tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post4821867903437741294..comments2024-02-16T09:00:32.845-06:00Comments on FromDC2Iowa: Pete Seeger and An Antidote to ApathyUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30130444.post-24439014053170912422014-02-03T03:07:42.771-06:002014-02-03T03:07:42.771-06:00Somebody told my wife that his college professor a...Somebody told my wife that his college professor at the University of Maryland promised an "A" to any student in his class who could get a letter-to-the-editor printed in the Washington Post. I had a number printed but, alas, I didn't attend college other than to take a handful of math classes. <br /><br />One of my printed letters to the WP invited Chilean assassins to leave the US after they killed Orlando Letelier. I used a mirror to scan the undercarriage of my car for bombs for a while after its publication. My letter was just a grain of sand in a ton of protests. However, Mr. Letelier himself was a protester and he had been very effective. He stopped the Dutch from investing a large sum in Chile. That's why he was killed.<br /><br />Personally, I am compelled to call out many wrongs though mostly in the service of employers or in personal consumer matters - and I'm actually pretty good at it - nearly always getting my way if I apply myself. But I did once make an important difference in the public sphere. I got a cop removed from duty after he started ranting about black people. Before his hearing he tried a couple times to intimidate me, but he went down on the charge.<br /><br />My father had great difficulty in expressing himself. He was a smart guy but a psychological condition left him unable to speak decent narratives or produce syllogisms. That left him frequently frustrated and angry. This motivated me to be clearly understood by the people and organizations I seriously disagreed with. So it is that I convinced an automaker to accommodate owners of certain vehicles they sold, concerning a particular matter, resulting in the automaker's legal department notifying their dealers of their contractual obligations. But there have been many victories along those lines.<br /><br />The trick often isn't to convey knowledge. People and organizations already know right from wrong and what the social expectations are. The trick is to get to the people in power. In the case of the nut cop, I appealed directly to the police chief. In the case of the automaker, I appealed directly to its largest shareholder. <br /><br />You need to talk to someone who can actually make a difference.<br /><br />I remember talking to Seymour Hersh once. He explained how he got his big story on the My Lai murders. He had heard rumors so he just walked on base where Lt. Calley was confined but not imprisoned - and interviewed him.<br /><br />Oh, I enjoy posting provocative responses on the internet; I do it for sport. But to actually make change you usually have to get within shouting distance of the top. <br /><br />- JCS, Bend. ORAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com