| Subject: Private Citizens or Public Complainers? From: Tom Hall <tom@sola....com> Date: 7/14/02 10:28 AM To: pci@private-citizen.com |
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Upon receiving Tom's email, Private Citizen responds.
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| PC |
My responses are interspersed below. I trust you won't mind if I have a bit of fun with your arguments. |
| Tom |
To whom it may concern: After having seen your interview on CBS' "Sunday Morning" regarding telemarketing, I've failed to find validity in your argument and positioning statements. Here is the way I see it: 1) Under no situation in America has our government said one can't have piece and quiet at home. |
| PC |
Agreed. It is neither legislatively denied nor effectively protected. |
| Tom |
Moreover, having a telephone is not an inalienable right. |
| PC |
Yeah, so...? |
| Tom |
If you have chosen to have a telephone and it makes too much noise for you...get rid of it!!! |
| PC |
I think I get your point. It goes like this - Since I've elected to have a front door, and as a result, too many door-to-door salesman bang on it, I can just brick it up. After all, if I don't want direct marketers to use it, my only recourse is to prevent everyone from using it, including myself. |
| Tom |
It's not
that difficult of a solution. No law I know in the USA makes you own
a phone...so if you don't want the rights, responsibilities, and privileges
(and sometimes, inconveniences) that go with owning a product (which phone
service is), don't pay your phone bill. |
| PC |
See above. |
| Tom |
It seems very self-centric to want to change the whole system instead of changing your behavior. |
| PC |
Inappropriate
behavior, such as telemarketing those who do not want to be telemarketed,
is the behavior of the telemarketer, not the televictim. A suggestion to
those wronged by the 'system', to change 'their' behavior, is an ideology
of failure. Your comment reminds me of right-wingers in the late 60's - early
70's who preached, "America, Love it or leave it." The chants of such 'patriots'
turned out to be as vacuous then as the telemarketing industry's current
anthem of, "We don't want to call those who don't want to be called". |
| Tom |
2) Secondly,
having been a phone-prospector in the past, your comments on "telemerketers"
seems quite bigot-like and offensive. One may have well said "All former
plant workers who are retired are also irritable and cranky!". It's
quite unfair to base your comments on the select few that abuse common practices. |
| PC |
First - Most
'cold' sales solicitation calls made to residents violate the law. That's
just the way it is. You worked for, at most, a few telemarketing firms. I've
interviewed thousands of residents concerning the calls they get. The violative
calls I refer to are not only made by small / fly-by-night outfits, but rather
include those made by or on behalf of the engines of American commerce. Second - Bigot-like? A recitation of harsh facts does not make the speaker 'bigot-like'. Yet it is often expeditious for those who disagree with the facts, to denigrate the speaker rather than deal with the issue at hand. In that regard, please review the following: To avoid offending fanatics intent on killing Americans, airports will not "profile" people. Thus, airports will continue random searches of 80-year-old women, members of the President's security detail, and Medal of Honor winning former Governors. But, let's pause to take a test... In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were kidnapped and massacred by: (a) Olga Corbutt (b) Sitting Bull (c) Arnold Schwartzeneger (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 1979, the U.S. embassy in Iran was taken over by: (a) Lost Norwegians (b) Elvis (c) A tour bus full of 80-year-old women (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 1983, the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut was blown up by: (a) A pizza delivery boy (b) Pee Wee Herman (c) Geraldo Rivera making up for a slow news day (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40. In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed by: (a) Scooby Doo (b) The Tooth Fairy (c) Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 1993 the World Trade Center was bombed the first time by: (a) Richard Simmons (b) Grandma Moses (c) Michael Jordan (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 On 9-11-2001, four airliners were hijacked, smashed into buildings, and 3,000 innocent people were killed by: (a) Bugs Bunny, Wiley E. Coyote, Daffy Duck, and Elmer Fudd (b) The Supreme Court of Florida (c) Mr. Bean (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 In 2002 reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by: (a) Yo mama (b) Captain Kangaroo (c) Billy Graham (d) Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40 Hmmm... No patterns to justify profiling, but the jury's hung on the issue of being 'bigot-like'. |
| Tom |
3) If I didn't
want to get any direct mail in my mailbox, should I be able to prevent people
from sending me unsolicited mail? |
| PC |
In the case of firms that meet specific criteria... Duhhhh .... yeah ! |
| Tom |
By your logic, this would hold to be true. |
| PC |
Yeah. So... what's your point? |
| Tom |
The issues
are the same, the content delivery method is just different. Is Private-Citizen
also planning to wage on war on this front? |
| PC |
It has, for more than a decade! |
| Tom |
On the email front too? |
| PC |
Actually, some state laws currently allow spam recipients to sue certain spammers. |
| Tom |
4) Speaking
of workers, I'm curious as to how many entrepreneurs and executives work
for Private-Citizen.com that have been able to turn a positive revenue without
some form of prospecting, either direct mail or phone. |
| PC |
If you can count to zero, you'll have your answer. |
| Tom |
By the naive
commentary I just heard, I'd be willing to gamble that there aren't that
many over there in the PC camp. |
| PC |
As for such naive wagers - you can't loose if you don't gamble. So, don't bet on it. |
| Tom |
To some extent, a few organizations can succeed w/o this type of lead generation, but by and large, it's the exception rather than the rule. |
| PC |
Exception noted! |
| Tom |
It seems
that Private-Citizen thinks they're helping the cause, but for all the small
businesses out there that work hard by honestly and decently networking and
"building business", you're actually setting us back. |
| PC |
By extension
of your argument, you seem to believe that those who do not wish to be affected
by direct marketing practices should have limited ability to realize that
wish. |
| Tom |
That's as
un-American, unpatriotic, and certainly as anti-capitalistic as I've ever
seen, particularly with the state of our union being the way it is. |
| PC |
Way
back in the 1700's Samuel Johnson said, "Patriotism is the last refuge of
a scoundrel." But of course, you're not a scoundrel. You're a wonderful,
non-bigot-like, flag waving American. More to the point, those who relate capitalism to the health of our nation, would do well to recognize that under-regulated capitalism, which tramples the rights of Americans, can undermine America's spirit to a greater extent than al Qaeda ever could. Terrorists gave us the Pentagon, the WTC, a precipitous drop in The Market and a sense of pride in our government. Under-regulated capitalism gave us WorldCom, Enron, Tyco, Merrill Lynch, Halliburton, Harken, a precipitous drop in The Market and a sense of dismay that our government has lost its ethical compass. At this moment, I feel jeopardy from both and wonder which has done more damage to America. Tom, the mission of capitalism is to support and benefit private citizens; not to victimize us and diminish our rights. |
| Tom |
5) Lastly, being reasonably open-minded and analytical, I'm never rude to telemarketers, |
| PC |
I
discourage being rude to telemarketers. It is the telemarketing firm that
disrespects our humanity, not the telemarketers themselves. They are just
following orders. (Where did we hear that before?) In any case, once a telemarketer senses that a resident is being disrespectful, the resident cannot win the match. Therefore, to succeed in 'educating' the telemarketing industry, folks must first remove their defenses by being respectful. |
| Tom |
and on the
contrary, I've been able to acquire great values on books, cds, phone plans
and other products and services without leaving my house. |
| PC |
Yeah, me
too. I've received lots of money, a TV, a nice air compressor, a VCR, two
shelves full of books, and more from direct marketers who have contacted
me. And here's the best part. I didn't have to pay for any of it. That's
because they elected to accept my offer, violated the law or sent me merchandise
after I specifically told them not to. Yep, I sure have benefited from the
practices of direct marketers. |
| Tom |
I appreciate
this opportunity, and would prefer that watchdog groups that have nothing
better to do focus on building enterprises instead of tearing them down.
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| PC |
Enterprise,
to a great extent, depends on property rights and the structure of law. So,
when I offer my property to direct marketers for their advertising usage,
on a for-hire basis, they must pay when they accept my offer - constructively
or otherwise. That's business, and American capitalism stands four
square behind it. A few weeks ago an 'associate' of a national real estate firm hung an advertisement from the handle of my front door. That door is posted with a notice, offering its use for advertising purposes, on a for-hire basis. I sent that firm my bill and received their check last week. As a pro-enterprise type guy, you must look on this with favor. Heck - if a business wants to take advantage of my property to hang their ads, I'll set the terms. Just like your firm, Sola... sets the terms for those who seek to take commercial advantage of your assets. |
| Tom |
(Enterprises and businesses create jobs, support families, and foster lifestyles.....not phone privacy!) |
| PC |
H U H ?
And the lifestyle you seek to promote is what? One that excludes our fundamental
right to be left alone by those we wish to avoid, even in our homes?
You can have that lifestyle. But others want to enjoy their right of privacy
while on the green side of the sod. |
| Tom |
Certainly,
I don't want or need everything that anyone wants to sell me, but I'm savvy
enough to deal with those issues that concern me, and sophisticated enough
to dismiss those that don't. |
| PC |
Hmmm - You smart, Keymosavvy. So, like ahhh, you aren't concerned about O.J.'s acquittal, the wonders of mercury-vapor lighting or that more people voted for Gore. And here I am; just a dang bumpkin concerned about the implication of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principal, the Higgs bozon and the likelyhood that the Vice President changed his name from Dick Chenron. Yes siree, I'ma shure wishen I cud b so fistikated like ya'll. |
| Tom |
I'd suggest Private-Citizen learn to be the same. |
| PC |
I cannot begin to describe the level of respect I have for your remarkable insights. |
| Tom |
Sincerely (as long as you don't turn me in for sending you an "unsolicited" comment <sarcastic smile>), Tom Hall President and Executive Director Sola.. - Multimedia and Design Studios www.sola...com solatrix tom@sola...com phone: 919.844...8301 eFax: 202.478...1830 |
| PC |
Regards, Bob Bulmash - private citizen |
| Tom |
p.s. I would appreciate your feedback to these comments as to help clarify my understanding. |
| PC |
P.P.S.: Tom, that's my feedback. Although portions are playfully couched, it is nonetheless sincere. I plan to publish our communication, as I believe it will enable many readers to better grasp aspects of the 'business vs. privacy' issue. Note that you aptly illustrated your sense of the value of one person's privacy when balanced against the betterment of others, through commerce. Copyright © 2002 Robert Bulmash All Rights Reserved |