ATS Members: Are you 'ALL Talk and NO Action'?

Since being here for a short time,
I have enjoyed the passion that ATS members have displayed in numerous threads,
in various forums,
when addressing the injustice and inequalities people are facing everyday.

Quite a few members spend a lot of time and energy debating and countering others in a thread to push their viewpoint on a topic against friends/mods/foes/debunkers/trolls/and organized shills (cointelpros),

but my interest lies in what else you do, or don’t do.

Various threads and forums, and the issues that they address can, in most instances be reduced to a common source. That source being:

Government Officials elected in good faith to govern FOR the people, who don’t!

Consider - 9/11, immigration, War, Climate Change, Environment, Endangered Species, Disclosure, GM food, Employment, Banks, Foreign Policy ....

So...
Do you get things off your chest here in ATS,
Get a star,
Feel warm and fuzzy inside,
and leave it at that?

Or do you take the information you have presented and/or processed
and take it further?
Do you email/write to your local representative in Govt?
Do you email/write to newspapers (websites/letters to editor)?
Do you try and get friends/family/co-workers involved to contact their Govt Reps?
Join protest marches?

Don’t get me wrong. I am just as blasé on quite a few things.
But at times I have been prompted to try and let my thoughts be known.
I'm in Australia, but I have:
Emailed newspapers (in OZ, US, Iran, & Israel) on the ME war and Gaza,
Govt People here about Internet filtering, water issues, etc,
even The Whitehouse - attention Pres Obama
--(though they just said thank you and stuck me on a mailout list), and
Joined a group Getup! Action for Australia which petitions and emails the government on community issues.

Perhaps you would like to respond to this thread with some of the things you have taken further outside ATS.
Share some links to sites of action groups that campaign for changes in your community/town/city/county/state/country.

A good compendium of links to sites (moderated by ATS staff) that worked for change (or pressure for change), would give ATS members a reference page where members could put their feelings into action.
An example: The Mustang Issue that the conspiracy chicks highlighted. Linking something like that to a petition aimed to the authorities concerned, and potentially we could have up to 50% of ATS members (100,000+) responding and letting officials know we are p#ed off. (they may well have done this. I didn't read all the info)

And, I will leave you with a quote from a movie which was made to make people think:

"I see all this potential, and I see us squandering it. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables; slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy # we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off." ~ Tyler Durden, Fight Club(1999)

I keep my eyes and ears open and try to network with like-minded people and also freely discuss any 'safe' topics I think might be of interest with people 'outside' the circle.

If I hear someone talking about something they grabbed mindlessly from the mainstream media and I realize that what they are discussing is incorrect in some manner based on my verification of the facts from an alternative source, I fill them in and point them to other sources such as ATS for further clarification if they're interested,

reply to post by FlyingJadeDragon

I do likewise. But the look you sometimes get when you mention the ATS website.
I just printed off the ATS logo, and website address, cut them all out and drop them around work, the trams, and the train (not stuck)

Originally posted by CitizenNum287119327
reply to post by FlyingJadeDragon

 

I do likewise. But the look you sometimes get when you mention the ATS website.

I know what you mean! This sort of attitude has created an entire underworld of ATS lurkers who,for various reasons,sit on the sidelines and watch. I think most of the time their reluctance to join is out of paranoia of being monitored or targeted by authorities or little green men. In other words,just the conspiracy theory types who SHOULD be here with us as they might have some great things to share.

reply to post by CitizenNum287119327


Dear CitizenNum287,

Nice post and I like the forthright way you put things. I for one have been petitioning my local MP (I live in the UK) for a number of years over various issues. It's like throwing a pebble into a stream but oh well, you have to try.

I have also liquidated all my assets and taken as much of my money out of the banking system. Again a small change but a significant one for me. I switched my car to a low consumption and ECO friendly type in the hopes of reducing both costs and my carbon footprint.

I compost all my waste, recycle household water and have given away everything I did not need to charity as well as giving 20 quid a month to various bonafide institutions.

Cheers,
T

In my personal life I do all I can to address the issues which I feel so passionately about and often debate about on ATS. Some ideas...

Locate a local food bank and donate a few items each time you go shopping.

This is something that I personally do every time I go shopping. Also I have an elderly neighbor who is somewhat homebound, so I nearly always ask her if she is in need of anything before I head to the store.

I also volunteer two evenings per week with a depression support group at a local mental health clinic. While this one cause is not for everyone ( I feel strongly about it because once upon a time I wandered into a similar support group a very lost soul ) but we all have a cause that pulls at our heart strings and there are many opportunities for those who wish to make a difference in the lives of others. For example I have a friend who secures permission and then brings her three cocker spaniels to assisted living facilities, giving those who live there a couple of hours of true joy and distraction. The dogs get to be fawned over and the patients, I am told, light up over the puppies.

Democrat, Republican, Tea Partisan (Partier? I don't know which is more appropriate!), hippie, survivalist, loner, artist, executive, stock clerk... Whatever "isms" apply to each of us, the fact remains that we all have the power to make a little sacrifice that would mean exponentially more to the person(s) benefiting from our time or gifts.

Some links to my ideas...

A listing of charities that actually spend most of their money upon their stated causes.

Rock The Vote because no matter what your political opinions, it's still the best way to express them!

And Volunteer Match a site that can direct you to the information you need to find the causes that interest you or that could best benefit from your talents and skills.

I hope this is the kind of input you were looking for because my first answer to going to be "Find 2012'ers, hand them a cookie, shake them, and say 'Quit being so darned glum!"

~Heff

reply to post by FlyingJadeDragon


If you check out the 'Site Statistics' at the bottom of the main page, there are 200,000 members, but ATS got 1.7Million unique users visit this month!

reply to post by torqpoc


Cool!
I moved close to public transport, so I got rid of my car 7 years ago.
No credit cards either!
Getting some camping gear to go out of the city some time soon.
I'm a bit slack on the recycling side, but gave away eating meat (5 years in a slaughter house will do that.)

reply to post by Hefficide


Brilliant work Heff. And exactly the response I was hoping to see.

Actions speak louder than words.

Feel good that you are helping the very people the Government should be.

2012'ers Phff. They are not exactly running around giving their money away to the poor. such commitment.

I'd be curious to see how many US members actually voted in the mid-term elections even....

I did, of course, and yes, I have no problem writing to my congressmen, the governor, etc. (and encouraging others to do so) for an issue I feel strongly about.

reply to post by CitizenNum287119327


Well ... what actions anyone takes is really their own business, and whether it is proportional to the degree to which they talk is equally between them and their conscience/mirror. I'm not trying to be rude about it, but I feel no need to enumerate my actions to substantiate my talk. This sort of 'put up or shut up' approach is fundamentally fallacious on an internet forum where the only form of communication is restricted to said 'talk.' I'm sure a great deal of ATS members are very active in RL championing their respective beliefs and causes ... but the opinions of those who aren't do not weigh less than those who are.

Actions do speak louder than words ... but it is no small coincidence that the more dominant a government is the more they restrict freedom of expression and censor their population. Therefore the importance of communication should not be underestimated and cast aside as if it means little unless accompanied by actions. For speaking is an act onto itself. In the history of mankind the written word has proven to be a mighty sword of change.

Some speak, some act, some do both ... and some know that stopping one's tongue and pausing one's actions is at times an equally effective approach. For speaking or acting for its own sake achieves little to nothing.

It's all good.

reply to post by schrodingers dog

Thanks for the reply.
The title was intended to get attention.
I expected people to notice it and jump in with the intention of stating things as you did.
I did have the hope the the actual intent of the post would become apparent once it was read fully and considered before a reply was posted.

I stated in the OP that I had an interest in hearing what people do,
and any links they could provide to sites that may benefit others.
there was no intent to have a negative attitude to those that dont do anything.

Yes, what people do is there business,
but those who are open, and interpreted the OP in the manner it was intended,
freely gave their advise and comments with the view to sharing various avenues that may help others find new ways of helping alter events is some way (big or small).

this reply to you is merely to clarify the original intention of the post incase you mis-interpreted was i was trying to get at.
again, thanks!

edit: Maybe the 'Rant' forum was not the best spot for it, as that usually implies the poster of the thread is #ed off.