| "Diffusion" is something i agree with, but i dont agree with apathy too much, because i believe there is much concern for many millions of people these days, more so than in years passed.
Theres a very simple sounding solution to get millions of people to take action. Use psychology and a very common human trait typically refrred to as "monkey see, monkey do". You see, i personally believe that the biggest reason responsible for it being so difficult to gt millions of poeple to take action is simply because most of us feel as if we would be taking action alone or that our actions in typical small numbers wont get anything changed anyway, so why bother taking the time out to sit down and write a letter, then find out where i have to send it, goto the post office to mail it, then the right person will probably never read it anyway...a waste of time most folks would think to themselves. This is the mentality of most americans today i think, and to a large extent they're probably correct in thinking this way.
But the internet can help change this way of thinking and open up an entirely new way of thinking and taking action for the average "joe" american.
Power is obtained 1 of 2 ways...either through money (lobbyists) or very large, cohesive & organized numbers of people taking action together as a single unit for a particualar cause (not thousands of ppl, we're talking MILLIONS). It is the latter that with some serious thought, explanation and a professional type of organization/implementation can become quite an interesting proposition.
I've been pondering ideas of this nature in the back of my mind along with plans of getting them implemented, but to make a long explanantion short....lets take the average person who i have described above...not taking any action to change any of the things he is always complaining about because he truly feels it would be a wasted effort because all those letters to washington get trashed to begin with, right?...BUT...
...what if this person was aware and well informed that every neighbor on his block along with 30% of all the cable customers in his county were planning a scheduled cut-off date for their services if a talked about price increase was passed there?...all of a sudden, "average joe" is no longer feeling so alone like before, and if he felt that enough people were planning on taking part in this action that maybe there really IS a chance to get something done!...if he feels strongly enough about taking part in making a change he's alot more likely now to get off his butt. He's also more willing to possbily have to do without service for awhile because he'll be going through it with his neighbors and wont feel as if he's losing out on something that everyone else has...he wont be alone on this one, and such a direct action with so many numbers behind him would most certainly yeild some sort of positive result most likely sooner than later.
There is great power in numbers. The trick is to figure out how to attract & organize those huge numbers (easy) and to properly evaluate the specific agenda at hand to come up with the most correct and responsible course of action needed to obtain the desired result of the majority without throwing ourselves into some sort of nationwide economic depression.
At the surface these may sound like some rather radical ideas ( to me too) but i truly feel that if the national majority was really willing to step back in time and ponder on what some radical but fiscially responsible changes might mean to their families, general lifestyle and overall health we might actually be able to relieve ourselves of 50% of the daily stress we all live with each day and lower the crime rate at the same time.
Its the citizens majority that can change this country, NOT our gov't. No matter what you were brainwashed to believe as a child, the gov't in itself does not exist anymore as an entity "of, by and for the people"..this is a pipe dream originally created with good intent but quickly soured. In its current state it better serves itself than its people at times.
Using the internet to form a single public venue where all interested american citizens can conveniently come to congregate under 1 roof to participate in discussions/votes/plans of action regarding both local and national issues they feel strongly about is the first step in realizing the true potential we all have acting together as one alliance.
With no red tape and no letters to Washington we really CAN band together in a responsible way and make BIG things happen VERY quickly.
I believe with very little effort on the part of the average person and from the comfort of his/her own home, along with the backing of a few big wigs and support from some high profile personalities we can start to build, no...we can start to ressurect a country that is honestly run "of, by and FOR" its people.
I dont know about you, but if someone told me there was a website you could visit to "complain" and make changes on 3 or 4 issues that were of terriffic importance to me and my family, and instead of just "writing a letter" and dealing with red tape you could easiy just cast a vote online and have 40-50 million americans (and neighbors) standing behind you ready to take immediate action towards implementing the change right away, AND its backed by a few political figures, one or 2 major corporations and a couple of movie stars speaking out about it, PLUS didnt you hear that the folks in "xyz county" used it to stop their cable company from rasing rates...i mean, geez...id ask right away what the damn website address is and id sure as heck take a look for myself...who wouldnt??
Dave
Radical thinking? well, only if the majority don't agree. |
