Some suggestions of things we can do. Some of these are not my own but came from the briliant minds of Corvallis Open Forum. Some are original. I am NOT claiming that I will be doing all of them. I may not be able to.
1) Boycott Christmas - Dont pad the pockets of evil corporations buy not buying ANY Christmas presents this year
2) Buy NOTHING the day after Thanksgiving. Dont buy anything at all that day. Pretend the stores are gone
3) dont go to work on Election day. dont buy crap. Just dont do anything. Stick it to the man.
4) Here is a modification of 1. If you must Christmas shop, buy only from small local businesses
5) TOTALLY BOYCOTT all multinational and/or publicly traded corporations for the entire holiday season. This is hard. I am considering it.
6) Dont buy new high dollar items. Cars and computers are the worst investment anyone can make. Car companies are highly corrupt. Computer companies (with some exceptions arent much better). Buy used cars from INDIvIDUALS (no need to line the pockets of dealers). Buy (or aquire from previous owners) used computers. Run free software. Dont add to Bill Gates bottom line.
7) Most importantly. GIVE A DAMN. Dont say one person cant make a difference. If a lot of one persons give a damn, it will make a difference
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Why?
The reason is to send a message to those in power. Since all they care about is money then hitting them in the pocketbook with a boycott is the only way to go.
I cannot do it though. My idea about boycotting all multinational corps cannot work for me because I have no way to get to work except to drive and need to by gas. maybe I will just boycott Chevron/Texaco. the evilist of the evil
I'm not sure it's as cut and dry as that. Why do you think all multinational corporations are evil? If you have a retirement plan (as I do), I would imagine (and hope) that a fair amount of your investment is in big companies who are making a good profit.
I know there are abuses and excesses (in big companies as well as small companies), but companies have a legal obligation to their shareholders (you and me, well, me, anyway) to make a profit. I fear you might be painting with too broad a brush. Or I might just be evil. : )
i like the idea of making my gifts for the holidays--or buy something used from goodwill. recycle a gift. i'll try and do that this year. i, too, am so tired of buying christmas gifts--doesn't help that i don't like to shop. or better yet--give the money you would otherwise spend to the local food bank or to a family (that you know of) in need. no reason not to give gifts--just maybe a little altering of how we do so.
i despise the system every bit as much as you, but i have to admit i count on it in some way to increase my savings/retirement. i'd like to see some more consciousness enter the picture--where consequences are thought about. that is obviously missing--for if this mindset were a part of business as usual, we would not so the gross abuse of human rights around the globe amongst the workers (abused in terms of hours worked, lack of benefits, often terrible working conditions and certainly lack of a living wage).
personally, i think election day should be a federal holiday.
dorsey makes a good point. many average folks' retirement is invested in the system. but certainly not all. many people depend on their home as an investment, but certainly not all.
i was listening to alan greenspan being interviewed by terry gross today and he said something to the effect that increasing homeownership was good because it gets people tied to system, i'm paraphrasing. i suppose you could spin it as being invested in the system. but i think the realization is slowly dawning that this system is not sustainable and is increasingly serving the interests of the already wealthy at the expense of everyone else.
dorsey, you can bet your bottom dollar that if something were to go awry, the executives of those companies would get a bonus while all of you average shareholders got screwed. look at enron.
the point is, we must resist this takeover of our lives by the new royalty of the 21st century. we are desperate for answers and results. and something we can do as a group to flex our collective power. we are sick and tired of being sick and tired and we want something to show for our work and efforts besides making fat cats fatter. its time to change the system. peacefully, if at all possible. we only need to look at history to see the inevitability of violence.
i don't think we even need to abolish capitalism. i think someone who has a brilliant idea should be rewarded for it. we just need to restore some semblance of balance and sustainability.
Tim, I don't disagree. As I said, there are always excesses and abuses (and there always will be, in one form or another). My real point was that I believe that it's naive and a little utopian to give in to the class-warmongers (politicians, mostly) and take an "us versus them" posture. In truth, this society is so interconnected, it's all just "us." I mean, even Michael Moore was an Enron stockholder. Seriously.
Maybe I am a bit utopian. As Tim said, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. For too long I have whined about things and not tried to do anything. Believing there is nothing I could do.
Dorsey, I lean to the belief that most corporations are evil. I dont believe its required, but I think the bigger the company, the worse things it does. I will rant on that in a new post.
As far as dependence on the system, I too am dependent on it in that I work for a company. If this company had a bad year, I could end up with pink slip in a heartbeat. Regardless of what a good employee I am.
I should have a retirement plan. I am starting to think about it. But I dont trust the system. I guess I will have to trust it to a point.
Capitalism in its basic sense as described by Tim is not evil. However, I believe in its current form its a monster that feeds the rich on the blood of everyone else.
I was far right, now I have bounced to the left. Maybe I will find the radical middle. who knows
Corporations can't be evil. Only people can be evil. And people can only be evil to the extent that they're unaccountable. I agree that there is often a disconnect between corporate leadership and the greater good, but your comment about feeding the rich with the blood of everyone else is just alarmist propoganda.
You're tired of not doing anything? I have a suggestion. Do what I did. Go and borrow against all the equity in your home, take the money, and start a company. Then you're not beholden to someone else for your job. And in 15 years, and some hourly grunt complains that you're making all the money while he does all the work, and that you're paying for your vacation house on the backs of his children, think about that as a microcosm of the larger picture. Then decide whether all that left-wing socialist bullshit has any merit. I hope you find your way to the middle.
dorsey, when did you turn capitalist pig on us?
no corporate evil? so, the whole passage about "powers and principalities" being our enemies is just some left-wing socialist bullshit from paul?
i think once you outsource your labor to another country, you can start comparing yourself to a mega-corp.
as for boycotting, i'm still undecided as to whether or not that works.
the point on the retirement plan seems insightful, to me anyway.
I turned capitalist pig when I put my family's collective ass on the line and started my business. Priorities clarify themselves quickly.
I'm not as alarmed by outsourcing as some. I tend to think that a lot of the perceived problems surrounding that issue will work themselves out as globalization more fully develops. That's just my opinion.
I'm not sure how you interpret the powers and principalities passage as large businesses. I would think systems and bureaucracies before I thought that. Can you elaborate?
Philosophically though, how can a non-human entity be ascribed a human intent (evil) beyond the degree to which humans act upon the entity? Example: I despise Comcast because of the attitude and incompetence I encounter whenever I deal with them. On the other hand, I love Verizon, because of the outstanding service I have always received from them. Well, the problem that I have with Comcast, and the love that I have for Verizon only exist because of the practices and philosophies of the people who lead those companies filtering down through the rank and file.
Additionally, I have more of a voice as a stockholder of those two companies than I do as a customer, because the leadership's fiduciary obligation is to the stockholder first. Now, if only the leadership of Comcast would realize that the best way to take care of stockholders is to give first-rate care to its customers, then I would be happy as both a customer and a stockholder.
I'm really not as right-wing as my comments might suppose. I'm just a squirrel trying to hang on to his nuts.
; )
regarding outsourcing,
it seems to me that given the inevitability of ever declining reserves of petroleum (ie, less and less of it as time marches on) globalization will be more difficult in terms of global trade of goods. by outsourcing all of the manufacturing out of the US we are leaving ourselves incredibly vulnerable to price spikes in oil (transportation) not to mention the greenhouse gas emmissions associated with shipping tons of stuff all around the globe.
the fact is, multi-national corporations are seizing on and exploiting the fact that people in China will work for pennies on the dollar and have virtually no rules regarding pollution and protecting the environment.
as a follower of Christ, i can't see that as anything but evil. for the titans of industry its all about more for me, not about improving everyone's lot. economists love to talk about creating jobs where they would otherwise not exist, but that's not what its really about. its about making rich fukkers richer and thats it. end of story, total global domination.
what did Jesus say about a rich man's chances of getting into heaven? i contend that it is the rich men who wield their demonic power to prevent the rest of us from creating heaven on earth in our lifetime by making us focus on the wrong things, like accumulating capital, fending for ourselves, as opposed to caring for each other. if that basic tenet of Christianity (taking care of each other) were to become the main tenet, forget everything else, to me that would equal the second coming of Christ and the world would be transformed before our very eyes.
"If that basic tenet of Christianity (taking care of each other) were to become the main tenet, forget everything else, to me that would equal the second coming of Christ and the world would be transformed before our very eyes."
On that, we agree completely.
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