4 ms·
If you want a member of congress to act on something, you have to ask them. That's how the system works. If you don't put in the effort, their time is spent on
by adastra 14y ago
If you want a member of congress to act on something, you have to ask them. That's how the system works. If you don't put in the effort, their time is spent on the thousands of other people clamoring for their attention who were more motivated and passionate than you were.
Really didn't want to bring this up, but I actually floated the idea of the community pursuing a political strategy to help Aaron here on HN:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4529907 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4529907
The suggestion didn't get many upvotes, and was utterly belittled by one of HN's most prolific posters. Something to keep in mind before you ridicule the small number of representatives who are actually friendly to tech. (To be clear, I could have taken action myself anyway, and I didn't find the time. That's on me.)
It's really, really unfortunate that this is the top comment.
- etherael 14y agoThis is probably the top comment because the zeitgeist is that the system is broken and making nice with it is a failing strategy.
- adastra 14y agoSo engaging the system would have resulted in an outcome that is worse than what actually happened? I don't think so. It's a false choice. You can engage the system and change it at the same time. Of course you can.
- beatpanda 14y agoIn my experience, the more you engage with the system, the more willing you are to rationalize or even overlook its failings.
- adastra 14y agoI've spent time doing both, and I think we're just going to have to agree to disagree.
- etherael 14y agoThe system was engaged with, that was the problem. People have a default assumption of adequacy when it comes to interaction with the state, this episode shows such a default assumption is not only unwarranted, but actually dangerous.