Connections
[Ed. Note: Letters are one way in which we form connections with each other. We appreciated
the many congratulatory letters, even though we can't publish them due to space
limitations. We invite your comments on any issue. The writers mentioned below
will have an opportunity to respond next time.]
In the December '01 issue of Going Forward, Allen Neuner states
that there has been "a short-sighted abandonment of what many feel are
the founding principles of Mensa." I have been out of the loop in recent
years and I am unaware of such abandonment, so I'd like some specific examples.
I can draw no conclusions from such a general allegation.
LeAnne Porter has an excellent admonition that "we can encourage and
become a cheerleading squad when another member suggests an idea." But
I have to wonder, would that apply to Scott Rainey's idea of central newsletter
processing?
Don Hawkins gets a little more specific with Mensa's problems. "The
AMC … passed a simple motion (contrary to the relevant bylaws) … " and
"… nearly all the hearing rules and procedures were flagrantly ignored,"
and "Since the hearing was conducted almost totally contrary to the AMC's
own specified rules … " That gives me a little better idea of the problem,
but I am still in the dark. What bylaws and what hearing rules were violated?
I have yet to see someone quote a rule that was broken and then demonstrate
how it was broken and by whom.
I was very interested in Don Taylor's membership stats and his comments.
He states, "After his [Dick Amyx's] resignation, we really began to lose
membership." But according to Don's figures, the greatest membership loss
(4,432) happened during Dick's term. The first year after his resignation
we only lost about half as much. Now I wouldn't ever say that the Chairman
is totally responsible for any gain or loss of membership. As I recall,
at that time most all membership organizations were suffering a loss of
members. But comments on statistics should be accurate.
Henry Miller writes of the National Office staff: "Incidentally, their
cost to us is a secret hidden in the bowels of the AMC." Anyone can get
a copy of the Treasurer's report and see exactly how much money is spent
on the National Office. Of course, if you're talking about individual salaries,
Mensa, appropriately, has never divulged just how much each person or position
is paid. I wouldn't think anyone, outside of those directly involved, would
consider that any of his business. Employees deserve some amount of privacy.
Then Henry writes, "The Hearings Committee and the AMC ignored Mensa's
Constitution and Bylaws …." There's that unsubstantiated charge again.
I sincerely would like to be informed. Just which rules were violated and
how, when and where? I don't want to be a member of an organization that
violates its own rules.
Henry goes on to say, "The AMC Publications Committee has been discussing
a plan to print all our local newsletters in a central location, in a standardized
format." And, "It would also put our newsletters … under their centralized
control." Now I am a member of the Publications Committee; in fact — let
me see now — I think I am Chairman of that committee. Who has been discussing
these things behind my back? I have never heard of such a plan. If you
are talking about Scott Rainey's idea of voluntary centralized newsletter
printing — the idea of an individual member that we should all be encouraging
and cheerleading for — then you have it all wrong. For the benefit of all
concerned, please get your facts straight. [Ed. Note: The AMC
was, indeed, discussing such a plan, and it would have required centralization
of most local groups to have worked in the way it was originally presented.
Although it is now on a far back burner, what Henry wrote was what was
current at the time of writing. Please see the Bloch article elsewhere
in this issue for updated information.]
On to Alan Baltis. He says that we/they are doing all this small crap
when we should be focusing on the big picture. I would truly like to know:
What is this small crap and what is the "Big Picture"? Complaining is easy.
Constructive suggestions are always solicited and are so difficult to get.
If someone truly has a definitive "Big Picture," please write an article
for InterLoc. Jane Gmur is anxiously waiting for your suggestions.
Going Forward is an excellent project. Making vague complaints
and unsubstantiated charges is going backwards. I look forward to many
new ideas in the pages of Going Forward. Thanks to TJ and
Don Taylor for starting this potentially useful newsletter.
— Ted Elzinga
Chairman, Publications Committee, AML
28282 Eucalyptus Ave.
Highland, CA 92346-3812
Historically, Mensa has indeed been organized, formulated, and administered
from the top down. To call now for a grassroots movement is to ignore the
ultimate irony of Mensa, which is that it has deliberately eschewed democracy
in every detail, at almost every step of its development. The first thing
we might try to come to grips with is that we are an elitist organization
with an elitist constitution, in which democracy is but faintly observed
during elections, and not otherwise. …
If we're going to get back to basics, perhaps it is wise to bypass all
the subsequent machinery, history and ill feeling, and go back to that
railway encounter between the first two Mensans. (I call this position
"Mensan fundamentalism," which is probably enough to antagonize everyone.)
The original idea, remember, was the worry that society was going over
the cliff because the majority was too stupid to know how to wipe its own
ass, and that the intelligent few ought to band together to prevent this,
or at least put some brakes on it.
There is an apparently irresistible American drive to elaborate, complicate
and amplify every idea and organization. No matter how simple something
is in its origins, it is not long before we have voluminous, indexed journals,
an endless number of committees and a budget large enough to administer
a local elementary school.
My own view is, as usual, essentially anarchistic. I do not believe
in the possibility of reforming institutions which have evolved massive
machinery, but in ignoring, spiking and crippling them; and if they persist
in being a burden, abolishing them. The loss in membership is not a symptom;
it is a message from those who realized something which Mensa seems to
have forgotten almost from the beginning: We are a voluntary organization,
mere frosting on the cake of American society. It's a club, a fraternal
organization, an association of people with one thing in common (and a
strange one at that). Nobody needs Mensa to live, function, or get
a job. It's supposed to be fun — and little more. When it isn't,
the simplest thing is to turn your back on it and go do something you enjoy
more.
Why get all worked up over a suggestion to centralize newsletter production,
when we can barely get our newsletters produced on time as it is? Why worry
about centralized control of our web pages, when everyone knows the vast
majority of Mensans are too lazy to take on the job of correcting a single
spelling error, let alone producing a page? (Getting volunteers to do anything
is the toughest challenge in Mensa …) Why fret over the impending tyranny
of National, when they can't even keep their officer and address lists
current and their computers in order? Why get into a sweat over the actions
of the AMC, when everybody knows they are the most constipated, inefficient
and socially irrelevant organization on the face of the planet? So they
screwed Repp,
whoever he is; that's his problem. They violated their own rules? That's
hardly news. What government doesn't, to achieve its objectives? It's our
fault, for giving them air fare in the first place. We should make them
conduct all their business online, if we weren't so hopelessly behind
the times technologically. You're worried about dues increases? Why? The
answer is exceedingly simple: Just send them the amount you think they're
worth. If they refuse it, kiss them goodbye. Remember, you don't need
them. (I do not need active Mensa membership to validate my existence.
It's a complete luxury, far more than a hot tub, a DVD player, or an electric
can opener.) If everybody did that, they'd revise the dues structure instantly.
Reining in the animals is not all that difficult.
So the real question I pose is this: At what incredibly stupid, misguided,
fatal point did being a Mensan degenerate from being Fun into being
a … Duty (with tasks for everybody to perform and rules to obey)?
Who the hell wants to pay $50 to take on another Job?
— Robert the Rotten
Inquisitor General
Rot10@planetcomm.net
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