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D2K Coordinated Letter-Writing Campaign
The idea of the coordinated letter-writing campaign is to hit local press daily with at least one or two submissions that tie into a core idea under the D2K network canopy. Everything oppressive and unjust can be related to the control of people and government by capital. In addition to outreach, this is an education activity. The letters should be short on rhetoric and long on connections to the daily life of the middle and lower socioeconomic class American. We can talk about global issues but they should be tied to their effect on the people of Los Angeles. Many people are alienated from the political process and cynical about their chances of affecting "business as usual." If we can start a thought process in a few, as well as articulate our views on a regular basis in a forum that does not cost us money, it is well worth the effort. We would also hope to encourage people, in some of the letters, to join us on the streets. However, that should not be a feature of each letter. Please notify me of magazines that might be appropriate vehicles for our letters.
Reasons
Issues
The challenge of a coordinated letter-writing campaign is to find people who are willing to approve of a letter written by someone else, sign off on it and send it in. First, most papers limit the number of times a person can have a letter printed. For example, the LA Times has a policy of printing no more than one letter from any individual in a six-week period. Second, most papers require a local residential address and telephone number of the correspondent even if it comes in by email. As a general rule, they will not print letters from people who live out of their distribution area. Third, a large number of people will be needed to sign off on and send in letters so we will be challenged to find those people. Enlisting coworkers, family and friends as well as group members helps to expand our circle of volunteers. In addition, email submission of letters is possible from people nationwide if their ISPs do not identify their location. If we can set up a reserve of addresses and phone numbers in the LA metropolitan area that out-of-town respondents can use, we can vastly expand our volunteer base.
Method
People who enjoy writing about their viewpoints and ideas, in a concise and informal manner, submit letters to a central distribution point. From the central distribution point, these letters are presented to signers, who then forward them by the appropriate method to the target newspapers. The same letter, signed by the same person, can go to several papers in the same geographic area. I do not intend to discourage people from writing their own letters by any means. If people want to do that they may simply notify me about the papers to whom it went to and the main topic of the letter.
The website onlinenewspapers.com has a worldwide database of contacts. I have a database of approximately 50 metropolitan LA papers. Please send me information about papers that I do not have on the list, or updated information on listed publications. Many sites are electronically linked but the links do not automatically appear except in edocuments, so posting to the web will facilitate submissions.
Once you write a letter for distribution, send it to me by email at [email protected] or fax at (914) 470-0617. This area code is NY but it’s a free service from Yahoo so no complaining. Please write the letters into your message, or cut and paste the letters IN THE EMAIL MESSAGE. I do not want to open attachments. Just send me one page with your name (aliases are OK) and contact information. I will post the letters to the website so people can choose what they want to send. I will code them in my letter database with the author’s initials and the main topic.
If you are among those who are willing to sign and submit, notify me of the letter you have chosen, and the publications to which you have sent it, and the date sent. Again, aliases are OK, just be consistent with your alias so I can keep track of the number of submissions for each person. You are encouraged to edit and personalize the letter. That will help us expand our stock but it is unnecessary to edit. We want to make this easy. If you do edit, I would appreciate a copy back to me. It would also be helpful if many of you used different fonts in various sizes so the coordinated nature of the campaign is less obvious to the target publications. Attempt to delete identifying coding, etc.
Then, your task is to monitor the publication to see if the letter appears. If so, notify me by email. Alternately, (914) 470-0617 is also a voicemail number so you can leave a message if you do not have email. If a response pattern develops it would be fun to follow. Please let me know about that too. If possible, forward the responses as well.
Results
I plan to monitor and tabulate the results to determine how many letters were sent to each publication and how many were printed. If you are interested in results, email me to let me know and I will establish a listserv so I can email these data to you.
Suggestions
Please contact me if you have any ideas about implementing this campaign.
Sample Letters
For the last fifty years or so, we have been told that government is the enemy—that it is too big, out of control, run by lazy bureaucrats. If we truly lived in a democracy, this could not happen. Government is now controlled by multi-national corporations who don’t mind if the military pays $750 for a hammer. The top ten multinational corporations each have annual revenues larger than the yearly gross national product of two-thirds of the countries of the world. Maybe we should look at the real enemy, the artificial persons who never die, corporations. (Word count 96:big govt DL)
**
With presidential campaigns in full swing, and the Democratic and Republican conventions approaching, it is a good time to point out what is missing from the dialogue. Neither Gush or Bore are addressing the widening gap between the rich and the poor, a gap wider in Santa Barbara than all but one county in California.
People on the bottom rung of the economic ladder, although the foundation of our "booming" economy, are being forced to leave because of the rising cost of living. Many rich and middle class folks, while supportive of having waiters, dishwashers, grounds keepers, and custodians, tend to voice opposition when an affordable housing proposal aims to keep these Santa Barbarans here.
The Democrats are not any better. As demonstrators in Seattle and Washington DC have told us, there is a global movement to bring power and democracy to the people, and away from corporations. Thousands will rally in at the Democratic National Convention to wrestle political power and influence from big business. We need to stop the gouging of the poor by the rich, the building of prisons (designed to warehouse this disenfranchised population), and stop the third of our tax dollars going towards "defense" while children starve at home. (word count 204:col HA)
**
Why are protestors planning on demonstrating at the Republican and Democratic Conventions this summer? Could it be that in the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, the gap between the rich and poor grows wider every year? The value of the stocks on the NYSE triple in the last ten years, because every year, more jobs are sent overseas. When are people going to realize who the real enemy is? It is corporations that no longer consider themselves an integral part of a community, or even a country. (Word count 90:income gap DL)
***
Prisons are replacing schools in California (we are 1st in prison spending but 40th in education), job insecurity is nonexistent, affordable housing is a contradiction in terms, and we just spent 100 million dollars for a failed missile defense test. Corporations have taken over electoral politics to the point where neither the Republicans nor Democrats want to even talk about campaign finance reform. Corporate interests in the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund have eroded democracy and
workers rights, and ravaged the economies of Third World Nations.
Why aren't these issues being addressed at all by the two leading presidential candidates? It is time to broaden the debate and bring these issues to the fore. Protests at the upcoming Democratic and Republican Conventions will address these issues, as will Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, if he were only allowed to appear in the debates. (Word count 146:prison HA)
**
Most families who need welfare stay on it for less than two years. Less than one-third of those families return for services after their initial need has passed. We certainly cannot say the same for corporations, who always have their hands out. Corporate welfare drains public money that can be used to improve our schools and health-care systems. Instead, we are paying taxes to promote soft drinks and baby formula in less-developed countries, for companies that move out of the area, state, or country after they drain communities of tax dollars. If welfare truly makes recipients permanent dependents, then why do our governments continue to coddle corporations with no real benefit in return? At least families who use welfare return to tax-paying status, unlike most corporations. (Word count 126:corp welfare DL)
**
Activists in Santa Barbara have discussed passing an ordinance to not allow Santa Barbara City to contract with companies based in Burma. However a Supreme Court shot "selective purchasing" laws such as these down, claiming that when it comes to foreign policy, the nation speaks with one voice. What does that do to democracy? So big businesses can go into countries where child labor laws are non-existent, destroy the environment, profit off of slave labor, and the people can not pass a law to withdraw economic support for this?
This is absolutely unacceptable in a country which claims to carry the torch of democracy. This is why I and many other Santa Barbarans are heading to the Democratic National Convention next month to voice our opposition to the direction of the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has sold out to the people and no longer address of working poor. We must turn the tide and give voice to liberty, democracy, and social justice. Be in LA, August 13-17. (168 words-selective purchasing HA)
**
I attended the 4th of July events at Harder Stadium this year, and it made me a little sick. The fireworks were entertaining, as were the skydivers and the entertainment. It was the history lesson during the fireworks show, Lois Capps' speech, and the general atmosphere of American patriotism that filled the air.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson (both owners of hundreds of slaves) were revered for their grasp of "freedom", "democracy", and "justice". Capps, apparently ignorant of the US past and present role in suppressing democratic peoples movements around the world (Nicaragua, Panama, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and most recently Colombia) to protect business interests, claimed that our troops were making the world "safe for democracy".
The chasm between American rhetoric and practice (internationally and domestically) exhibited on this night made my stomach turn and solidified my desire to become a history teacher. It also made me excited about the coalition of people from Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Isla Vista who will be voicing our concerns at the Democratic National Convention August 13-17. We hope to take corporate money and influence out of politics, and truly have a government "by the people and for the people". (196 words:fourjuly HA)
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