I got a NATIONAL SURVEY ON FREEDOM, TOLERANCE AND EQUALITY in the mail yesterday from the ACLU. What I’m wondering:
What is the purpose of this? Is it just a simple survey, or are there ulterior motives involved? (well, I know at least a partial answer to this one- they want a donation.)
How many people got it? Is this a random thing? Are they targeting specific demographics here?
How/why the heck did they pick my name?
If I fill it out, will I then: a) be pestered for money until long after my demise; or b) be hunted down by Right Wing extremists and subjected to interrogation and torture for “*standing up for the basic American values of justice and liberty for all” by checking some boxes on a sheet of paper. (*as the letter states)
They bought your name and address from a mailing list. You subscribed to some liberal magazine, or contributed to a liberal group, or maybe your zip code is weighted Democratic.
They didn’t pick it out - this is a mass mailing.
Yes to the first; no to the second.
Respond to it in any way, and your name will immediately be spread far and wide as a likely candidate for contributions.
Wow. I was gonna let this thread die. Thanks for the reply, Shodan.
I don’t subscribe to any magazines at all, or give to charities. Hell, I had to put some serious thought to the seven bucks I forked over for the ability to start this thread. I hadn’t thought about my neighbors… Maybe they started this (not many had election signs in their yards, and I don’t know them well enough to talk politics with them.)
I kinda figured that if I mailed it back, I’d just be asking for more trash in the mail. I get enough catalogs as it is.
So anyhoo, thanks again for the reply. I’ll do what I intended with this survey- put it in the circular file.
The catalog companies buy and sell mailing lists too. I bought a lower case l libertarian book from some catalog and ended up on mailing lists for everyone from the NRA to those “how to create a new identity and disappear and never pay taxes” crackpots.
Probably your best move. I’m actually a strong supporter of the ACLU but, man, they certainly work their membership list. After I joined, I got flooded with mailings from every single left-wing organization out there.
But my catalogs come from the Vermont Country Store, Foot Smart, Lands End and some bra seller.
I guess, though, that what you’re buying (or just looking at) doesn’t matter. It’s just the fact that you’ve bought something in the past, no?
I thought it was rather amusing that I felt all important when I saw the ACLU letter head, but then I rolled my eyes when they said, “now give us some money!” Then of course, my little creaky brain wheels started turning… fantasizing about some sinister plan. Hey, it was fun for 3 minutes.
All in all, I do not want to give them money. And I don’t want to be pestered. I think some of the work the ACLU does is good, but they’re way too over the top on most things.
Really? I’m pretty dang sure that’s where my name was gotten from because the mailings started en masse when I joined and there wasn’t anything else I’m aware of that triggered it. Kinda of like when I subscribed to Smithsonion magazine and was immediately innudated with ads targeting the older population. (:rolleyes: , I mean, the sent me a AARP card when I was 29, fer heaven’s sake) I wonder if different chapters have different rules on selling names.
I sent $20 to the ACLU a few years ago. I was immediately placed on the mailing list for seemingly every pro-choice, anti-death penalty, and environmental advocacy group in the U.S (to say nothing of the copious ACLU mailings) – I’d guess about three letters a week for two years. Since then, only the ACLU has continued to send me stuff (at the rate of about one letter per month). Not a big deal, though; how hard is it throw out an unopened letter from the Sierra Club?
Also, you got a card? Man, that’s the main reason I made a donation, and they never sent me one.
They even gave me a little “Card Carrying Member” window static sticker for my car
Maybe they’ve changed their mailing list policies in the last few years…
