I remember watching the DNC earlier this year. There were shirts and signs that read " DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT", and I don’t quite know why, but it stuck with me, and I had to think about it. It sure does get treated like a sport. The GOP breaks the rules, commits fouls, and Democrats act like there’s a referee in Congress who’s going to throw a flag every time the GOP breaks a rule or makes an irregular play. And what I have come to realize is that we the public are supposed to be the referees. And regardless of team, we have to be the ones blowing whistles, throwing flags, and reviewing plays.
Since the election, I’ve decided to become a regular thorn in the sides of my elected officials, on both sides of the aisle. Through research I’ve settled on sending letters. Good old-fashioned letters on real paper, delivered via the postal service. Typed, usually. Handwritten, if I want it to be more personal. And I’ll send multiple copies of the same letter to their offices in my State and to their offices at the Capitol, addressed to them directly. This last bit is important because since it’s a federal offense to open correspondence and packages not addressed to you, and no staffer or intern wants to risk their job by opening letters addressed to their bosses, it’s guaranteed that the officials themselves will read them. Sure, the staffers might be the ones sending the responses, but that doesn’t mean my Senator or Representative never saw it. And since the same letter is at all their offices, this increases the chance of it being read. They’re gonna think “Holy shit, this guy really wants me to listen to what he’s got to say!”
You see, despite their efforts to get us to believe otherwise, our politicians are not beyond our reach. They do respond to public pressure, occasionally. I’m convinced that if more people did as I’m going to do, they’d listen more to us and less to their corporate friends and lobbyists.
Absolutely. We don’t have to stoop to MAGA’s level, with threats and intimidation, but we can and should be the most annoying things we each can think of. That song that’s been stuck in your head for a month, that subtle and insidious hiss you can’t seem to find the source of, that stain on your favorite shirt that you’ve washed like 5x today and it still won’t come out.
But we can also get our friends and neighbors involved and build mutual aid networks and support each other.
But we can also get our friends and neighbors involved and build mutual aid networks and support each other.
I want this but for online. We need to unify our online voices and it can’t be the under the current tent for left leaning people. If we had single way that we handled discourse between each other we could present as a united front. Right now, though, it’s easy for everything to devolve into pissing contests and everyone walks away mad. I dunno, I just wish we could make allies and treat allies like allies. Maybe if the online community had a say in who we were going to side with and how we are going to treat each other we wouldn’t be so quick to metaphorically try and curb stomp everyone who says something you don’t like, even if they’re ultimately on your side.
I’ve had this idea for a service that sends people everything they need to send a letter, and a list of things on Congress’s agenda to write in about. Like one of those loot box subscriptions. All they need to do is hand-write a quick note with their opinion and drop them in the mail.
Sounds nice. The thing is, if I put myself in a legislator’s shoes, if one of my constituents were to send me a letter, a physical, handwritten letter, and send that letter to both my DC office and my district office, they obviously felt strongly enough about this issue to sit down and physically write this letter, then make a copy of it and mail them both, addressed to me personally. Maybe they’re worth hearing out.
I remember watching the DNC earlier this year. There were shirts and signs that read " DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT", and I don’t quite know why, but it stuck with me, and I had to think about it. It sure does get treated like a sport. The GOP breaks the rules, commits fouls, and Democrats act like there’s a referee in Congress who’s going to throw a flag every time the GOP breaks a rule or makes an irregular play. And what I have come to realize is that we the public are supposed to be the referees. And regardless of team, we have to be the ones blowing whistles, throwing flags, and reviewing plays.
Since the election, I’ve decided to become a regular thorn in the sides of my elected officials, on both sides of the aisle. Through research I’ve settled on sending letters. Good old-fashioned letters on real paper, delivered via the postal service. Typed, usually. Handwritten, if I want it to be more personal. And I’ll send multiple copies of the same letter to their offices in my State and to their offices at the Capitol, addressed to them directly. This last bit is important because since it’s a federal offense to open correspondence and packages not addressed to you, and no staffer or intern wants to risk their job by opening letters addressed to their bosses, it’s guaranteed that the officials themselves will read them. Sure, the staffers might be the ones sending the responses, but that doesn’t mean my Senator or Representative never saw it. And since the same letter is at all their offices, this increases the chance of it being read. They’re gonna think “Holy shit, this guy really wants me to listen to what he’s got to say!”
You see, despite their efforts to get us to believe otherwise, our politicians are not beyond our reach. They do respond to public pressure, occasionally. I’m convinced that if more people did as I’m going to do, they’d listen more to us and less to their corporate friends and lobbyists.
I like you. I think you’re really cool. I want that to work! Can we also try other stuff too, though?
Absolutely. We don’t have to stoop to MAGA’s level, with threats and intimidation, but we can and should be the most annoying things we each can think of. That song that’s been stuck in your head for a month, that subtle and insidious hiss you can’t seem to find the source of, that stain on your favorite shirt that you’ve washed like 5x today and it still won’t come out.
But we can also get our friends and neighbors involved and build mutual aid networks and support each other.
I want this but for online. We need to unify our online voices and it can’t be the under the current tent for left leaning people. If we had single way that we handled discourse between each other we could present as a united front. Right now, though, it’s easy for everything to devolve into pissing contests and everyone walks away mad. I dunno, I just wish we could make allies and treat allies like allies. Maybe if the online community had a say in who we were going to side with and how we are going to treat each other we wouldn’t be so quick to metaphorically try and curb stomp everyone who says something you don’t like, even if they’re ultimately on your side.
I’ve had this idea for a service that sends people everything they need to send a letter, and a list of things on Congress’s agenda to write in about. Like one of those loot box subscriptions. All they need to do is hand-write a quick note with their opinion and drop them in the mail.
Sounds nice. The thing is, if I put myself in a legislator’s shoes, if one of my constituents were to send me a letter, a physical, handwritten letter, and send that letter to both my DC office and my district office, they obviously felt strongly enough about this issue to sit down and physically write this letter, then make a copy of it and mail them both, addressed to me personally. Maybe they’re worth hearing out.