Tuesday, February 5, 2008
50 Ways to Love Your Country (if you do not live in a totalitarian government)
MoveOn's "50 Ways to Love Your Country," is the prime example of how the whole is larger than each individual's parts (or whatever that saying is supposed to be.) The book tells, in a concise abstract, the stories of fifty Americans who have contributed to an advocacy effort in some way-shape-or-form. Whether it be from saving wolves in their natural habitate from hunters to assisting in a gubernatorial campaign in Iowa from a long-short candidate...these individuals volunteered their time for change.
As interesting and uplifting as many of these stories are, my innate skepticism kept on peaking over my shoulder like the dark part of your consciousness when you know you really shoulnd't do something (but you want to anyway). I'm certainly not a scorned American wallowing in my lack of voice (i.e. - I am a Washington, DC, resident so I have less Congressional rights than Guam) but I am certainly not an idealist either who believes that sending an e-mail to president@whitehouse.gov will go anywhere besides the nether-realms of a darkhole email that will certainly not even be backed up. I manage the grassroots for the trade association that I work for and know that nine times out of ten (on a good day) any e-mail sent via my Capwiz service will be printed and left in a draw or read by an undergraduate intern inbetween he/she answers phones or swings a bat in one the Congrsesional softball leagues.
But even so we do not stop sending the message. We have learned, like the whole of the sum of its parts, that we need to follow-up with key Members and bring those printed letters to the office as a leave-behind during a constinuent meeting. And even as a relatively large trade association we have our limitations with bandwidth, so I don't think its skepticism but honesty that makes me believe that for every successul wolf campaign their are 400 dolphin campaigns that go unnoticed. Same as for every Daily Kos blog their are 800 www.jasonlangsner.com/blog "This is Web 2.0000001s."
The Internet has overly saturated Congrssional offices with turfroots messaging that real grassroots and real problems are lost between the fake threads of sod. For instance, I am one of the rare Americans who not just can name my U.S. Congressional Member but has taken the time to visit and write him on numerous occastions (note --- I do not claim Delagate Holmes as my representation but still utilize the services of Rep. Rush Holt from New Jersey, where I used to live). Rep. Holt is a man of great character and he represents my interests (even though I am legally not a constinuent...but my parents and brother are and I certainly control a great deal of opinion power in swaying their vote). Yet when I write a heart-felt email to Rep. Holt that deals with the pressing issues of U.S. competitiveness and education, the response takes months to reach my ex-Jersey home. I am thankful that it works its way up to the Member and am glad that he hand writes a note on it to show that he actually read it, but I do see the staffers initials in the footer. I agree with the book that sometimes (often times) getting the key staffers ear is just as important -- if not more important -- than speaking directly with the Member, but the 21 year old George Washington Poli-Sci grad didn't receive my or my parents vote and how can I guarentee that with all of the other important things facing the Member, that my message will get to him in the way that I communicated. Anyone remember the "telephone game" that you used to play in elementary school?
I can't blame the staffer or the Member. I know they both want to do more. That is why they became a public servant. They have altruism in mind and give up much more money in the private sector to hear from me and my Dear Aunt Sally, but long gone are the days when Andrew Jackson would open up the doors to the White House to hear from any American citizen with a qualm or opinion. Enter the days of the K Street Project and Internet saturation. I agree with Speaker Pelosi's essay about how MoveOn has helped energize people about democracy, but can the current system obsorb MoveOn and other online advocacy efforts? My thoughts are no if those messages (whether they're form letters or not) are disgarded in the circular filing cabinet.
We need a new, technological, government. We need U.S. Congress 2.0 which doesn't handle business the old way but leverages technology to do the job better, faster, quicker, and smarter. For instance, even though the House has electronic voting those silly laggards across the street in the Senate still hold onto tradition and procedure. Maybe that should be MoveOn's next major campaign. We moved on from one Clinton's infidelities in office and after this Super Duper Tuesday, could possibly get another Clinton closer to taking the healm of the ship. She's for modernization, but so is Barack. Maybe the Internet Gods should start a letter writing campaign to tell the Congress to modernize...but will anyone read it?
As interesting and uplifting as many of these stories are, my innate skepticism kept on peaking over my shoulder like the dark part of your consciousness when you know you really shoulnd't do something (but you want to anyway). I'm certainly not a scorned American wallowing in my lack of voice (i.e. - I am a Washington, DC, resident so I have less Congressional rights than Guam) but I am certainly not an idealist either who believes that sending an e-mail to president@whitehouse.gov will go anywhere besides the nether-realms of a darkhole email that will certainly not even be backed up. I manage the grassroots for the trade association that I work for and know that nine times out of ten (on a good day) any e-mail sent via my Capwiz service will be printed and left in a draw or read by an undergraduate intern inbetween he/she answers phones or swings a bat in one the Congrsesional softball leagues.
But even so we do not stop sending the message. We have learned, like the whole of the sum of its parts, that we need to follow-up with key Members and bring those printed letters to the office as a leave-behind during a constinuent meeting. And even as a relatively large trade association we have our limitations with bandwidth, so I don't think its skepticism but honesty that makes me believe that for every successul wolf campaign their are 400 dolphin campaigns that go unnoticed. Same as for every Daily Kos blog their are 800 www.jasonlangsner.com/blog "This is Web 2.0000001s."
The Internet has overly saturated Congrssional offices with turfroots messaging that real grassroots and real problems are lost between the fake threads of sod. For instance, I am one of the rare Americans who not just can name my U.S. Congressional Member but has taken the time to visit and write him on numerous occastions (note --- I do not claim Delagate Holmes as my representation but still utilize the services of Rep. Rush Holt from New Jersey, where I used to live). Rep. Holt is a man of great character and he represents my interests (even though I am legally not a constinuent...but my parents and brother are and I certainly control a great deal of opinion power in swaying their vote). Yet when I write a heart-felt email to Rep. Holt that deals with the pressing issues of U.S. competitiveness and education, the response takes months to reach my ex-Jersey home. I am thankful that it works its way up to the Member and am glad that he hand writes a note on it to show that he actually read it, but I do see the staffers initials in the footer. I agree with the book that sometimes (often times) getting the key staffers ear is just as important -- if not more important -- than speaking directly with the Member, but the 21 year old George Washington Poli-Sci grad didn't receive my or my parents vote and how can I guarentee that with all of the other important things facing the Member, that my message will get to him in the way that I communicated. Anyone remember the "telephone game" that you used to play in elementary school?
I can't blame the staffer or the Member. I know they both want to do more. That is why they became a public servant. They have altruism in mind and give up much more money in the private sector to hear from me and my Dear Aunt Sally, but long gone are the days when Andrew Jackson would open up the doors to the White House to hear from any American citizen with a qualm or opinion. Enter the days of the K Street Project and Internet saturation. I agree with Speaker Pelosi's essay about how MoveOn has helped energize people about democracy, but can the current system obsorb MoveOn and other online advocacy efforts? My thoughts are no if those messages (whether they're form letters or not) are disgarded in the circular filing cabinet.
We need a new, technological, government. We need U.S. Congress 2.0 which doesn't handle business the old way but leverages technology to do the job better, faster, quicker, and smarter. For instance, even though the House has electronic voting those silly laggards across the street in the Senate still hold onto tradition and procedure. Maybe that should be MoveOn's next major campaign. We moved on from one Clinton's infidelities in office and after this Super Duper Tuesday, could possibly get another Clinton closer to taking the healm of the ship. She's for modernization, but so is Barack. Maybe the Internet Gods should start a letter writing campaign to tell the Congress to modernize...but will anyone read it?
Labels: Congress, Government Modernization, MoveOn.org, U.S. Politics
// posted by Jason Langsner @ 9:21 PM 
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