From: Technotranscendence (neptune@mars.superlink.net)
Date: Sun Dec 22 2002 - 07:44:32 MST
On Sunday, December 22, 2002 8:47 AM Mark Walker mdwalker@quickclic.net
wrote:
> 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?
All three, I'd say, though writing to politicians and journalist will
probably have a bigger impact. Politicians moreso if the letter-writer
is either a constitute or the head of powerful or monied group. (On the
latter, forget about transhumanist groups. I doubt any politician is
going to rethink a position based on an ExI or WTA position paper. This
is sad, but true. Now, if the same position paper came from NOW or the
NRA, it would be a different story.) Also, one might consider teachers,
especially those of political science classes and the like.
> 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.
I would suggest that, in most cases, you do not let the targetted party
know they're being carbon copied. Why? Then it looks more like a
letter-writing campaign -- a blatant attempt to influence opinions --
and is likely to dismissed by journalists, etc. Imagine, e.g., if you
were the taget of a carbon copied letter. Any yahoo with access to a
photocopier can do that. You want the targets, in most cases, not to
think that they're being manipulated.
> 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.
Actually, petitions might be more effective here. Also, as I mentioned
above, the letters to politicians have to be from constituents or heads
of powerful/monied groups. Me writing to your MP is probably not going
to have a big impact, since I don't live and vote in Toronto. You
writing my Congressman will likewise not have much effect since you
don't live and vote in my district.
> 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).
BTW, the Liberty Committee already has such a project dealing with
legislation in the US. See:
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org/contribute.htm
Imagine a similar setup to push transhumanist positions, though not
limited to US Federal government elected officials.
One might also add to the mailing list, people in government agencies,
such as, in the States, the FDA or NIH. I'm not sure of the impact
here, but a little negative feedback toward their policies might help to
spread the seeds of doubt in their ranks.
Happy Holidays!
Dan
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/
"Today, it is almost an heresy to suggest that scientific knowledge is
not the sum of all knowledge. But a little reflection will show that
there is beyond question a body of a very important but unorganized
knowledge which cannot be possibly called scientific in the sense of
knowledge of general rules: the knowledge of the particular
circumstances of time and place. It is with respect to this that
practically every individual has some advantage over all others in that
he possesses unique information of which benefical use might be made,
but of which use can be made only if the decisions depending on it are
left to him or are made with his active cooperation." -- F.A. Hayek,
"The Use of Knowledge in Society." American Economic Review. Vol 35 No.
4 (1945): 519-530.
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