4 ms·

This isn't on Coursera. Take it up with your elected officials.

by icelancer 13y ago

rikacomet 13y ago
I would if I were in US.
- icelancer 13y ago
  If you were in the US they wouldn't listen to you either, so don't feel too bad.
  - davidw 13y ago
    Bullshit. If you work at it, you can change things. Sometimes it's not as fast, or as much as you want. And it's likely to be a lot of hard work. But you can help change things for the better.
    - placety 13y ago
      Oh really? You can change decades-old embargo laws by writing to your elected local official? Really?
      - MichaelGG 13y ago
        I think that's what he alludes to with "hard work" and "not as fast". If you invested huge amounts of capital and campaigning, bought advertisements, setup protests, got on the news, etc. etc. perhaps enough people might notice. Doesn't mean it's effective to write a letter.
        davidw 13y ago
        I helped change a law in Italy despite not having a lot of money or "knowing anyone". Myself and others worked on it on and off for about two years before getting a foot in the right door. http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Presidenza/dettaglio.asp?d=69038 http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Presidenza/dettaglio.asp?d=690... We're not really satisfied with the new law, but it is a small step in the right direction, and we continue to work to improve things: http://srlfacile.org/ http://srlfacile.org/ It's kind of a minor issue, and low hanging fruit, but still, I'm proud of it. You are right on about writing letters. Go ahead and do it, but know that it's not enough. Look at the civil rights movement in the US. I'm glad they didn't just decide that, having written a letter or two, and not having seen any change, that it was impossible and to give up.
    - SyneRyder 13y ago
      You can change things, but sometimes it's better to walk around the brick wall or climb over it, instead of having a conversation with the wall asking it to please move out of the way for you. [Edit: Can't reply to message below so I'll clarify here - my intent was that instead of arguing with politicians, they could consider options that wouldn't even involve politicians. Coursera could close their US business and move to a country that does not have the same restrictions. Doing so may also help persuade US politicians that their policies are having the reverse impact of what they want.]
      - davidw 13y ago
        It's been hauled out a thousand times, but here it is again: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." Now, not every issue has to be everyone's fight, and for some things for some people, maybe skirting the issue is the best bet. We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who stand and fight, though.
jnbiche 13y ago
>Take it up with your elected officials. Yeah, how's that working out? But I totally agree this is not on Coursera.
- icelancer 13y ago
  >Yeah, how's that working out? It isn't, of course. But that's not the topic on hand.
- repsilat 13y ago
  You need to do more than just vote. Voting provides one bit of information to the electoral process, and you split that one bit between all of your political convictions. Worse, most of that signal is lost in the electoral laundry. The best info that politicians can get on this sort of thing comes from polling, and people only poll on electoral issues. If you want specific policy change you need to help bring it to the attention of elected officials and electoral candidates.
- pitt1980 13y ago
  you know what? this is actually something that we should contact our elected officials on what has to happen here? someone at the State Department has to sign off on it? that sounds like the sort of thing the right congressman or senator making a phone call could make happen that also sounds like the sort of thing that many congressmen and senators would enjoy bragging about accomplishing

This isn't on Coursera. Take it up with your elected officials.

rikacomet 13y ago

I would if I were in US.

icelancer 13y ago
If you were in the US they wouldn't listen to you either, so don't feel too bad.
- davidw 13y ago
  Bullshit. If you work at it, you can change things. Sometimes it's not as fast, or as much as you want. And it's likely to be a lot of hard work. But you can help change things for the better.
  - placety 13y ago
    Oh really? You can change decades-old embargo laws by writing to your elected local official? Really?
    - MichaelGG 13y ago
      I think that's what he alludes to with "hard work" and "not as fast". If you invested huge amounts of capital and campaigning, bought advertisements, setup protests, got on the news, etc. etc. perhaps enough people might notice. Doesn't mean it's effective to write a letter.
      - davidw 13y ago
        I helped change a law in Italy despite not having a lot of money or "knowing anyone". Myself and others worked on it on and off for about two years before getting a foot in the right door. http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Presidenza/dettaglio.asp?d=69038 http://www.governo.it/Notizie/Presidenza/dettaglio.asp?d=690... We're not really satisfied with the new law, but it is a small step in the right direction, and we continue to work to improve things: http://srlfacile.org/ http://srlfacile.org/ It's kind of a minor issue, and low hanging fruit, but still, I'm proud of it. You are right on about writing letters. Go ahead and do it, but know that it's not enough. Look at the civil rights movement in the US. I'm glad they didn't just decide that, having written a letter or two, and not having seen any change, that it was impossible and to give up.
  - SyneRyder 13y ago
    You can change things, but sometimes it's better to walk around the brick wall or climb over it, instead of having a conversation with the wall asking it to please move out of the way for you. [Edit: Can't reply to message below so I'll clarify here - my intent was that instead of arguing with politicians, they could consider options that wouldn't even involve politicians. Coursera could close their US business and move to a country that does not have the same restrictions. Doing so may also help persuade US politicians that their policies are having the reverse impact of what they want.]
    - davidw 13y ago
      It's been hauled out a thousand times, but here it is again: "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." Now, not every issue has to be everyone's fight, and for some things for some people, maybe skirting the issue is the best bet. We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who stand and fight, though.

jnbiche 13y ago

>Take it up with your elected officials. Yeah, how's that working out? But I totally agree this is not on Coursera.

icelancer 13y ago
>Yeah, how's that working out? It isn't, of course. But that's not the topic on hand.
repsilat 13y ago
You need to do more than just vote. Voting provides one bit of information to the electoral process, and you split that one bit between all of your political convictions. Worse, most of that signal is lost in the electoral laundry. The best info that politicians can get on this sort of thing comes from polling, and people only poll on electoral issues. If you want specific policy change you need to help bring it to the attention of elected officials and electoral candidates.
pitt1980 13y ago
you know what? this is actually something that we should contact our elected officials on what has to happen here? someone at the State Department has to sign off on it? that sounds like the sort of thing the right congressman or senator making a phone call could make happen that also sounds like the sort of thing that many congressmen and senators would enjoy bragging about accomplishing