My Life as a Token Consumer

By John McManamy, Health Guide Tuesday, July 24, 2007

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"A camel is a horse designed by a committee."No, that's definitely unfair. Look at all the great things that have come out of committees: The Iraq War, 45 million Americans with no health insurance, Brittany Spears.Okay, I take it back, but let's rework the phrase: "A committee...

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Angie

7/24/07 1:18pm

Hi John,

It has been my experience that all rooms set aside for making decisions by committees should also have a sign that says:

"Members of the Peter Principle Only"

John McManamy, Health Guide

7/24/07 2:26pm

Hi, Angie. ANd maybe another sign that says: "Abandon hope, all ye who enter." Big Smile

Louise

7/29/07 3:22pm

Ah, once again we are disappointed by the fairy tale of democracy.

Like a pretty bedtime story, where the princess gets rescued and lives happily ever after with the prince, the promise of living in a democratic society is a fable.

We are "taught" (or at least fed the myth) somewhere in our childhoods that we live in a free and democratic society, that we govern ourselves and have power which we manifest by voting for representitives to do our bidding as legislators.

Baby, I'm sorry to be the bearer of cynical news, but those rumors you've heard are true: There is no Santa Claus. There is no Easter Bunny. You do not really live in a democratic society. You get to vote, yes. But after that, you don't really get any say over anything -- especially how the government spends the money it happily took from you.

None. The government does not care about you. The government does not want to hear what you think about that -- or anything else. And the government especially does NOT want to hear about any more ways that you want to spend their money. THEIR money. Not YOUR money. Let's get that straight. Once they took it out of your paycheck or billed you for it, it's no longer yours. Period.

OK, I know that sounds very defeated, cynical and disempowering, but really it's not. It's just giving you a blunt description of your reality so you can better deal with it.

How to deal with it? Quit looking to government to listen to you, care about you and want to spend any money to help you. It won't.

Who will then? Well, clearly the people who care the most are people like you. And people like you (or me) really only have one option when they want to create innovations, provide service and truly "make a difference:" They create non-profit organizations.

Help from nonprofits is clearly your best bet. See NAMI or DBSA. They advocate. They educate. They even create programs that really help their members. This is true democracy in action.

Yes, they operate on shoestring budgets since they can't take your money by taxation. But they spend your money in the best way possible: On services that come right back to serve you.

So if you have an innovative idea and can create a solid action plan that's easily followed by people of normal intelligence, take it straight to the appropriate nonprofit of your choice. It's here where you'll likely get to see that plan become a reality!

Not in government. Not from government. Mostly it's a waste of time dealing with any form of government -- even if they invite your "input" on one of their millions of committees.

Because they only want your presence on a committee to give them the appearance of acting democratically. In other words, by participating you give them credibility that they currently lack.

Sadly, I think the most impact you can have on those committees is by joining, having your say and then quitting in disgust -- preferably in a rather public way so people can see what a sham these "study committees" actually are.

The real work in this life is done by nonprofits. Put your money and your energy there!

John McManamy, Health Guide

7/30/07 11:18am

Hi, Louise. I learned an indelible lesson back when I was a law student in New Zealand. We set up our own law center. We didn't ask for permission. We didn't ask for money. We didn't ask to be the token studfents on a committee. We just did it. Scrounged up some money. Ran it with volunteers on a shoestring.

I also learned I could tap into a lot of good will out there. People heavily invested in the establishment who were willing to help as individuals.

Irony of ironies, years later - after I left New Zealand - this law center became a model of community legal services - and the government handed out money to any group who said they wanted to set up a law center. At last count there were something like 26 or 28 in New Zealand, financed by the government.

I feel a bit ambivalent about that.

But the point is to just do it. Even nonprofits are too slow and bureaucratized. I've got an original idea with consumer recovery algorithms. If I have to put it to a committee - government or nonprofit - it will never get off the ground.

If I had to wait for approval for a committee to tell me what kind of email newsletter I could write eight years ago, nothing would have happened.

We're just going to do it, with the input of people who are really interested. The government and nonprofits can come to the party later, if they want to.

Just doing it is liberating. It's what true freedom is all about.

My Life as a Token Consumer

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