WTR Survey - Some Preliminary Results
and Small Group discussions

Of 600 respondents thus far to the “never” survey:
(about 38 % of these were from UFPJ Rally and 62 % from SOA vigil)

Question # from Survey and responses.	Demographic information on this 600
1)  Have you heard of WTR as a strategy to oppose war? 364 said they had heard of WTR  (60%) 236 said they hadn’t heard of WTR  (40%)	Age? 4% under 18 years old 29% between 18 and 24 20% between  25 and 45 27% between 45 and 65 8% over 65 12 % chose not to answer
2) Which reasons best explain why you have not done WTR 123 Fear of legal consequences 120 Need more information 111 never heard of it 41 fear of personal financial consequences 39 never understood it 19 too complicated 15 Don’t think its effective 14 fear of employment consequences 13 want to obey the law	Gender? 39% were males 51% were females 10% chose not to answer Ethnic? 4% African American 4% Asian 75% Caucasian 4% Latino 0.1 % Native American 12% said none
3)  Which item in question #2 is the most important reason you have not done WTR? 39 indicated the most important reason they had not done WTR they had never heard of it. 12 indicated they fear employment consequences 36 indicated they fear personal employment consequences 125 indicated they fear legal consequences  (20%) 13 indicated that they did not think WTR was effective 29 indicated that WTR was two complicated 23 indicated that they want to pay taxes for services 10 indicated that they want to obey to law 225 indicated they needed more information  (37%) 88 did not indicate a most important reason	Relationship status 54% single 24% married 7% divorced or separated 3% Civil Union or common law 2% widowed 10% chose not to answer Children? 70%  none 7%  one 7%  two 2 % three 1.5% four 0.5% five plus
4) As a tactic to oppose and end war, do you consider WTR to be: 336 courageous 255 highly principled 238 a potential mass tactic 134 effective 115 cutting edge 64  not practical 55 consistent 44 ineffective 42 too personally costly 37 only for a few 28 crazy 17 irresponsible	Religion? 25% Catholic 12% Protestant 12% Jewish 0.3% Muslim 0% Hindu 3% Buddhist 0.5% Native 7% Atheist 7% secular 10% Agnostic 1% pagan 3% peace church 10% other 12% did not answer
5) What are the two most likely consequences of WTR 291 Collection of taxes 246 Seizure of property 205 Jail 158 Loss of credit 68  Loss of job	Household in come? 25% Less that $1500 7%  $15-25,000 15%  $25-40,000 13%  $40-55,000 8%   $55-70,000 4% $70-85,000 6%  $85-100,00 8% Over $100,000 13% no answer
7) Would you consider participating in a one-year commitment to refuse a portion of your federal income taxes and redirect your taxes to a humanitarian cause if thousands joined you publicly? 378 said yes  (63%)   163 said no  (27%) 59 did not answer the question	Education? 0.5% 8th grade or less 4% some high school 4% high school diploma 0.6% post high school, not college 25% some college 24% college degree 32% post graduate 8% did not answer
8) Of those that said yes: 294 said they need a clear idea of the consequences 197 said knowing the action will be publicized would help their decision 189 said know other are also doing it was important 138 said participation in collective alternative fund would be helpful 137 said group discussions of options and methods would help 103 said one on one counseling would help 65 said participation in planning would be helpful	Live in? 18% rural area 48% urban 23% suburban 10% no answer Kind of employer? 16% self employed 25% private 18% non-profit 12 % city or state 2% federal 9% retired 19% no answer (probably students)

Small groups at the meeting talked about what correlations might be needed to make the data more useful in relation to these preliminary survey results. We also brainstormed campaign ideas:

Desired correlations (all relate to the "never did" surveys):

    -- age and "yes" to #7 (2 groups asked for this)

    -- income level and question # 4

    -- correlate those who answered "yes" to #7 with everything else on the first page

    -- correlate religion and education demographics

    -- also correlate religion & education with the "why not?" question #2

    -- correlate age & sex with answers to question # 8 on helpful resources

    -- correlate "yes" to #7 with earnings over $40,000 and with not self-employed (2 groups)

    -- separate answers to question # 5 (likely consequences) by sex (2 groups asked for this)

    -- provide separate compilations for responses from SOAW and Jan 27

    -- separate income by single and married categories

    -- correlate answers to # 4 with answers to # 5

    -- Correlate answers to demographic questions 1, 2, 4, & 7 to focus in on target audience(s)

Here are ideas for the campaign itself.  These are simply brainstorms from the small groups with no follow-up discussion.  Some ideas below will be at odds with others.  I have tried to lump those ideas which were similar:

    Dual emphases, interrelated, addressing ignorance and fear.  EDUCATION is key.

    Separate foci on young people, lower income, singles, and higher income.  "One size fits all" will not work.  Pick target audience(s) and delineate a separate approach for each.

    Use music, theater, and creative ats to show that wtr is a "joyful life".

    WTR needs to be presented onstage at every major rally/event.

    Continue to use the survey ongoing as a tool for engaging/informing people.

    Get other groups to endorse wtr.

    Target campaign toward peace groups.

    NWTRCC should run this campaign rather than other groups like UFPJ.

    Past experience with efforts at "mass" wtr campaigns offer no grounds for optimism.

    Change from one-year commitment to "until U.S. wars in the Middle East are stopped."

    Focus on an "act of conscience" rather than on the efficacy of withholding tax money.

    Pitch:  "We the people need to take control of the purse and de-fund the military/war ourselves."

    Include wtr history in the campaign proposal.

    Emphasize that people will do this if they hear about it, and it's time for [name of group being approached] to make sure that people hear about it.

Robert came up with this campaign idea for UFPJ: - PAID FOR campaign:

That stands for People Against Iraq's Destruction Fund Only Reconstruction.  The emphasis will be less on trying to stop the war via wtr (though that is a component) than on personally and collectively redirecting money from the war (de-funding) toward reconstruction (the very thing which Congress is now talking about linking to benchmarks, rather than military spending!).  It is to set a "people's example" for Congress.  The idea is that UFPJ would develop, probably through such member groups as Voices For Creative Nonviolence, some alternative reconstruction projects which member groups/individuals would then be asked to fund by redirecting 7% (the amount which the WRL pie chart says pays for Iraq & Afghanistan wars) of their federal income tax away from the war machine (the resistance part of the campaign) and into those projects, either directly or via existing alternative funds.  Those who do such redirection would receive a PAID FOR voucher, designed to look similar to the IRS payment voucher in the 1040 instructions, acknowledging the amount so redirected, which could then be sent in with the usual IRS tax return or quarterly estimated payment.  NWTRCC would offer our services for wtr info, specialty materials, counseling, etc., but the major campaign work (development and production of materials, promotion, interpretation, publicity, data-keeping, handling the money) would be done by UFPJ or a working group thereof, or split among member groups.  This is a campaign which could really catch on, especially if a way to participate online is established.  In this case, the 7% is not a merely symbolic amount, being instead a very real amount directly related to the goals of the campaign, yet is also not such a high amount as to greatly discourage participation.  In short, almost anyone could do this.