BOYCOTTS Entity: An individual business or consortium of businesses or an entire industry. Boycotts are the only truly effective form of activism. Nothing gets the attention of an entity providing goods and/or services than losing customers. They can't exist without them. They can't exist without a minimum, critical number of them. But mostly Because the boycott itself is only part of the picture. When you boycott an entity you have to find a substitute for whatever goods and/or services the boycotted entity was providing for you. That's where the really meaningful and positive work comes into play. Of course, the alternative has to be an approach that is truly different and fundamentally more positive than the one being boycotted. Boycotting Kmart and then shopping at Walmart isn't going to do much good. There's no real difference between the two. Boycotting SUV's and then driving a hybrid isn't going to do much good. There's no real difference between the two. (That's like boycotting .45 caliber pistols and using .32 caliber pistols instead, and pretending that this makes you non-violent...) The effectiveness of boycotts is one of the reasons you almost never see any activist groups calling for them. Because they don't want to displease the corporations who fund them, however indirectly. The work involved in a true boycott, finding or creating a real alternative to the boycotted entity, is another reason you almost never see any activist groups calling for them. It's much easier to protest and lobby and publish things and vote and hold meetings. Another reason is the example they set. If people started boycotting entities that were harming the environment,were involved in the war machine, and were exploiting poor people, if they started creating real alternatives to those entities, the Industrial-Capitalist Empire (ICE), which is created by and for the Middle Class, would be in serious trouble. And that's the one thing that psuedo-progressives absoluletly do not want to do: Endanger the system that provides their cushy and priveleged lifestyles. They want to make profound changes in the world but they don't want to make profound changes in their own lifestyle. Which means that they never accomplish anything real, which is hardly surprising. But I'd exercise extreme caution: If someone is involved in something that is truly progressive, they aren't going to be safe from harassment on any level, including violence. Hell, the ICE's enforcers will beat your head in just for protesting, and that doesn't accomplish anything but making a bunch of people feel more progressive than they are: Protestors rant and rave, and then, if the don't get their way, they just go back and live like everyone else. They don't take the next step, which is boycotting. They don't walk their talk. Boycotts, real boycotts, are the most effective tool for positive change there is. "If you would do good in the world, first make sure that you are doing no evil." "You must become the changes you want to see in the world." --Ghandi Littlefoot
you know, this makes so much sense. At first I never really understood how boycotts could do anything, but you're right. I work at a fastfood resturant where numbers are everything and anything that is off sends everything into chaos; AKA not enough customers, etc. Awesome, thanks for the insight!
Thanks. I really appreciate your response. And considering how I have treated you on another Forum, it is more than I deserve. http://hipforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=264647&page=7&pp=10 You are obviously a better person than I thought you were. But it really wasn't personal. I was using you to make what I consider to be very important points. I hope you understand that I don't support killing anyone for any reason, and would personally hide you from the authorities if you were to resist the draft that is coming..... With gratitude, Littlefoot
don't worry, its cool We have differences of opinion, thats all. I love your writing so.... In the future though, do I HAVE to be the Martyr? lol
You can take a break for a while. But I expect to see you back on the job a week from tomorrow, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed! Littlefoot
