Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnRougeux
Started a new thread.
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Back on subject:
Question for Dr. Booth:
If USARK is now joining forces with PIJAC, isn't that not good? Didn't PIJAC support the Ohio ban?
If PIJAC is the same as the one who supported the ban in Ohio, why should we support USARK?
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John:
Did you read USARK's proposed NC Legislation?
If not, read it, then read the provisions in SB310.
Both the proposed NC legislation and the bill that PIJAC supported represent varying degrees of self-imposed rules. Both had their faults.
Now, somewhere USARKs lawyer, Chen-Walsh, penned a nifty little essay on how USARK's proposed compromise in NC was better than PIJAC's compromise in Ohio. In the end compromise is compromise - no matter how many shades of gray you try to color it. You either compromise or you don't. No amount of quoting Sun-Tzu is going to change that. If you have to explain why your version of compromise is superior to that of a rival, then to most black and white minds you're not fighting war, but setting out terms of surrender. Sadly in some cases, a compromise is a win.
My take is this: there are those that believe that self-regulation is the key to staving off outright bans. Whether you agree with that philosophy or not, that was a position USARK advocated taking - on their terms.......and those terms amounted to a degree of capitulation by some.
PIJAC has been there for awhile. Why USARK come out of the box as an alternative to PIJAC instead of uniting with PIJAC is beyond me - but any recent collaborations between the two are just that - recent.
If USARK had worked cooperatively with PIJAC from the outset and first tried to integrate their focused views with PIJAC's infrastructure and lobbying clout maybe something positive could have come out of this - if you believe in the value of compromises.
PIJAC doesn't always make decisions based on the best interests of reptile owners - but that could have changed if USARK had taken a different path.
You've seen the financial statements, John. USARK does not pull in enough money to take anything on head on. ZooMed contributions amount to a full third of their budget, with show donations taking up the majority of the rest. Voluntary paypal donations are downright pathetic. This is not an organization primed to stand up to anyone.
The real issue lies here - any future PIJAC/USARK actions will most likely result in compromises akin to SB310 or pre-emptive bills like those USARK penned in North Carolina. There will always be a sizable number of reptile keepers who think it is stupid to give anything up and in order to clear up alot of the bad blood, USARK needs to be very upfront about their BMPs and model legislation.
That's where a lot of people dismissed USARK as not their cup of tea - a lot of boisterous talk and call to arms, and then self-imposed legislation like NC. Anyway Chen-Walsh or Wyatt want to explain it, that "take no prisoners"group will hate them for it.
Going forward, Dr. Booth and his associates need to fully clear the air and stop pretending (as their predecessor did for so long) that they don't need PIJAC, they need to be upfront with why pre-emptive legislation or compromises may be necessary and they need to not let their mouths write checks their asses can't cash. These were hallmarks of USARK 2008-2012 and need to stop.
Anybody who has been closely watching USARK these past four years started smelling that something was off awhile ago. I've seen PIJAC compromise at times and outright win at times, but through it all they do it without the chest thumping and BS pumping that was the hallmark of the USARK hit and run forum post. They have also been an better source at being on top even the smallest of local issues. While Wyatt was celebrating a 50% non-victory with the Feds and claiming a battlefield win over a bill that expired, I watched PIJAC swiftly and effectively clobber down a couple of local issues in my neck of the woods that were not even on USARK's radar.
Remember, the hollowest drum beats the loudest. By the yardsticks in which these things are measured, the most effective pet special interest group (even counting SB310) is PIJAC, not USARK. Unfortunately for the "all or nothing" crowd, there will be compromises................our hobby is not powerful enough (at this stage of the game) to begin to act otherwise.