I have had bad experiences with proselytizing. Not the bad experience of religious people knocking on my door. I love to argue with them and they are always polite.
I mean proselytizing for my own causes. I have had three bad experiences with trying to push others to accept my ideas.
The
first was a grant I made in 1971 to promote inexpensive abortions. It
was a grant to support promotion of a small device called the Carmen
cannula for performing D & C's, early term abortions. I supported
a project that could provide an early term abortion for $25.00 to the
public.
Consequence: another group of women came to me for a similar grant, which I made. They turned out to be frauds. They became better organized, ten times more aggressive and created a much bigger organization to fight abortions and pornography.
The second
was a grant and years of active support of Margo St. James' Coyote an
organization dedicated to decriminalizing prostitution. Coyote was
headquartered in San Francisco and was very well known worldwide.
Consequence: the opposition to Coyote, which came 15 years later, was so strong that San Francisco became the first city to punish the clients of street prostitutes and has continued to expand the anti-prostitution theme for more than a decade.
The third example was a course, I thought was important, in how to gain control of your money. The course, which I taught, was designed so the students could gain personal power, in three months, and achieve their life goals through effective money management.
Consequence: two women in the class used their new found skills to promptly find and marry rich men who would support them. I really don't like the idea of me helping women to catch men and manipulate them for their money.
No more proselytizing for me.