Translation of excerpts from Robert Heinlein’s book, Take Your Government Back - part 11
Surely on the evening of the first public meeting of your newborn political club, you will be just as excited as an actor before going on stage first. Come to the meeting place early. The meeting room is empty and looks aloof. People are leaking through the door, and hesitantly stop, looking at you. Those who came are not enough to start the meeting at exactly the appointed hour. (Non-observance of the start time is a common sin of many political events; it can and must be fought. It is enough to be decisive so that at the appointed hour you can start the meeting with a blow of your hammer! all who came).
In the meantime, the meeting has not started, let's get rid of this atmosphere of an empty hall. Bring a radio, or a tape recorder, and turn on some loud music. If one of the young people who come to dance starts, so much the better. You have a private, non-profit club; you do not need a license to hold dances. (And if someone sticks to it, then you will have an excellent chance to speak out in the newspapers on personal freedom of action, having received free advertising). In the future, you can buy a used tape recorder for your political events. If you also get a microphone connecting to it, you will be equipped to perform even in the largest hall of your city. But the main task of the tape recorder is to warm up the audience before the meeting and delight the ear with music during informal conversations and dances after the meetings, which is especially useful for attracting young people who can take on the lion's share of the work in your election campaign.
So, visitors go through the door one by one. Personally greet everyone coming. This activity is not difficult, but you still need an assistant. After all, all those who came should be registered - write down their names, addresses, and any useful additional information they would like to tell about themselves. And all this must be written on the cards of your card file.
')
To collect information about visitors, do not wait for everyone to disperse in order to run through the questionnaire rows, because many are too lazy to fill them. You will get a much better result by meeting visitors at the entrance and handing them questionnaires, which they fill in immediately, at the tables that you set at the entrance with the pencils on them. However, the best way is to fill out the questionnaire yourself, asking the visitor questions during a casual conversation. Or one of your assistants will do it. Just do not bark like a policeman - "Name?", "Address?", "Phone?", "Occupation?". Such an interrogation will affect the visitor as a cold shower. Ask this: “Nice to meet you, Mr. Brewster. Wait a second, I'll write down your name. My wife says that I can’t entrust me to buy a loaf of bread if I do not write it down. And if I do not record you, I will surely forget to send you an invitation to the ball, which we will organize. Mr. James Brewster - did I spell your name correctly? Will Mrs. Brewster come today? Ah, she puts the children to sleep ... My wife is also putting the children at home now, we have two of them, they are studying in the first grade, at nine o'clock it’s time for them to sleep. How old are your children? By the way, in the future we may organize a children's playroom so that parents can come to the meeting with the children. Or maybe start our activities later, so that you can come, putting the children to bed, what do you think? So, I correctly recorded your address? Is this your home address? Working? Yes, I remember, this quarter has a large business center. Do you happen to work in it? In him? So in this building is just the office of a member of our club, Dr. Boyer! Doc! Let me introduce you to your neighbor, he works in the same place as your office. Dr. Bowyer - Mr. James Brewster. Oh, so you know each other, the better! Fred, don't forget to introduce Mr. Brewster to our club company.
Looks like familiarity? Well, this is familiarity, but it is effective and easy to apply. During this time, you recorded the following: “Brewster James, came to the meeting on June 8, 1946, address: Dubovaya St., 1232, telephone 123-45-67, engaged in the insurance business, married, 3 children, son of 13 years old, daughter Alice is 11 years old, child is 2 years old (?), In her buttonhole is Masonic symbolism, the badge of the union of veterans of foreign wars, Large, bald, well dressed, professional manners. Attach to Dr. Boyer? Actions in the future: Mrs. Brewster, find out her party preferences, invite to the next meeting.
Put the data card in your pocket and fill out the next one. After the meeting, copy all the data from these cards into the club card file, with the exception of your notes. Put your own card in your own card file, it is your most valuable political asset, and we'll talk about it a lot more. Here is just one example of how it can be used. To begin with, ask your wife, answering phone calls, to ask and repeat the name of the caller. (When your wife takes up politics, you will switch roles with her). During this time, you find a card with this name in the card file and read it while you pick up the phone. The delay will be no more than a few seconds. Now you remember the one who calls you, you will not look stupid in his eyes, you will not lose his electoral vote or a few voices of his family members. Keep in mind that each of the hundreds or thousands of voters you meet will be sure that you remember him well.
If you answered the phone yourself, you can always catch a few seconds by asking the caller to hang on the phone until you open the door to the visitor, turn off the radio, or something else.
Returning to the topic of the first meeting of your political club, I note that at one of the tables in the hall can sit an employee of the precinct election commission who registers incoming voters if they have not registered at the place of residence. Unfortunately, according to the laws of some states, a voter can only register directly with the election commission, and in some states it is possible to register only on certain dates, which makes it difficult to obtain electoral votes by registering unregistered voters directly in the courtroom. But you can send for them a car that will take them to the election commission, making it easier for them to register. On election day, you can organize an entire transport service using the personal cars of your volunteers, but here we will look at a simplified version of this approach. In the electoral lists, you find a supporter of your party with a car living nearby, or simply having a driver’s license; you will provide him with a car. After that, you agree with him that he takes the voters to the election commission and back; you pay him a small amount for each person you bring. Best of all for this role is suitable for an elderly woman, which will not interfere with the field earnings. As a result, for each meeting you spend on transportation of one or two dollars, your driver gets extra money, and you - the vote in the elections. Subsequently, the role of the driver can be entrusted to your treasurer (who will hand over the payment received by him to the club’s treasury, I think this is fair).
Now let's talk about how to start your first public meeting. If you are shy, write down the text of the speech, and read it over the paper. You can open a meeting, for example, like this:
“This is the first, but not the last public meeting of the Bobruisk political club of the Democratic Party, whose goal is to rally and strengthen the local community of voters of our party. Our rivals from other parties seemed to be convinced that the victories in the elections in our district succeed them without any difficulty. We are going to show them this year, where the crabs spend the winter, and I hope that the members of our club will take the most active part in this. We will invite candidates from our party here so that you can communicate with them in an informal setting, get to know them, and ask all your questions. As a result, we will be able to nominate the best candidates from our party. It is possible that we ourselves will even be able to nominate a candidate from among the members of our club and elect him to the city authorities, thus obtaining our own man in the government and the opportunity to influence the fate of our country and our district. And this is actually feasible, because the data on the number of voters in our district show that we can influence the results of the voting throughout our district! I will tell you more about this in our next meeting. In addition to getting acquainted with the candidates and preparing for the election campaign, we will hold open discussions where we consider the most pressing problems of our area and hear experts' opinions on them so that we can make decisions weightedly without relying on distorted and biased information of the yellow press. We are not alien and entertainment. I see no reason why doing serious public affairs cannot be fun. By the way, after the meeting, do not disagree: you are waiting for coffee with delicious muffins, baked by Mrs. Parker, thank you for it. Mrs. Parker, stand up, show the room.
In order to allow our club to start working, we have chosen a temporary composition of the leadership, and committees on various issues, the circle of which, I hope, we will expand today. If no one objects, the interim leadership will conduct the club’s affairs for another couple of months, until you, the club members, can’t get used to it, and decide that it’s time to elect a permanent leadership team. One more thing, and I will hand over the floor to our chairman, who will announce the agenda. How often will our club meet? To begin with, I make a formal proposal to hold our next meeting in exactly two weeks, here, in this room, at the same time. We have the opportunity to invite the vice-governor of our state to this meeting to speak to the club members. If no one has objections, please write my proposal in the protocol. ”
Does this speech look like an innocent familiarity? But it works! Eloquence is great, but you can do without it. You can remake the proposed text to fit your needs, and it is great for the purposes of your first public meeting. If you are not used to speaking in public, print it and keep it to yourself. It is likely that you will not even need your cheat sheet, but it will give you confidence.
And your first meeting ended successfully. You prepare the next meeting in the same way, only with other speakers. At the meeting, there is always something to discuss, put to a vote, and do: in politics, something happens all the time, you do not live in a vacuum.
Part 1, where there are links to all other parts
In the meantime, the meeting has not started, let's get rid of this atmosphere of an empty hall. Bring a radio, or a tape recorder, and turn on some loud music. If one of the young people who come to dance starts, so much the better. You have a private, non-profit club; you do not need a license to hold dances. (And if someone sticks to it, then you will have an excellent chance to speak out in the newspapers on personal freedom of action, having received free advertising). In the future, you can buy a used tape recorder for your political events. If you also get a microphone connecting to it, you will be equipped to perform even in the largest hall of your city. But the main task of the tape recorder is to warm up the audience before the meeting and delight the ear with music during informal conversations and dances after the meetings, which is especially useful for attracting young people who can take on the lion's share of the work in your election campaign.
So, visitors go through the door one by one. Personally greet everyone coming. This activity is not difficult, but you still need an assistant. After all, all those who came should be registered - write down their names, addresses, and any useful additional information they would like to tell about themselves. And all this must be written on the cards of your card file.
')
To collect information about visitors, do not wait for everyone to disperse in order to run through the questionnaire rows, because many are too lazy to fill them. You will get a much better result by meeting visitors at the entrance and handing them questionnaires, which they fill in immediately, at the tables that you set at the entrance with the pencils on them. However, the best way is to fill out the questionnaire yourself, asking the visitor questions during a casual conversation. Or one of your assistants will do it. Just do not bark like a policeman - "Name?", "Address?", "Phone?", "Occupation?". Such an interrogation will affect the visitor as a cold shower. Ask this: “Nice to meet you, Mr. Brewster. Wait a second, I'll write down your name. My wife says that I can’t entrust me to buy a loaf of bread if I do not write it down. And if I do not record you, I will surely forget to send you an invitation to the ball, which we will organize. Mr. James Brewster - did I spell your name correctly? Will Mrs. Brewster come today? Ah, she puts the children to sleep ... My wife is also putting the children at home now, we have two of them, they are studying in the first grade, at nine o'clock it’s time for them to sleep. How old are your children? By the way, in the future we may organize a children's playroom so that parents can come to the meeting with the children. Or maybe start our activities later, so that you can come, putting the children to bed, what do you think? So, I correctly recorded your address? Is this your home address? Working? Yes, I remember, this quarter has a large business center. Do you happen to work in it? In him? So in this building is just the office of a member of our club, Dr. Boyer! Doc! Let me introduce you to your neighbor, he works in the same place as your office. Dr. Bowyer - Mr. James Brewster. Oh, so you know each other, the better! Fred, don't forget to introduce Mr. Brewster to our club company.
Looks like familiarity? Well, this is familiarity, but it is effective and easy to apply. During this time, you recorded the following: “Brewster James, came to the meeting on June 8, 1946, address: Dubovaya St., 1232, telephone 123-45-67, engaged in the insurance business, married, 3 children, son of 13 years old, daughter Alice is 11 years old, child is 2 years old (?), In her buttonhole is Masonic symbolism, the badge of the union of veterans of foreign wars, Large, bald, well dressed, professional manners. Attach to Dr. Boyer? Actions in the future: Mrs. Brewster, find out her party preferences, invite to the next meeting.
Put the data card in your pocket and fill out the next one. After the meeting, copy all the data from these cards into the club card file, with the exception of your notes. Put your own card in your own card file, it is your most valuable political asset, and we'll talk about it a lot more. Here is just one example of how it can be used. To begin with, ask your wife, answering phone calls, to ask and repeat the name of the caller. (When your wife takes up politics, you will switch roles with her). During this time, you find a card with this name in the card file and read it while you pick up the phone. The delay will be no more than a few seconds. Now you remember the one who calls you, you will not look stupid in his eyes, you will not lose his electoral vote or a few voices of his family members. Keep in mind that each of the hundreds or thousands of voters you meet will be sure that you remember him well.
If you answered the phone yourself, you can always catch a few seconds by asking the caller to hang on the phone until you open the door to the visitor, turn off the radio, or something else.
Returning to the topic of the first meeting of your political club, I note that at one of the tables in the hall can sit an employee of the precinct election commission who registers incoming voters if they have not registered at the place of residence. Unfortunately, according to the laws of some states, a voter can only register directly with the election commission, and in some states it is possible to register only on certain dates, which makes it difficult to obtain electoral votes by registering unregistered voters directly in the courtroom. But you can send for them a car that will take them to the election commission, making it easier for them to register. On election day, you can organize an entire transport service using the personal cars of your volunteers, but here we will look at a simplified version of this approach. In the electoral lists, you find a supporter of your party with a car living nearby, or simply having a driver’s license; you will provide him with a car. After that, you agree with him that he takes the voters to the election commission and back; you pay him a small amount for each person you bring. Best of all for this role is suitable for an elderly woman, which will not interfere with the field earnings. As a result, for each meeting you spend on transportation of one or two dollars, your driver gets extra money, and you - the vote in the elections. Subsequently, the role of the driver can be entrusted to your treasurer (who will hand over the payment received by him to the club’s treasury, I think this is fair).
Now let's talk about how to start your first public meeting. If you are shy, write down the text of the speech, and read it over the paper. You can open a meeting, for example, like this:
“This is the first, but not the last public meeting of the Bobruisk political club of the Democratic Party, whose goal is to rally and strengthen the local community of voters of our party. Our rivals from other parties seemed to be convinced that the victories in the elections in our district succeed them without any difficulty. We are going to show them this year, where the crabs spend the winter, and I hope that the members of our club will take the most active part in this. We will invite candidates from our party here so that you can communicate with them in an informal setting, get to know them, and ask all your questions. As a result, we will be able to nominate the best candidates from our party. It is possible that we ourselves will even be able to nominate a candidate from among the members of our club and elect him to the city authorities, thus obtaining our own man in the government and the opportunity to influence the fate of our country and our district. And this is actually feasible, because the data on the number of voters in our district show that we can influence the results of the voting throughout our district! I will tell you more about this in our next meeting. In addition to getting acquainted with the candidates and preparing for the election campaign, we will hold open discussions where we consider the most pressing problems of our area and hear experts' opinions on them so that we can make decisions weightedly without relying on distorted and biased information of the yellow press. We are not alien and entertainment. I see no reason why doing serious public affairs cannot be fun. By the way, after the meeting, do not disagree: you are waiting for coffee with delicious muffins, baked by Mrs. Parker, thank you for it. Mrs. Parker, stand up, show the room.
In order to allow our club to start working, we have chosen a temporary composition of the leadership, and committees on various issues, the circle of which, I hope, we will expand today. If no one objects, the interim leadership will conduct the club’s affairs for another couple of months, until you, the club members, can’t get used to it, and decide that it’s time to elect a permanent leadership team. One more thing, and I will hand over the floor to our chairman, who will announce the agenda. How often will our club meet? To begin with, I make a formal proposal to hold our next meeting in exactly two weeks, here, in this room, at the same time. We have the opportunity to invite the vice-governor of our state to this meeting to speak to the club members. If no one has objections, please write my proposal in the protocol. ”
Does this speech look like an innocent familiarity? But it works! Eloquence is great, but you can do without it. You can remake the proposed text to fit your needs, and it is great for the purposes of your first public meeting. If you are not used to speaking in public, print it and keep it to yourself. It is likely that you will not even need your cheat sheet, but it will give you confidence.
And your first meeting ended successfully. You prepare the next meeting in the same way, only with other speakers. At the meeting, there is always something to discuss, put to a vote, and do: in politics, something happens all the time, you do not live in a vacuum.
Part 1, where there are links to all other parts
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/299850/
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