I hear everything you said, and agree in part with some of it. I'm going to play Devil's Advocate here, though and state why I think joining AMA isn't a bad thing.

First and foremost, the "voice" you hear in this forum, including all the flaming, cat-fighting, etc. actually represents a small fraction of the AMA membership. At least, I don't think we have the entire 100,000+ or whatever the membership is all posting on this forum. This minority makes the whole situation no different, really, than the US and her politics. Most of us are a relatively silent, and for the most part, content group who are comfortable living within the guidelines set forth by AMA, or at least don't have any issues serious enough to raise cain about.

If you don't want to join, okay, but you're then living under the mantle of whatever services AMA can provide without being a contributor to that mantle, whether it be your voice or your dollars that you contribute. It's the same as voting in any election; if you don't vote, you haven't contributed to the outcome, and whether or not that outcome affects or benefits you, as part of the whole, your duty is to at least let your voice be heard. AMA might not be necessary in order for a group of people to get together in somebody's cow pasture or abandoned parking lot and fly their planes, but they do represent everyone who "twiddles the sticks" as a lobby and organized entity to say that there are more than a few who participate in this hobby and that we should have consideration for our desires, that being frequencies set aside for the hobby by the FCC, education that this is a relatively safe hobby so the insurance companies stay out of our hair and landowners are willing to allow us places to fly, just to name but two. Being an AMA member also makes the statement to other members, (like at fly-ins where others congregate) that you're likely to be fairly safe to be around, since you probably conform to most of what AMA stands for in terms of safety and performance.

I don't pretend to see even a miniscule portion of the bigger picture here, just my observations on my own interpretation of what AMA is. The "voices and opinions" on this forum are a fairly healthy exercise of our free speech. If contention arises, it's usually because some people are passionate about their own position on whatever subject is being discussed, or maybe they don't have more than a local picture of an issue and the circumstances are completely different elsewhere. And unfortunately, some people can't express themselves any other way than to "curse, flame, degrade, insult..........." when they can't make the "other side" see their point or accept it.

Join AMA, it's only four gallons of fuel and change for a year.