Editor,
To the PIRG member on campus who asks if I can “spare a moment for the environment/social justice/health care reform”:
You’ve just asked me a very interesting question. Yes, I can spare a moment — class doesn’t start for another 10 minutes, so I can stand and talk to someone for a few minutes and not be late. Yes, I care about the pressing political and social issues that affect we students at UNM.
However, I’ve had experience with your group, at times as a volunteer, and I must say I don’t trust your ability to adequately address the issues you claim you will help fix. Your group tells me that you’re grassroots, yet you seem to be a very well-ordered campaign run on a national level that takes cues not from the individuals at the local level, but from the heads of the PIRG somewhere else in this country. Your group tells me you’re fighting against special lobbying interests who have lots and lots of money, but you seem to forget that you’re a lobbying group that has a lot of money too. You’ve got nice T-shirts, slick brochures, nifty signs with your logo on it and a paid staff who does the busy work of the campaign and seems to make above the minimum wage. You never strike me as a group who is forced to cut corners or spend money only on what is necessary. As the rebels fighting the political machine that you seem to paint yourself as, you seem to have a lot of resources at your fingertips.
And this is why I don’t trust you. It’s not bad that you have resources, but you seem to have so much, yet do so little. Your positions seem compromised from the start and your campaigns feel weak and neglect to address the sources of our ills. Rather, they just seem like a way to reassure your membership that they are doing something to change the world for the better and to make them feel good, while maintaining the status quo and allowing you, a worker of the campaign, to add something to your résumé.
Doubtless, you and your membership may feel angered by my letter. You may feel that I am uninformed, or that I have a bias against your group. You may try to convince me that I am incorrect. However, these are my personal opinions, gathered from many personal experiences with your group spanning a good three years, and are unlikely to be changed by anything you tell me. I feel I have given your group many opportunities to prove me wrong, and you never have.
So do I have a moment to spare for your campaign? Yes. But I will not give you any money and I will not sign your petition, because I don’t think it will do anything to address the issue at hand. It’s not that I don’t care. It’s just that I think you’re doing it wrong. So good day to you, and good luck with your campaign.
John Perry
UNM student
