Some Thoughts on the Movement
Apr. 16th, 2003 07:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
labrujahOne of my oldest friends, the brilliant David Levy, who currently lives in LA while studying history, has been ruminating via email about his frustration with our generation's disenchantment with politics.
I have to agree -- I've never been an activist, but come on, how ridiculous does it have to get? Briefly, I read an article comparing protest marches of the past (like MLK's civil rights marches) with today's, and it concluded that today we're too interested in coalition-building and showing lots of numbers -- which doesn't achieve anything if the people in power aren't listening. We need marches that happen on workdays, down busy thoroughfares, if they are going to mean anything. There's too much preaching to the converted.
We're working out, slowly and carefully, a blueprint for action. Not action like making a puppet for peace or sitting at a table in the park trying to get people registered for the Green Party. Real, actual action. I want to see a youth movement that doesn't have anything to do with drinking Pepsi or whatever.
Some ideas so far:
Set up a voting support network. The reason I didn't vote last time was 1) I didn't know where my voting place was, and it was cold and raining out and 2) I didn't know who the candidates were.
So: we get people to drive around and give everybody a ride to the voting place, and then we go get a beer. Also, we hand out those info sheets that compare candidates' voting records. This is esp. important on college campuses.
Boycott. (see http://www.nypress.com/16/15/news&columns/cage.cfm for more)
David pointed out that nearly everything is owned by 5 huge coporations. So we need to pick a few symbolic companies (like 3) and do a very visible boycott with great PR.
The Little Things.
There's a thing called Con Ed Solutions (for you NYers) which is basically the same as Con Ed, but doesn't use polluting plants. look here.
Also, why not just switch over to Working Assets? You get free ice cream for a year, people.
I would love to hear what you all think of this. Also, we need a catchy name.
I have to agree -- I've never been an activist, but come on, how ridiculous does it have to get? Briefly, I read an article comparing protest marches of the past (like MLK's civil rights marches) with today's, and it concluded that today we're too interested in coalition-building and showing lots of numbers -- which doesn't achieve anything if the people in power aren't listening. We need marches that happen on workdays, down busy thoroughfares, if they are going to mean anything. There's too much preaching to the converted.
We're working out, slowly and carefully, a blueprint for action. Not action like making a puppet for peace or sitting at a table in the park trying to get people registered for the Green Party. Real, actual action. I want to see a youth movement that doesn't have anything to do with drinking Pepsi or whatever.
Some ideas so far:
Set up a voting support network. The reason I didn't vote last time was 1) I didn't know where my voting place was, and it was cold and raining out and 2) I didn't know who the candidates were.
So: we get people to drive around and give everybody a ride to the voting place, and then we go get a beer. Also, we hand out those info sheets that compare candidates' voting records. This is esp. important on college campuses.
Boycott. (see http://www.nypress.com/16/15/news&columns/cage.cfm for more)
David pointed out that nearly everything is owned by 5 huge coporations. So we need to pick a few symbolic companies (like 3) and do a very visible boycott with great PR.
The Little Things.
There's a thing called Con Ed Solutions (for you NYers) which is basically the same as Con Ed, but doesn't use polluting plants. look here.
Also, why not just switch over to Working Assets? You get free ice cream for a year, people.
I would love to hear what you all think of this. Also, we need a catchy name.
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no subject
Date: 2003-04-18 11:24 am (UTC)They have some interesting and charming ideas (I like the free envelopes with treasure maps one).
However, my reaction to it is that it seems a little smug -- sending love letters back in direct mail envelopes? The people who open those are just doing their job, and I'm sure they don't go to their jobs like "Oh, I'm such a bad person for sending out direct mail marketing. Now that someone has sent me a letter alerting me to this, I will go out and find a different job."
I'm not into the kind of Fight Club tactics expressed here -- I think a well-publicized consumer boycott of a certain company would get a lot more attention and do a lot more damage than a brick through their window.
In fact, I'm certainly not against people making cool inflatable structures or anything, but I do see it as pretty ineffective if you're trying to make a real change in the behavior of a majority of people in this country. Even worse than being ineffective is making yourself think that you're accomplishing something when you're not necessarily. And that's what I disagree with about activism today.
I studied Psychology in school, and the experimental method says that you have to have measurable, quantifiable effects at the end. I want to figure out why those Ad Council ads about not smoking aren't working (statistically, they're not). And, I want the inspired, committed, forward-thinking people who are making banners to hang on the freeway to RUN FOR OFFICE. Integrate themselves into the existing political system. It's very rare that I've come across a candidate that I can get behind (Nader is the only one) -- everybody complains that we have to vote for the lesser of two evils -- so where are all the good candidates?
Sorry this turned out to be such a lengthy rant, but I'm just working it all out for the first time myself...
Re:
Date: 2003-04-18 12:05 pm (UTC)I mean look at what happened to those kids in England (? I think it was there) who slammed McDonalds and spent years in court defending themselves against a huge libel suit. I mean they were found innocent eventually, but wow, think of the cost in time and money of defending yourself against someone with unlimited resources like that! ouch! heh.
Some people here in our city were trying to hand out flyers about Taco Bell refusing to pay their tomato pickers a minimum wage, or some such thing, and were arrested for tresspassing, then harrassed for loitering when they tried to picket on the sidewalk.
Some Gramma in Cali got arrested for handing out flyers in a grocery store parking lot trying to educate people about the dangers of either irradiated or genetically modified foods.(sorry, it was a while ago, I can't remember exactly)
So yeah, I'd like to see people getting educated and people with real ideals running for office. I think the problem boils down to money tho. Corps, and the corp-owned media have almost all of it, and it's hard to get heard when they can say whatever they want and threaten the little guy into silence.
So, trying to figure out innovative ways of getting heard seems to be a big part of what we have to do.
=)