In the past I’ve been a strong proponent of ARRL. I often mentally tied the past and future success or failure of amateur radio to the organization. I’ve come to the conclusion that this just isn’t the case, and in my evolving opinion the organization is becoming less relevant as time goes on. The elected leadership hierarchy to me seems archaic. I tend to doubt the slate of new blood “change” candidates which got elected will change much, as long as the majority of ARRL leadership, and to some extent the general population of amateurs in the US, continues to have the demographic makeup that it does. My life membership has essentially become a good deal on a perpetual magazine subscription, assuming that I don’t get hit by a bus anytime soon. I’m convinced it’s non-centralized grass roots efforts from individuals that are going to make or break amateur radio in the coming decades.
So, one of my 2019 “amateur radio resolutions” is to stop worrying and pontificating about ARRL, and be that individual that leads my own grass root effort.
Radio Artisan 