and by
whom. Reason, what do you think about having a letter writing activism
section on Transhumanity? Is a goal of 10,000 letters in the next year
unreasonable? (100 people writing 34 letters sent out to three individuals
sounds doable).
Mark
Mark Walker, PhD
Research Associate, Philosophy, Trinity College, University of Toronto
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Evolution and Technology www.jetpress.com
Editor-in-Chief, Transhumanity, www.transhumanism.com
www.markalanwalker.com
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