> No individual can do this, but we can each take a stab at saying some of the things that need to be said. For people to put in this kind of effort, they need to believe they're not wasting their time.

It's not a skyscraper, it's a letter. And it should be short and to the point. The more people that 'take a stab' at it, the higher the chance that the letter will contain something others don't want to put their name on. In efforts like these, someone usually spearheads writing the document and just makes it available to others for editing. Organizing committees, petitions and writing contests is just blowing steam.

IOW, put up or shut up.

> If the VFP community is overwhelmingly in favor of such a letter, then one could infer that the refusal to sign is to some extent a failure to support the community.

Before you accuse those that haven't signed of 'not supporting the community' maybe you should compare your past contributions to theirs.