Sunday, July 01, 2007
Read This: It’s About You posted by Chris Manthos
By our very nature, the PWC lifestyle is a “live and let live” attitude. We don’t ask for special treatment as do others. We simply ask to be treated with fairness and equality. It’s hard to find a personal watercraft owner who hasn’t experienced some form of negativity from others. Indeed, most of us are appalled by the astounding ignorance of facts displayed by no-access extremists during boating access debates. They are who they are, and nothing will change the mind of a true believer.
Recreational boating is increasingly being questioned like never before by so-called environmental groups and their allies in government regulatory agencies; not all, but surely far too many.
This is exactly the purpose of your Association; keeping track, where and when able, of the wacky efforts of the freedom haters. However, we can’t do it all. More to the point, I’m astounded by what may be our worst enemy; ourselves—the PWC Nation as a whole.
Your AWA often receives calls from all over the country by folks who demand action to some access issue and want to know when the AWA bizjet with five attorneys will land and solve all their problems. The first thing we ask is if they’re an AWA member. As you probably guessed, most aren’t, and we often get the “I’ll join, if you help me” pitch. We look into the issue regardless, and usually get involved, unless one of our affiliated clubs gets in on the action first. The real power in this country is the people, and don’t you ever doubt it. Contrary to all the talking heads and mindless bloggers, America is not run by one man, or even the circus up on Capitol Hill; America generally takes care of itself. The problem comes when other groups of people think they know how you should live your life better than you do, and thus try to tell the rest of us how to live and spend our recreational time. Author and former Congressman Dr. Walter H. Judd wrote; “People often say that, in a democracy, decisions are made by a majority of the people. Of course, that is not true. Decisions are made by a majority of those who make themselves heard and who vote – a very different thing.”
While AWA members are up on the issues, most of the PWC Nation is not. Even more shocking is the number of riders who indicate they are not even registered to vote...often the very same folks who scream at us for not sending the lawyers. Your AWA isn’t effective because of lawyers; it’s effective when its members get involved. Case after case tells the cold hard truth: When PWC owners turn out big at hearings or contact their elected officials: we win. When they don’t, we get our collective rear ends handed to us on a silver platter. It’s that simple.
No-access groups fear a unified PWC Nation. They deplore the thought of PWC owners educated on the issues and involved in public discourse. They are sometimes successful in their efforts, not by any basis of fact, but rather by our lack of unity. Remarkably, your AWA continues to make effective inroads against the bias, lies, and hyperbole of the fun haters. While things would be better if more riders were engaged in the issue of access, we’re doing pretty well because of you, the AWA member.
Think about how much more effective we would be if just 20 percent of the estimated 1.5 million personal watercraft owners joined with us in our defense of your freedom to ride? There would be no issue! Instead, what would exist would be a rock solid segment of the boating community the no-access crowd would think twice about messing with. It can happen, and it needs to happen. We’re headed into a new era, and the PWC Nation owes a great debt to every AWA member who has stood up and been active in the fight for fairness and equality. You’re the Good People getting things done. On behalf of your employees at the AWA, we thank you for stepping up.
Live Free. Think Free. Ride Free.
