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> Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy and other sites have put up Red Alert banners as part of a day of action to drive petitions in support of the resolution. I get the feel

> Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy and other sites have put up Red Alert banners as part of a day of action to drive petitions in support of the resolution. I get the feeling that these sites are just 'preaching to the choir' (i.e. their customers already support these things, and most likely have let their 'representative' know). Is anyone doing anything to give the 50 senators who are against this a taste of what is to come? I recall cloudflare or someome along those lines threatenning to throttle traffic from government IPs, or maybe that just happened in my dream..

rhcom2 9y ago
Not to introduce flame bait but one of the reasons the NRA is powerful is the ability to quickly motivate their very vocal members.
- mch82 9y ago
  It would be amazing if someone could figure out a way to measure constituent opinion that didn't involve people showing up at or calling in to an office.
  - PhasmaFelis 9y ago
    Well, that's kind of the thing. Everyone's willing to kill and die for their beliefs on the internet; a lot fewer will actually campaign and canvas and march and vote for their beliefs. The inconvenience of calling or mailing your politician tells them that you have passed a rock bottom threshold of willingness to act, and might conceivably have an effect on their vote totals next election.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  The fact that those members have guns might also have something to do with it. 'Do this or else we will sick our gun carrying members on you' even if they do nothing at all is a more powerful signal than 'Do this or a bunch of people will show up to protest'.
  - msla 9y ago
    > 'Do this or else we will sick our gun carrying members on you' even if they do nothing at all is a more powerful signal than 'Do this or a bunch of people will show up to protest'. That threat is entirely without teeth for two reasons: One: Disorganized militias fail against a well-regulated military force. Especially since this militia would be a minority group, composed of the subset of gun owners who are outright crazy/stupid enough to go up against their own government. Two: It would destroy the NRA in the public sphere. They'd go from being a normal political group to truly being Yall-Qaeda, the armed paramilitary force of reactionary idiots no normal person can support. The NRA can put on a normal face right now, and get practically everything it wants through politics, but if it tries to force the issue through armed insurrection, it gets crushed like an insect. A small insect.
- ataturk 9y ago
  I don't think you understand at all. The NRA isn't what is powerful. The NRA is the public face of the pro-gun movement, but the reason it is so effective isn't the NRA--the NRA is the tail, the people are the dog. RKBA is a true grass-roots movement of real, actual people who vote on a single issue. It's not a particularly well organized movement, and most of the time there is a ton of infighting, disagreement, and back-stabbing. But all have the same fundamental ideal about freedom and liberty. Many gun owners are very good intentioned patriots, solid, hard-working Americans. However, the group is extremely diverse and intelligence follows the bell curve. Most don't understand how government works, refuse to fight the way the left fights (dirty) and allow themselves to become corrupted by the fight. Were it not like that, the movement would tear government to pieces and totally reform it. That may be about to happen anyways, but not through them. You have no idea what sleeping giants live out there. Quite simply put, the NRA is often more a controlled opposition that the real power behind the movement and that guns stand in for freedom/liberty which is what it is all about. True citizens have real rights with teeth. The kind of teeth that despots fear.
dlgeek 9y ago
As someone else put it... "That's how you get the choir to sing!" It's not about changing minds. It's a call to action - they're specifically trying to get their users to contact their representatives.
esaym 9y ago
>Is anyone doing anything to give the 50 senators who are against this a taste of what is to come? No, because I am fine with the way things are, ie unregulated.
- craftyguy 9y ago
  It's not currently 'unregulated.' Consumers are being regulated by ISPs, who are driven by profits and literally nothing else.
  - Jaymoon85 9y ago
    > 'unregulated' In the sense of 'government regulation'. They are the ones who can arbitrarily enforce rules, pick and choose winners, and complicate the barrier to entry so much to discourage competition ...all within the law mind you. > ...ISPs, who are driven by profits and literally nothing else They live by the profits, and die by them too. That's how free market works.
_asummers 9y ago
Those sites are a huge portion of overall internet traffic. While on e.g. Reddit, people may subscribe to tech subreddits, there are many people who don't and are unaware of anything to do with net neutrality. If they can convince a nonzero amount of people to contact their representatives, that's worth the hour or two of some intern's time to put up a banner. Who knows, some of those people might be in states represented by those 50 senators.
glenndebacker 9y ago
Maybe they can crowdfund ? If I read the news and see the prices to get "insights", it may be doable. Then again I find it troubling how easy politicians are getting bought these days while in essence it's not that hard to govern with all the people in mind instead of them self. But I may be very naive in this regards.

rhcom2 9y ago

Not to introduce flame bait but one of the reasons the NRA is powerful is the ability to quickly motivate their very vocal members.

mch82 9y ago
It would be amazing if someone could figure out a way to measure constituent opinion that didn't involve people showing up at or calling in to an office.
- PhasmaFelis 9y ago
  Well, that's kind of the thing. Everyone's willing to kill and die for their beliefs on the internet; a lot fewer will actually campaign and canvas and march and vote for their beliefs. The inconvenience of calling or mailing your politician tells them that you have passed a rock bottom threshold of willingness to act, and might conceivably have an effect on their vote totals next election.
jacquesm 9y ago
The fact that those members have guns might also have something to do with it. 'Do this or else we will sick our gun carrying members on you' even if they do nothing at all is a more powerful signal than 'Do this or a bunch of people will show up to protest'.
- msla 9y ago
  > 'Do this or else we will sick our gun carrying members on you' even if they do nothing at all is a more powerful signal than 'Do this or a bunch of people will show up to protest'. That threat is entirely without teeth for two reasons: One: Disorganized militias fail against a well-regulated military force. Especially since this militia would be a minority group, composed of the subset of gun owners who are outright crazy/stupid enough to go up against their own government. Two: It would destroy the NRA in the public sphere. They'd go from being a normal political group to truly being Yall-Qaeda, the armed paramilitary force of reactionary idiots no normal person can support. The NRA can put on a normal face right now, and get practically everything it wants through politics, but if it tries to force the issue through armed insurrection, it gets crushed like an insect. A small insect.
ataturk 9y ago
I don't think you understand at all. The NRA isn't what is powerful. The NRA is the public face of the pro-gun movement, but the reason it is so effective isn't the NRA--the NRA is the tail, the people are the dog. RKBA is a true grass-roots movement of real, actual people who vote on a single issue. It's not a particularly well organized movement, and most of the time there is a ton of infighting, disagreement, and back-stabbing. But all have the same fundamental ideal about freedom and liberty. Many gun owners are very good intentioned patriots, solid, hard-working Americans. However, the group is extremely diverse and intelligence follows the bell curve. Most don't understand how government works, refuse to fight the way the left fights (dirty) and allow themselves to become corrupted by the fight. Were it not like that, the movement would tear government to pieces and totally reform it. That may be about to happen anyways, but not through them. You have no idea what sleeping giants live out there. Quite simply put, the NRA is often more a controlled opposition that the real power behind the movement and that guns stand in for freedom/liberty which is what it is all about. True citizens have real rights with teeth. The kind of teeth that despots fear.

dlgeek 9y ago

As someone else put it... "That's how you get the choir to sing!" It's not about changing minds. It's a call to action - they're specifically trying to get their users to contact their representatives.

esaym 9y ago

>Is anyone doing anything to give the 50 senators who are against this a taste of what is to come? No, because I am fine with the way things are, ie unregulated.

craftyguy 9y ago
It's not currently 'unregulated.' Consumers are being regulated by ISPs, who are driven by profits and literally nothing else.
- Jaymoon85 9y ago
  > 'unregulated' In the sense of 'government regulation'. They are the ones who can arbitrarily enforce rules, pick and choose winners, and complicate the barrier to entry so much to discourage competition ...all within the law mind you. > ...ISPs, who are driven by profits and literally nothing else They live by the profits, and die by them too. That's how free market works.

_asummers 9y ago

Those sites are a huge portion of overall internet traffic. While on e.g. Reddit, people may subscribe to tech subreddits, there are many people who don't and are unaware of anything to do with net neutrality. If they can convince a nonzero amount of people to contact their representatives, that's worth the hour or two of some intern's time to put up a banner. Who knows, some of those people might be in states represented by those 50 senators.

glenndebacker 9y ago

Maybe they can crowdfund ? If I read the news and see the prices to get "insights", it may be doable. Then again I find it troubling how easy politicians are getting bought these days while in essence it's not that hard to govern with all the people in mind instead of them self. But I may be very naive in this regards.