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Download this section in pdf format.
Appeal from the Founder
of CASNIC.
There are SEVEN things you can do, in order of importance:
Action #1: Spread The Word Through E-mail But it needs careful handling. We don’t want to be spamming the world! Here, in 2 steps, is what to do:
Example
of Personal Message Here are some example messages, just so that you get the idea. But PLEASE compose your own, otherwise we will have tens of thousands of identical emails flying around and this will reduce impact. Three Tips
Example
#1 (If you don’t know how they feel on this issue.):
[Now obviously this should be done in your usual style of writing to Graham! You may write more like this: :-)] Example
#2 Okay, you get the idea – keep your normal ‘voice’ and tailor the ‘voice’ to the person you are emailing. From here on in, the examples are all in ‘standard voice’ but you must tailor them accordingly. Example
#3 [If you know someone who is already anti Big Brother]
Example
#4 [If you know someone who is pro ID Cards]
Hopefully that will give you some ideas of what to write. If you could send 10 – 50 such emails, that would be absolutely fantastic. Email
Signature So, if you want to support us, why not change your signature bar to one of the following?: I am not a number, I am a free man (or woman as appropriate to you). Support the Campaign to STOP the National Identity Card. www.casnic.org Down With Big Brother! Support the Campaign to STOP the National Identity Card. www.casnic.org I do not want to be a numbered citizen on a government file. Support the Campaign to STOP the National Identity Card. www.casnic.org Big Brother wants to control YOU. Support the Campaign to STOP the National Identity Card. www.casnic.org Does the government REALLY have your best interests at heart? Support the Campaign to STOP the National Identity Card. www.casnic.org
Action #2: Make a Donation
If we are to fight this properly, we need media exposure – we plan a sustained campaign of national newspaper advertising and direct mail to gain support for the cause, and this will be very expensive. Click
here to see Funding Statement and Where the Money Will be Spent. Paying
By Cheque Please send to: Paying by
Credit Card Please send to: (Note: Credit card statement will show Field Management Services – which is the fulfilment company we have retained to handle this for us.) Coming
Soon - Paying by PAYPAL Click
here to download a donation form in pdf format. Fund
Raising
Action #3 Buy Posters and Car Window
Stickers etc. We are working on a
range of large and small posters, leaflets and car stickers. As soon as these are
available, here’s what you can do: Click
here to order campaigning support materials.
Action #4 Discussions with Friends
and Family How
to Debate With People For Maximum Effect Bottom line? You’ll
have your work cut out – but it can be fun. The
Players Thus you are in competition
with apathy and ignorance, rather than passion and certainty. You
may also come across the rare person who holds very extreme (in
our view) ideas along these lines: "I would have a
chip in everyone’s head controlling their thoughts, if that’s what
it took to stop crime." The more you press this person, the
deeper they will dig-in, advocating life imprisonment for a first
offence ("They shouldn’t have done the crime if they didn’t
want to go to prison.") and the death penalty for many crimes.
They do not think that the current two million spy cameras are anything
like enough and would strongly advocate a spy camera in each of
our homes, together with a microphone. They would state that only
criminals could possibly protest such a move. When you explain that
the price of low crime is totalitarian dictatorship, they will agree
– they just want that dictatorship as soon as possible. Thankfully
these people are rare as it is hard to get them to take a more reasonable
stance. In general most
people won’t have thought about it, some will be strongly
anti- Big Brother and a few will be mildly pro-Big Brother. Our best guess is: 80% No real opinion
either way, can be swayed depending on the current argument.
This is good news for
us as the vast majority of people are open to hearing our arguments
and being converted to our point of view. (Contrast with contentious
issues such as abortion where most people have firmly held views,
issuing from deep moral convictions one way or the other. It is
almost impossible to turn a pro-abortion advocate into an anti-abortion
advocate, and vice-versa. Not so with our campaign, thankfully.) How
to ‘Win’ an Argument Here are a few tips for achieving the desired effect (this also works well for relationship problems at no extra charge! If you master this one, you’ve mastered a BIG life-skill!).
Tip #1: Stay Calm
Tip #2: No Judgemental
Language
"Only a fool would believe…"
Tip #3: Listen to the Other
Person
What do you most want from your encounter? You want the other person to listen to you considerately, hear your viewpoint, think about it intelligently, then hopefully (and it is a BIG hope) come on to your side, right? So guess what? The best way to get this is to give the other person the same respect – but this is so difficult to do when one of your deeply held beliefs is being challenged. If they challenge your views, ask yourself a really vital question: "What are they needing right now?" This will allow you to connect to the person BEFORE you start giving intellectual water-tight arguments. Hint: 90%+ of people who take a pro-ID Card stance are acting out of fear. So their need is security and safety. They view the world as a dangerous place with criminals and terrorists lurking in every corner. They are frightened and want protection – just like we all want protection. They see the ID card (and many other draconian security measures) as providing them with more safety. Their un-stated motto might be: "Safety and protection at ANY price."
Tip #4: Address Their Needs
and Concerns FIRST
Example
of Bad Argument This sort of response will get Mary nowhere: John: "I disagree. I think ID cards are great. They will stop these terrorists from attacking us. That’s GOT to be a good thing, surely?" Mary: "Don’t be stupid! It has been scientifically proven that 89.37% of terrorists do not even have ID on them when committing their acts…blah, blah, blah." Now compare with this: Example
of Good Argument (Mary first hears John’s need before doing anything else.) Mary: "So you’re worried about the increase in terrorist attacks recently and you want people to be safe?" (Acknowledging his need for safety.) John: "Well yeah! Aren’t you? I mean it’s getting ridiculous. There was that Istanbul bomb, and the World Trade Centre and Jakarta – I mean, who’s safe these days?" Mary: "You’re worried that terrorists might come into this country and plan attacks and that makes you fearful?" John: "Well it’s certainly possible, isn’t it? And ID cards would let us know who these people were…" [OK, John feels listened-to now, and Mary can progress.] Mary: "Yeah, I want us all to be safe too, and if I thought ID cards would have any significant impact on terrorism, maybe I would support them like you, but you know there is good reason to suppose that not only will they not stop terrorism, they could even aid terrorism…" John: "Huh? How come?" Now Mary is free to explain this strand of the argument to John. What a difference that way of talking makes! However, be warned, it is not so easy in the heat of an argument! [Acknowledgement. We
are indebted to Marshall Rosenberg for developing his concept of
NVC Non-Violent Communication, on which the section above is based.
TIP #5 Change May Not Come
Immediately
Action #5 Write to Your Member of
Parliament Sample
Letter 5th January 2004 Dear Mr Johnson, You are my MP for the district of Sedgwick East. I am writing to express my extreme concern about the government’s intention to introduce a National Identity Card into the UK. Whilst we obviously need to take reasonable steps to protect against terrorism and crime, I do not believe that this draconian measure will have much effect on either. The creation of a government database with a ‘file’ on each citizen, is surely more the province of totalitarian regimes than freedom-loving democracies? I am also not reassured by the stealthy way this is being introduced with passports and driving licences as a first step and compulsion following some time after. This is a huge step towards a Big Brother police state and I urge you to oppose it on my behalf. Yours Sincerely
A Wilkinson Please do not copy that letter exactly as all MPs will end up with the same letter. It is included here just as an indication of style and length. Action #6 Write to the National Press If we inundate the National Press with anti-ID Card letters, they will print a few and might even do a feature on the subject. Since they want to sell papers, they will be keen to reflect the majority of reader’s views. Writing a ‘Letter To The Editor’
could be the subject of an entire book – it is quite an art to get
your letter published. Here are a few tips to be going on with:
TIP #1: Keep it short and
to the point.
This is the single biggest mistake people make when writing to their newspaper (or MP). They waffle-on for page after page of green biro on lined notepaper – the subject sprawls to cover ‘everything which is wrong with the world’. Here is a humorous (but not SO far from the truth) example: Dear Sir I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms about the introduction of Identity Cards into the UK. Surely we didn’t fight two world wars to have this happen to us? It’s the same with graffiti and vandalism – what the hell is happening to this country? Immigration is another case in point – and the trains don’t run on time any more, which they always used to (although the food is, admittedly a lot better, fair play to them). It’s time someone cleaned up this sewer – for such, I’m afraid, Britain has become. PS I waited TWO HOURS for a bus yesterday – that’s how bad things have got.
TIP #2: Read TIP #1 again!
TIP #3: Make the journalists’
life easy.
TIP #4: Stick to just one
point only.
TIP #5: Keep it topical
if possible.
TIP #6: Don’t Rave!
Sir, I am incensed and furious at this idiot Blunkett and his asinine proposals on ID cards. Surely this man should be locked away as he must be insane? And that spineless poodle Blair can join him. We should all join together and overthrow this sordid government by violence and revolution if necessary. Yours
TIP #6: Always give your
name and address.
TIP #7: Bring in personal
experience if relevant.
Dear Sir As a security officer for a major High Street retailer…. As an ex-policeman, I want to assure you that we rarely had trouble identifying criminals, just catching them. This makes nonsense of David Blunkett’s…. When I was in charge of Card Fraud for a major Credit Card Company… I work in the Social Security office and I can assure you we get very little identity fraud. Most fraud is people under-stating their circumstances. Why, then is the government proposing…. As a teacher I am appalled at the prospect of fingerprinting our young people in preparation for a National Identity Card. What sort of world do we want these children to inherit? Here
are some example letters to the editor:
I see that the Westminster Bomber is none other than a home-grown boy from Essex who attended Eaton (Guardian Sat 9th January 2005). Can someone explain to me how a compulsory National Identity Card would have prevented that act of terrorism? Yours Sir, I was interested to read that Social Security Identity fraud is the smallest section of benefit fraud (the largest by far being under-statement of means) and totals a meagre 0.1% of the Social Security budget. (The Times, Feb 19th 2005) Can someone please explain to me why we are contemplating spending £3 BILLION pounds to issue ID cards to all citizens and create a massive government citizen database? Yours [The figures in the above letter were invented, so please do not quote them in your own letters.] Sir I was intrigued, but sadly not surprised at your lead article on corruption and fraud at the Passport Office (Independent, July 2005). Doubtless we can look forward to a similar level of incompetence when they issue everyone with a National Identity Card. I have heard estimates that the going rate for fake ID will be around £500 a time. As ever, terrorists and criminals will laugh at the law and ordinary law-abiding citizens will have yet more of their freedom and privacy curtailed. I have yet to hear a satisfactory explanation from the government about exactly how a compulsory National Identity Card, with its associated Citizen Monitoring Database will have a significant impact on crime or terrorism. Presumably, rapists, muggers, murderers and thieves will join all terrorists in leaving these shores forthwith because the little bit of plastic which they all dutifully carry will make their evil work impossible. Or did I miss something? Yours Sir, I see there are calls to fingerprint every person in the United Kingdom as part of the government’s ID Card fiasco. I always thought that fingerprints were for suspected criminals – or are we all now suspects, guilty until proven innocent? Who, exactly, gave this government permission to start a file on each one of us and issue us with a ‘Permission To Live’ – for such will the Identity Card swiftly become.
Yours ACTION #7 Sign our on-line petition Click here to sign our on-line petition Please Support Us In Any Way You Can Thank You
Funding Statement
Where the Money Will be Spent
Overhead – Zero. We operate from a private house and the owner does not want recompense for any extra outgoings. Expenses. The only expenses we propose to pay are travel costs for a speaker to appear on National TV, or radio – assuming the station concerned will not cover this (which they usually do). Printing. Leaflets, posters, handbills, letter headings, booklets, action packs, car stickers etc. We hope to make a small ‘at cost’ charge for some of these items and hence recoup some of our costs. Design. We employ a graphic design company to design our logos, letter headings, car stickers, advertisements, leaflets, booklets etc. Postage. Posting out leaflets, car stickers, booklets etc. We hope to make a small ‘at cost’ charge for some of these items and hence recoup some of our costs. National Press Advertising. We intend to start a national advertising campaign in the main newspapers (Times, Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Sun, Mirror, Mail etc.] Click here to see an example of the sort of thing we are planning Direct Mail. We have access to a mailing list of people who are sympathetic to our cause. We will be mailing them to gain support. Hopefully we will also secure some donations which may make this a self-paying exercise. Press Cutting Service. We wish to engage the services of a press-cutting bureau to send us all items which appear in the press relating to Identity Cards. Mailing House Services. We retain an external mailing house to stuff envelopes, answer queries, handle donations etc. They charge on a ‘per item’ basis. Researcher. This is lower priority, but if funds permit we want to retain a freelance researcher to gather supporting information to our cause (e.g. which other countries have ID cards, how they work, how they are accepted by the population etc.) INITIAL FUND RAISING TARGET £50,000.00
Banking Arrangements & Auditing
Two signatures are required for each cheque (one signatory is a Chartered Accountant). Fully detailed accounts will be posted on the web site every six months. Accounts will be audited annually by chartered accountants and published on web site. Accounts, when completed, will be fully open to inspection to any member of the public during office hours. CASNIC is a not-for-profit organisation.
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