“Thank you for your thoughts on this matter, I didn’t read them. Here is a boilerplate statement espousing all the great things about this bill that you specifically criticized in your message to me. Please don’t reach out again.”
“Thank you for your thoughts on this matter, I didn’t read them. Here is a boilerplate statement espousing all the great things about this bill that you specifically criticized in your message to me. Please don’t reach out again.”
Believe it or not, there’s room for both. If a meeting with a senator doesn’t produce results, is it really being involved with politics, based on your criteria?
We need to do the easy stuff, and we need to do fun stuff. If you’re unwilling to write an email, then that just means you’re unwilling to do one of the easiest methods of political engagement.
At least if you meet with a senator you can be sure they heard you and you can flip them off in person. Emails always feel like screaming into the void and expecting it to care.
Trust me, hearing isn’t the same as understanding. Senators, executives, billionaires, etc are all the same. They’re used to their power and they are unwilling to actually understand people like us. Organizing direct action will always be more effective than voting or writing emails. I know from lived experience that direct action is best. But civic engagement also involves the easy stuff, so it shouldn’t be written off as pointless