amra@ihuxj.UUCP (Steven L. Aldrich) (08/02/84)
I saw the following reply to one of my articles a couple days ago.
There are a few points in it I'd like to address. The article in
question appears in its entirety, with the exception of "header"
lines. My comments appear between the "---"'s and are pre-faced with
"ED NOTE:".
Without further rambling on my part here is the article.. Happy Reading.
From: werner@ut-ngp.UUCP (Werner Uhrig)
Newsgroups: net.politics,net.followup,net.consumers
Subject: Re: Phone Numbers for House Switch Board & President's Office
Organization: Comp. Center, Univ. of Texas at Austin
hmmm,
I'm torn in my reaction to this encouragement to call
government officials ' OFTEN' or even 'AT ALL'.
Wouldn't it be a lot more effective to write rather than
call? There'd be a document which could be photocopied,
handed around, rather than a phone-memo, which certainly
would not reflect the "IMPORTANCE" nor "URGENCY" of
my OWN phrasing in a letter. In a written statement,
you can use all the tricks of convincing you know,
from plain logic, to rhetoric and elegant style.
-------------
ED NOTE: While I agree it IS more effective to Write to
government officials, calling is (or can be)
another viable alternative. There are people out
there who don't have the time/inclination to sit
down and write a letter/manifesto to government
representitives. Calling is a faster, more
convient method of communication for some people.
That's why I posted it, so that people who wanted to
have the numbers could use them. It wasn't meant to
be a replacement for Written Communications.
I have also written numerous letters to the folks
in Washington (D.C.) and know it is of great value
to communicate in this manner. Steve
------
Or do you really think that a phone-memo could convince
or even communicate as well and with as much impact as
you can yourself, with a carefully phrased paragraph?
----------
ED NOTE: Maybe a phone call doesn't have as much "impact"
as a letter, but IF ENOUGH PEOPLE CALL I'm convinced that
it Will/Does have a significant influence on Government
officials. Why not do BOTH?? -Steve
----------
And, is it really reasonable to expect the government to
have someone take your phone-calls, or even to have
the "high official" be accessable to 'priority-interupts'
by any and all? At what cost to the tax-payer ?
----------
ED NOTE: Hell yes it's reasonable! These people were elected to
SERVE the people, not the other way 'round. The "high
official" may not be on the other end of the phone, but
will probably see a summary of calls/letters/etc at regular
intervals. It can't cost THAT MUCH to have someone available
to answer the phone. Besides who knows, you may even get to
speak with said "high official" on Rare Occassions. -Steve
-------------
So, expect a flunky on the phone, who mutilates any message
you are trying to send, when he takes down a few notes.
---------------
ED NOTE: It has been my experiance that the "flunky" usually repeats
the major/main points of your message BEFORE they hang up
and ASK YOU IF IT'S CORRECT. Try it some time and find out.
--------------
Of course, if your name was Mr.Big.Money.Contributor or
Ms.Big.in.the.Media, you might expect to get through or
at least, get your call returned by Mr.BigShot.in.the Govmt,
but for the rest of us .......????
------------------
ED NOTE: I'm in complete AGREEMENT with you on this point.
Seems like many (most) elected officials only have
time for the special interest and/or PAC crowd.
That's why I consider it important to call/write
often and hope others do also. Maybe if enough of US
get involved, we can effect a change in this situation.
Opinions anyone??? -Steve
------------------
Admitted, I never tried, so I am willing to learn from you all.
And writing gets me 'junk-mail' where Mr/s. Governement.Person
reports on his/her deeds which fits the image of me supporting.
I have the suspicion, that my Congressman keeps a profile of me
according to what causes I write about and support, and then has
his computer mail me only those letters, which fit my profile.
So as to only tell me about things I would support and keep me in
the dark about my representatives 'mis-deeds' and 'mis-votes'.
Can anyone confirm this?
-------------------------
ED NOTE: Do you suffer from symptoms of "paranoia"?? "1984" is
a "state of mind" not a specific year/period in history.
Orwell didn't even choose the title if I remember right.
Big Brother only exists in "fiction", at least in THIS
country. [ Right?!?!? :-) ]
Werner (calling my phone gets you a recording MOST of the time)
-----------------
ED NOTE: Really, what groups/movies do I get? What's the number so I can
call and get my "recording"? How often do you give this stuff
away?? I'll be sure to get my recording fast before they are
all gone. Is this a contest or something??? :-)
------------------
Well that about covers it I think, if anyone would care to comment
on the above either send EMAIL to IHNP4!IHUXJ!AMRA or POST a reply
to "net.consumers" or "net.politics". I will try to respond in a
reasonable amount of time. Thanks for your attention, have an
INTERESTING day/life.
Best Regards,
Steve Aldrich
ihnp4!ihuxj!amra