Randy Cassingham's Blog

Remember I said some people would even whine about my follow-up? Of course they did, but the smart people really came out of the woodwork and wrote in too. A few of those letters are published below.

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Before the letters, a couple of comments. I continue to be amazed at the people who really don't get it. True is a social commentary column; it uses news items about "dumb people doing dumb things" as the vehicle for that. To say it with fewer words: True is about laughing at stupid people. Yet some people who have been reading it for years don't seem to get that; they think I'm "upset" at people who protest. No, I make fun of them. They think I need to "watch my blood pressure". What, in this job? I get to laugh for a living! I say what I think in order to spark thought. So many thought I was off my rocker for challenging people so much that they unsubscribed. Not even!

If people are so scared of the opinions expressed in a free newsletter that they flee in terror, they're not the kind of people that I really want reading it, are they? It's simply my way of weeding out the true morons so the vast majority who are left make the reader pool that much more "the cream of the crop." In other words, I challenge my readers on purpose -- and it works. But even more than that, those who truly get it are very entertained by such letters and my responses. And that's True's Number One Mission. "Doc" in Mexico grasped it instantly:

• "First, Randy, I'd like to seize this opportunity to thank Jude for freeing up some space for someone else. Then, I'd like to congratulate you on thinning the crop a bit (by 517, at least SOME of whom were probably dead-heads). The folks that can't grasp the concept of thought-provoking journalism are folks that are in no great danger of having any original thoughts provoked! I, for one, don't want you to change your style one bit. Even when I disagree, I find that considering your position at LEAST makes me see that another point of view may have some merit."

Speaking of a different perspective, Brian in New Zealand:

• "I think that Mark and Jude have both gotten their terminologies reversed. Broke is an immediate state of financial difficulty, while Poor is a state of mind. It seems to me that Mark, while saying that he is poor, is actually quite rich in the bigger things in life. He is rich in his love and commitment to his disabled wife, rich in his ability to access free services, rich in being able to get his point across succinctly -- all of which put him ahead of those who either lack those traits or worse, those who have abilities but refuse to use them. Jude, on the other hand, appears to be poor; he seems not only to lack Mark's qualities, but appears to have in their stead a fair amount of negativity."

Even high-schoolers can get it. Here's Christy, who didn't give a location other than "USA":

• "I can't believe that some people were actually offended by what you had to say in your last newsletter. I understood from the beginning that it wasn't about calling your readers idiots, but rather to encourage new subscriptions and to praise those who actually do 'get it', and that's saying something since this is coming from a 16-year-old. I'd think adults would be much more rational than some high schooler, but I guess some aren't. Life would be incredibly boring without this weekly newsletter to interrupt the monotony of homework and school. I always look forward to the day I get this in my inbox, because I know I can expect at the least something to think about, and maybe even get a couple of laughs along the way. I don't see why some people would want to give that up, all over some imaginary insult."

But the real question is, can the sort of straight talk I publish here actually change minds? Yes. Wal in New Jersey:

• "For more years than I care to acknowledge and all too often, I had been a whiner, indefensibly defending my failures or hurt feelings rather than learning something from the experience. It wasn't until not long ago I realized I had to get off that treadmill before making any real progress. I have found your True feature to be a valuable weapon in my war against my own ignorance. Most enlightening are your responses to readers' comments and reactions to the stories or your editorials. The blatantly idiotic rants aside, at times I find myself agreeing with, at least to some extent, the arguments made by the reader. That is, until I read your response. And while I may not totally agree with either side, it always provokes an analytical response on my part once I get past my ingrained, defensive whine mode. I find myself attempting to anticipate your response, and while I have a long way to go to achieve that, it certainly does make me think beyond what I ever would have before. Had my 16 years of formal education included more of this, well, who knows? But it is never too late to learn and I hope I am doing just that. Perhaps the current curriculum of I Deserve to Feel Good No Matter What 101 could be amended with Cut the Crap 201, straight out of the annals of This Is True."

Thinking is a powerful tool. Knowing that I've sparked it in people is truly gratifying.

I got a great laugh from Tony in Japan:

• "Re: Your rant. If I weren't in an office full of people, I would give that a standing ovation. I was almost inspired enough to click on the upgrade link, but then I remembered I already am getting it."
• Dale in Illinois: "I have read your comments on those who shouldn't subscribe to the premium version and wasn't the least offended. But more importantly, there are any number of your comments that do offend me. That is why I enjoy This Is True so much. If it never offended me, it would be no more than the pabulum that you can find on millions of Internet sites, not to mention in newspapers, magazines, radio and television everywhere. You can't write good news or provide good stories without offending somebody. I don't know if Jude will always remain poor or is lazy, but his attitude that he will always be poor is obviously a defeatist attitude. If you assume you will lose, you have gone a long way toward losing already. I don't care how poor I am or will become, I always know I have the chance to change that. No matter how many things go wrong in my life, as long as I am alive I can do better in the future. If you don't believe that to be true, you are already dead, they just haven't thrown the dirt on your body yet."
• Robert in Oregon had a question that proves he's thinking too: "Randy, you noted you didn't have time to read marketing books. But it's rather obvious you DO read a lot. If you're short on time, then I'll surmise that you read really interesting stuff. So: what good book have you read lately?"

A good question indeed, Robert. I have a huge stack of books that I'm trying to get through, a few minutes at a time. Right now, I'm two-thirds through one that is intriguing me very much: it's about how the Internet is changing the entire world's economy. As someone using the Internet to reach the world (True is read in nearly every country, after all), getting that Big Picture is very important to me. The book: The World is Flat (A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century) by Thomas Friedman, a New York Times columnist. But it's not for everyone: you have to be able to read and think about the implications. ;-) -Amazon link-

Finally, Patrick in Missouri was the most succinct. He upgraded and appended this note to his order: "I've been wanting this for years, so here's a present to me. Thanks for making me think -- that's a Real present." To join Patrick in the ranks of the Premium edition readers, please upgrade.