Dear Judges, Lawyers, Policemen, Guards, Counselors, Taxpayers, et. al.,
We are here. Like it or not, for good or bad, we are here. Who are we?
We are the
downtrodden and dispossesed, the self-torturing, the disenfranchised
convicts,
drug and alcohol addicts, the unemployed and unemployable. We are the
children of
poverty, financial and spiritual. We have and will have children of our
own,
grandchildren too. We are ex-cons, uninsured, homeless, of many colors
and speaking
many tongues. We are the enemy in what has become a domestic war against
ourselves.
And who are you? You who like the tough talk of Tough on Crime? You who
watch as
budgets are cut in education and health care while you militarize a police
force?
Bullet-proof vests, automatic weapons, helicopters, tanks, robots ... the
testosterone is oozing through the streets, more prisons, longer
sentences, tighten
the belt, spartan conditions, task forces, gang units, gun courts. And
what is there
to show for it? Unemployent stays low because half the population
oversees those
"out of the workforce", the dregs, the rabble, the enemy? Please tell me
there is a
deeper reason. Do you feel safer? More humane? More like a cohesive
society with a
shared sense of purpose, who can identify Us and Them? Do you live in a
gated
community or gentrified neighborhood? By the way, have you read the
Declaration of
Independence and US Constitution - or do you only know the first phrases?
It's about time we got together. Please know that I have yet to meet a
convict who
wants their child to be a thief, an addict, a dealer, a prostitute, or a
violent
individual. Most of us still have hope for ourselves even when stuck in
the darkest
dilemmas, ruts and catch-22s. Most of us believe in crafting laws and
instilling
order. Many of us have burrowed beneath the surface to find a spiritual
sense of
being, an understanding force at least as powerful as those we succumbed
to, and many
of use wouldn't escape if you opened the front door. Did you know that
approximately
10 million Americans are either incarcerated, on probation, on parole or
once were in
those categories? Each of those 10 million have families, friends,
neighbors ... and
so closer and closer does the We interface with the You. Don't you think
it's time we
talked?
Are you ready? Can you accept that the road we are travelling points
toward a grim
and painful future? Do you have the heart to face monumental failures
while bravely
struggling beyond where we are now? I know that some of you are, and that
some of us
are, and this is what gives me hope. You need our insights just as we
need your
structure. It is never over, especially when a real solution, a real
treatment for
our sickness, is yet to begin.
In Solidarity,
Bruce Reilly (a.k.a
Bruha)
P.O.Box 8274
Cranston, RI 02920 USA
P.S. - I am trying to conceptualize an effective guerilla media campaign
to promote
this cause. Ideas are welcome. Collaboration is prayed.
list of newsgroups as you can find. The
members of Usenet, hoping to see your ad, have prepared these lists
just for you. It doesn't really matter what your product is. If
people on the net might use it, they'll be happy to read about it in
every group.
Now create a message promoting yourself. Be bold, be daring, and be
sure to provide info on how to contact you in ways that people on the
net can't shut off. (More on that later.)
Because the reaction is going to be so overwhelming, be sure to take
the following steps:
a) Unlist your phone number. The networking public is going to want to
contact you so much to talk about your product or service that they'll
even try to call you at home. If they get your home phone or address,
they'll be sure to share it with all the other people seeking to send
you their admiration, and your fame may prove too much. You want
business, of course, but do you want to take orders all night?
b) Get an account with some other internet account providers. For
reasons not quite certain, your provider probably has a clause in their
contract with you saying not to do a spam. Even if they don't, they
will probably delete your account a few hours after you announce your
product, so be sure to get other accounts under assumed nam
|
