Wall Drug

I find this format confusing. I apologize in advance if I have run afoul of protocol.

Sitting here at my keyboard staring at your mission statement I considered how I found your site in the first place. I was on the alt.society.labor-unions newsgroup where I came upon a post with the link to the site. And here I am.

So what’s with the Wall Drug title? Somebody else traveling along the Information Highway pounded the sign pointing the way. That simple. And now I am here and confused about what you want me to do.

Not criticism mind you, just observation. Many thousands of people travel the Internet on the main roads and back roads. We can pound numerous signs into the landscape directing and drawing people … but there has to be a dandy catch at the end of the click to bring you back and encourage you to pound signs of your own.

The success of the simple Wall Drug community is the legend of the concrete highway, along with Burma Shave and the World’s Largest Truck Stop (of which there are many).

My point in all this is that we need a destination that appeals immediately to all ages and work ethics. It has to be easy to understand at once (the more tricky stuff can be easily found by the savvy tricksters) and it has to have our message concise and to the point. And then we need to give away the signs to pound in neighbors’ lawns, sell the souvenirs, whatever.

Labor’s message is clear and honest. It appeals to most people immediately … until you say the word “union”. Then you loose some people just as fast. Not because they don’t have roots in the working class, but because they have been poisoned about unions. I am convinced we can make a difference if we can find a way to convince the common person, union or otherwise, to vote and become involved with our process of government. If there were no hassle involved in belonging to a union, everyone would join today. I recently joined AARP. Not because I believe in everything they do or even most of what they do, but because it was easy, it was cheap, and on the surface it does not appear to threaten me. There is no downside to belonging. We need to convince people there is no downside to unions without getting into the age-old myths and baggage the word has fostered or the opponents have painted.

To do this you must control the media and the message once your travelers arrive. The first open message board that you point people to will immediately attract those who wish to poison the well. Especially if it is successful. The group I frequent on Usenet is trolled daily by nasty, anti-union, anti-worker types whose only goal is to intimidate and prevent any honest discourse. Some few of us survive due to thick skins, but most people aren’t interested in the hassle and move on.

So first you have to find a place so interesting that people will LET you (not charge you) pound signs on their turf about and a message so clear they aren’t confused or intimidated by its profundity. In the beginning there was the PLAN, and … ?