Quote of the Day: “Procrastinate Apathy”
Subject: Goals
Thank you to scores of folks who responded to our requests for feedback on motivational growth goals. Your answers will inform our actions in the weeks and months ahead. In the meantime . . .
We want to address those who wrote to express despair and apathy.
We understand how you feel. But we think it’s best to procrastinate apathy. There will be plenty of time to “do nothing” once we’re dead.
For those who wrote to assert that the only hope lies in replacing all the politicians or enacting some favored reform, we respond, “You and what army?” If you don’t have an army, how will you replace all the politicians or enact your preferred reform?
Still others wrote to say that sending messages to Congress won’t change anything. Here’s what we’re sure of: NOT telling Congress what you want won’t change anything either. Neither will sending too few messages. Neither will voting to replace one bad politician with another.
And NO tactic or strategy can work if it is pursued by TOO FEW PEOPLE.
We want what YOU want. BUT WE NEED AN ARMY TO DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS.
One thing your messages to Congress do change is the confidence felt by the Congressional staffers who read and count your comments. The more dissent they see the more nervous they feel about their boss’s political prospects, as well as their own personal advancement.
We know for a fact that this nervousness is communicated upline to the Senators and Representatives.
We also know that DC Downsizers have participated in 17 legislative victories since 2006.
But if you want to stop feeling apathy and despair then you need an army to fight for want you want, SO YOU WON’T BE ALONE. If you want to replace all the politicians or enact some exciting reform then you’ll need an army to make that happen.
How are YOU going to recruit that army?
Let us suggest that something important happens when you share Downsizer-Dispatches with others: The Downsize DC Army grows.
And we all want that bigger army sooner, rather than later.
There are several ways to make the army grow faster that it is now. Thanks to your support, we’re NOW developing new tools for this purpose. YOU WILL SEE ONE OF THOSE TOOLS TOMORROW.
One way to grow quickly is by asking people who would be likely to support ideas like the “Read the Bills Act” and the “One Subject at a Time Act.”
Direct mail is one of the most effective ways to do that since it allows targeting and generates both higher and more measurable responses rates than most other methods. That’s why, we will . . .
UNVEIL OUR DIRECT MAIL RECRUITMENT LETTER IN TOMORROW’S DISPATCH.
Please pay attention to tomorrow’s Dispatch and take the time to read it, so you can see EXACTLY how we intend to make the army grow faster.
In the meantime, don’t let your elected representatives assume that you’re okay with what they’re doing. Tell them you object. Withdraw your consent. Make them nervous.
Word has it that two more bailout schemes are in the works, for local government pensions and commercial real estate. We’ll tell you more when we know more, but let’s get a jump on this one.
Please use our quick and easy Educate the Powerful System to send a confidence-shaking message using our No Bailouts campaign.
Use your personal comments to tell your elected representatives that you’ve heard they’re considering more bailouts for commercial real estate and government pensions. Tell them you oppose more bailouts.
Thank you for being a part of the growing Downsize DC Army, and please TAKE SPECIAL NOTICE of tomorrow’s message.
Jim Babka
President
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
P.S. Tomorrow afternoon, like most Fridays, I’m scheduled to be on Straight Talk w/ Jerry Hughes. I never know for certain what the topics are going to be discussed. But I would bet that we’ll be discussing today’s Dispatch in greater detail. If you’re interested in a strategic discussion about how we can actually achieve our goals, please listen. Program details are available at our blog.