It’s Aug 26, we’re at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Our table with the penny gizmo again attracts a crowd.
People sorted 20 pennies into the 8 categories according to their priorities as tax payers.
People connect with what matters to them.
84 people came up with this vote for the day.
– Caroline Chinlund
for the Granny Peace Brigade
Granny Peace Brigade 
Wonderful to see that “military” has the least coins. Could you try to take the photos next time so that we can see the full category names on each tube?
I’m looking forward to stopping by this coming Thursday and making my own contribution to the game. You’ll be in my neighborhood. Guess what category won’t get a penny from me?
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Having attended all four of our GIZMO events, I would like to make a couple of observations. The first is that I have never seen people so engaged as they are when they spend their pennies (tax dollars) and take a few minutes to interact with each other and with us. It gives them a chance to do the talking rather than having to listen to us preach, and we have a chance to learn what people are thinking. Ms. GIZMO must travel–to parent-teacher night, to street fairs, and even to high schools when we hand out opt-out forms in the wee hours of the morning.
Consistently, the military category has done rather poorly. At the East Harlem Teen Fair, young children, both boys and girls, put their pennies in healthcare, jobs and education. But pre-teen boys, 11 and 12 years old, put many of their pennies into the military. I can’t help but wonder why this age is so gung-ho. Is it testerone? Do video games with a military theme encourage this interest? How about other war toys? If anyone knows of any research on this subject, I’d like to know of it. Having made this broad generalization about pre-teen boys, I would like to point out that one pre-teen boy in Brooklyn put all his pennies in Arts/Culture. His mom explained that he loves to draw.
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