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  • From: jhecksel@voyager.net
  • To: nafex@egroups.com
  • Subject: [nafex] (off topic) Was global warming
  • Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2001 07:03:29 -0800

Joyce wrote:

> I do write
> letters from time to time. But not many.

Let's write about the "iceberg effect". The "Bridgestone law of
Quality" holds that one letter of complaint addressed to the appropriate
person represents 10,000-to-100,000 dissatisfied customers. The
customer who takes the time to write an articulate letter to the
appropriate person has many characteristics. That person is:
*Organized
*Tenacious
*Capable of research and can find the person in authority
*Very energized by anger
*Able to identify the source of their dissatisfaction
*Highly literate, that is, they are able to convert their observations,
thoughts and feelings into a coherent stream of words. The receiver has
no doubts about what the sender wants him/her to know.

Bridgestone figures that each characteristic listed above will thin out
about 90% of the population. So one excellent letter is assumed to be a
reasonable proxy for 10,000-to-100,000 unhappy customers. Too bad they
blew it on the Firestone fiasco (Firestone is one of Bridgestone's
brands).

Consider the Congressman: Does he pay attention to media reporters (90%
of whom belong to one political party). Seems like our last
Presidential election was a little closer than that. No, you set up
some offices for people to call, visit or write to. They undoubtedly
get a mix of chronic whiners, once-in-a-blue mooners, and a very few
genuine weather vanes.

How do you know which why the wind is blowing? You look at the weather
vane.

Soooo, getting back to NAFEX: Do you want the Department of Agriculture
to continue funding for the Germ Plasm Reserviors? Do you want the
Department of Agriculture to continue funding the breeding of new fruit
trees/bushes and rootstocks? Do you want the DofA to fund the study of
allopathic rye as a substitute for herbicide? And on, and on, and on?
Write a letter to your Congressman. Tell him/her how much your "hobby"
means to you. Tell him/her which programs you hold dear in your heart.
Tell him/her that you vote. Then ask him/her for the list of
Congressmen on the Agriculture committee(s). Then send them copies of
your letter.

My belief is that it really makes a difference.

> Most of all I believe, in spite of PETA, Greenpeace, and the NRA, most
> people in
> the USA are sensible and capable of making reasonable choices for
> themselves.
>

Most extremist are people who feel powerless or over-whelmed when not
allied with a "wave of the future" group. An good book to read is Eric
Hoffer's True Believer:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060916125/qid=979991359/sr=2-1/ref=sc_b_1/102-0763989-6751369

This book was written in 1952 but people have not changed since then.
Just for historical accuracy, Karl Marx was the first person to identify
"allienation" as a powerful motivater for change. My experience has
been that people who grow plants do not feel "powerless",
"out-of-control" or "allienated". Perhaps that is part of what we offer
the world. 8-)


--

-Joe Hecksel
Eaton Rapids,
Michigan







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