The Rise and Fall of Drakos the Activist

So as far as blogging is concerned I slacked off last month. I'm sure you don't particularly care, but in my defense I've been pretty busy being disillusioned. Three weeks ago I started working for Environment Colorado, supposedly a state-wide non-profit organization, but it reality I was but a pawn canvassing for The Fund for Public Interest Research Groups. You've probably seen the PIRGs in action around campuses, personally I remember seeing MaryPIRG people running voter campaigns back at UMCP, as they exist in about a dozen states. Now the idea behind the Public Interest Group is that they fight against Private Interest Groups that represent certain major corporations. So big business has its lobbyists, dicking around in the state houses convincing representatives to push a corporate agenda. So ideally, the PIRGs supply lobbyists that also sway politicians, but in ways that are beneficial to the public.

Bullshit. I do admit that COPIRG has passed some good legislation in the past few years, example: Amendment 37 which requires 10% of Colorado's energy to come from clean, renewal source by the year 2012 or something. Just recently this was raised to 20% through an additional bill. That's all well and good, but they could be setting much tougher goals. Enivironment Colorado, the environmental facet of COPIRG, does a have a difficult job in setting up its campaigns, if you try to get too much change, the public will be hesitant to support it (especially since the PIRGs demand monthly contributions), and if it's to small, all that contribution money is really just going down the drain. Since lobbying is such a instrumental part of legislation in our government, it does take a lot of money to get bills past, but the PIRGs have, in my opinion, become that which they were originally created to stand up against: greed and the corporate mentality.

Surely my opinion is biased by the fact that I was fired yesterday for not duping enough innocent people into giving $15-30 a month for a least year, but I have to say that even I was surprised at how much they really devalue their employees when they aren't meeting quotas. Considering that it is entirely up to the directors what site we go to each day, and whom we go with, I feel a great deal of the job is luck. I currently have had the second best day in the office (since the start of our summer campaign), from one day that a guy walking by more or less dropped $100 a month into my lap, but apparently that isn't enough to allow me to at the very least have worked today. The way the quota process works (something that the directors will never mention unless cornered) is each time you miss the weekly total you get a strike, two strikes in a row, or three strikes in a year, or if 75% of your members don't stay on for a full year, you're fired. So as far as policy is concerned I ought to have been given the chance to come in today and at least try my best to bring my total up. Not so much. Too big a hole, she said. Don't bother coming in, she said. I guess I can't be too disappointed, I really had stopped trying this week. I spent only about half the time I should have actually canvassing, the rest was spent either in Starbucks, or just sitting cursing the organization.

What more than likely broke my spirit, aside from a few days of shitting weather ruining my average (which is considered no excuse), is the story of a fellow canvasser who was one of the most devoted I'd met. Standing in the pouring rain he tried his hardest to stop every passer by, while I ducked under a shelter and waited for the sun to return. He missed quota twice in the past few months, so if he missed it again he was gone. My first week he needed $200 on Friday to survive. He did it. The next week it rained four out of five days. He needed $450 on Friday to survive. He did it. The next week he was with me twice, and I was pretty much a death omen. He needed $500 on Friday, the day after his 21st birthday, to survive. I assume he didn't do it, because he's gone without a trace. I hope to hear that he's found a job now that appreciates his effort. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the director purposely gave him sites like Longmont and Westminister that are basically the most conservative in the area to see him go. Why would she do that? Because he talked too much about things like quotas and lawsuits.. things that directors avoid mention of like the plague.

My good friend out here was right when she said that the PIRGs do more harm than good by destroying the spirit of promising young activists. I'm living proof, for as of today I will do everything in my power ensure global warming's worst effects, just to spite those PIRG bastards, and every asshole on the street who said, "Global Warming? What a joke?" or just gave me the finger. Not really. I encourage all of you out there, if you are approached by a canvasser, politely tell them you appreciate their hard work on the streets, but you don't agree with the kind of support their organization is looking for. Put your money and effort instead into personal conservationism: buying fuel efficient cars, supporting local and organic farming, recycling and composting, and eating less mass produced meats and dairies. Everyone can make some kind of small effort. And if you get the chance, put a potato in the tailpipe of every Hummer you can. Sigh... I'll let y'all know when I'm no longer unemployed.

Update: I recently received an invitation to join the class action suit against the PIRGs, started by disillusioned and abused former canvassers. I have no real monetary digressions against Environment Colorado so I ignored it, but I'll be with them in spirit. Also I fixed this entry to make it prettier.