Originally Posted by
Retiredat38
aymodeler in your OP you strike me as one who has already given up. And you're encouraging others to do the same. All I can say is if you want to bow out, that's your business. Just don't get in the way of those who aren't ready yet.
IMHO the AMA bashing was not originally intended as such. It was in fact meant to be a wake up call for the membership as to the direction the AMA was heading. I contend it continues to be intended as a wake up call. However it seems the vast majority of the membership simply does not care. And of those who claim to care, it would seem they think defending the status quo is more important than fixing serious problems.
It became bashing, again IMHO because the supporters of the "AMA business as usual" labeled it as bashing in their attempts to drown out the facts. And they flooded the forums with accusations, name calling, mis-quotes (why?), out right lies, moderator complaints, etc. In truth this "bashing" provided considerable factual data and evidence to support the contentions of those sounding the alarm. Evidence and facts, something I don't recall the opposition ever doing.
One only needs to look back into old issues of the AMA magazine, Feb 2019 issue of The Hill, video reports by AMA EC and others to realize, the AMA has attempted several ploys to:
1. Pull the MR Drone crowd into the AMA fold.
2. Force all recreational flyers to join the AMA to be legal.
3. Encourage violations of the law (Fly as you normally would, i.e. >400').
4. Dispense false information even after it was shown to be false. IOW, outright Lie.
5. And the list goes on............
I agree the AMA is finished. But that doesn't mean we should abandon them. If changes can be implemented then it would be far easier to start new with the existing AMA than it would be to start over from scratch. But that would make a number of people in Muncie quite unhappy. And I suspect that is the crux of the whole matter.
As I posted earlier, it was probably a poor choice of words to use as a thread title. My intent was to convey the message that a large portion of the membership simply does not want change (and I think you are echoing some of that here that too). Moreover, that membership is aging out over the next 10 - 15 years and the AMA will cease to have relevance regardless of change. I honestly believe that a new type of organization is needed for the future and that trying to recast the AMA into that new organization is probably going to be met with so much resistance that it would be easier to start from scratch. My assumption in making this statement is that the leadership is just a reflection on the attitudes of the membership as a whole, so even if there are a few voices trying to drive change, they will be up against a mountain of inertia. Maybe I am wrong about that.
Another part of my assertion as to why this change will be so hard, is because the AMA actually does deliver against the needs of the bulk of its membership. Again, they will see no reason for change. To be honest, I largely fall into that camp myself. That does NOT mean that I dismiss why others feel change is necessary and I am trying to keep an open mind about how a changed AMA could be a better experience. Also, as stated above, I feel that a new type of organization with new perspective and priorities will be needed to meet the needs of the future. As a minimum, it will be more open to what motivates younger entrants to the hobby, be more technically and socially diverse, and have an overall more flexible approach to the hobby.