So, what is the real agenda behind this?
The story of what triggered this was that FEMA approached an elected Area Chair directly about developing a RF only long distance messaging system. The Chair notified ARRL of the launch of the effort and kept ARRL informed every step of the way. It was tested last June and was highly successful. The ARRL was hoping it wold be a big flop but it wasn’t. The ARRL got all torqued because FEMA didn’t go through them. If they had, in all likelyhood, the proposal would have gone into a committee black hole forever.
The leadership doesn’t like anything that will disrupt their positions. They decide what gets squelched and what goes forward with little input.
Most hams just see ARRL as a group that coordinates some stuff like Field Day and contests and sells books. That’s about what it is. They throw in a few legislative things now and then. Public service (the stuff that hams do in disasters) gets about 2 pages per issue in the magazine.
It’s very much like congress. Secretive and compromised. Cross them and they want to destroy you.
And this is supposed to be a fun hobby.