POPULAR PITFALLS
The deck sometimes seems stacked against us. To have a fighting chance for success in the coming conflict, we have to be dedicated, self-motivated, self-disciplined, imaginative, efficient, focused and above all cooperative with each other. What follows are some of the reasons we have failed and are still failing to achieve the level of teamwork necessary for the passage of legislation. Some of these pitfalls are simply distractions. Some are sore spots that set us against each other. Many are cancers eating away at the motorcycle rights movement from the inside.
INFIGHTING AND BACKBITING
Samuel 19:6-- "You love those who hate you and hate those who love you. You have made it clear today that the commanders and their men mean nothing to you. I see that you would be pleased if Absolom were alive today and all of us were dead "
There are a lot of jokes about our testosterone levels, They can be downright annoying sometimes, all the more so because there may be some truth to them. Why else, when men of fighting age gather, do at least two of them single each other out and, like a couple of bulls, start sizing each other up for a showdown? And that is one of the better scenarios. Usually the animosity between us takes the form of gossip.
Granted, there may be good reasons to steer clear of some jokers who count themselves among us. Some are "Bikers for Profit," and will screw anybody to turn a buck. Some are loose cannons, and dangerous to be around in peace or war. Some have big mouths, and would gladly reveal confidential information just to have someone listen to them for a few minutes. Some may just be too lazy to get off their dead asses and do anything. Some claim to be Bikers but are actually some other brand of activist. Some may actually be moles sent by the opposition. By all means, shun these parasites.
But here are some of the reasons I've observed for the fomentation of bad blood in the motorcycle rights movement. Prior service rivalries (Marines vs. Navy, Army vs. Air Force, etc.),motorcycle brand preferences, church denominational disputes, all sorts of personal reasons and plain old ego problems.
I've had board level leaders come to me and say, "we need to get rid so-and-so, he misleads others and abuses power. He's a liability." And later on, "I think we need to boot what's-his-name. He's always asking stupid questions like who’s in charge." Clumsiness and stupid questions are annoying, true. But moving through the grass roots lobbying can be learned with practice, and you can deal with "stupid questions" without talking behind their back or giving them the boot.
Once we had a meeting hosted by a group in another area, asking nothing of us for his hospitality. Shortly after, our host became the target of a "roast" (behind his back, of course) because he rode the wrong brand motorcycle and because he lived in the wrong neighborhood.
Some chapter leaders decide that they are going to implement the same kind of chickenshit spit-and-polish regulations that club members endure. Needless to say, not all of the members go for it, some are tired of having their intelligence insulted, some had never joined clubs precisely because they didn't want to put up with such nonsense.
When we don’t find one of the above reasons to bicker and backstab, we’ll usually resort to feuding with other chapters and their members. It may seem silly, but sometimes I worry that maybe we might end up lobbying more against each other than the laws.
What are the grave, earth-shattering reasons for all this infighting? When you peel away all the name-calling, what it really comes down to is that we are in different chapters, made up of different people who look different, and talk different, and act different. In other words, we are all individuals. Now isn’t that a solid reason to make enemies out of allies for what has shaped up to be the most important battle for ABATE of Pa.
Let’s look at our predicament; The motorcycle rights movement is overwhelmingly outnumbered, media ignored and has limited resources. Our enemy has far superior intelligence gathering capability and unlimited resources. But none of that is really important, right? What is really important is that so-and-so rides a Honda, what’s his face drives his car to meetings or Joe Blow is goofy looking and his wife talks funny. We need to make more enemies out of our allies because we haven’t got enough enemies already? And any old pissant excuse to turn on each other will do, right?
We have many of the same strengths and weaknesses that the Native Americans had in the last century. I believe that the most significant reason the Indians lost out was the nations and tribes never stopped fighting amongst themselves. Who knows what might have happened had the Native Americans put aside their petty differences and presented a unified front against the European invader. Who knows what the motorcycle rights movement could accomplish if we concentrated on our shared goals instead of squabbling with each other about irrelevant nonsense. I think we have enough enemies already and not nearly enough allies.
So what is most important to YOU?