[free-sklyarov] courses of action

[mike castleman]

On Mon, Sep 10, 2001 at 04:49:52PM -0700, Jeme A Brelin wrote:
> 
> On Mon, 10 Sep 2001, tack wrote:
> > I was thinking that convincing our congresspersons through letters,
> > protests and petitions may fall on deaf ears.
> 
> You're right.  The Congresspeople don't care at all.
> 
> But the protests and petitions are there to educate the public at large.

Congresscritters can sometimes be made to care, if enough of their
constituents do. My congressperson always responds to almost every
letter I write him, because e thinks that if eir responses will make
me happy, and that I will therefore vote for em in the next
election. When your job is up for reelection every two years, this is
important. Now, I myself cannot make my congressperson do anything e
wouldn't normally do, but enough constituents actually can.

Educating the public at large can, of course, be even more important.

> 
> This is always a good idea.  Unfortunately, in most districts there is at
> least one (and usually two... a Democrat and a Republican... sometimes a
> Libertarian) who is propped up by corporate money that you cannot match.
> 
> It has been proven time and again that the one who spends the most money
> wins.

Not always, but often enough. A candidate with a little less money can
sometimes win, but a candidate with way less money usually cannot
(though there are exceptions).

> > 5.  Protests at Disney stores to counter SSSCA.  "Mommy, why are those
> > people shouting"?  I think it's a grave enough law to mandate just up
> > and having a sit in, sans permits if that's the only way, in front of
> > the entry to the store.  Most peole don't even know who Adobe is or
> > even care, but they sure know what Disney is, and care.  This would be
> > a prime venue to distribute Stallman's "Right to read".
> 
> This would be a really good idea if Disney fans weren't so rabid.  There's
> no way you're going to convince a forty year old woman in a Tigger T-shirt
> that Disney is evil... regardless of evidence.

Then why does Reverend Billy, of the Church of Stop Shopping,
<http://www.revbilly.com/> spend so much time preaching in Disney
Stores and Starbucks? Because they are the logical places to begin the
revolution against Disney Stores and Starbucks. See also my comment
below.
 
> > (IE...sit in at their gates to DOS the park. That ought to hit them
> > squarely in the pocketbook).
> 
> I don't think you have the sense of proportion required here.
> 
> You can't do anything to impact Disney's bottom line.  They're profits are
> HUGE... and shutting down ALL of the theme parks for a WEEK won't make a
> difference to them.

Shutting down all Disney theme parks for a week would certainly make a
difference to Disney and their profits. (You don't believe me? Try
it!) But, even more importantly, it would attract tremendous media
attention. It would embarrass Disney thoroughly, especially if the
protestors were allowed to present their case. (Not always likely,
especially since Disney owns the media.)

Although, I think it would be quite difficult to close down Disney
World. If we have the grassroots power to accomplish that, there are
probably more effective things that we should do first. It would be
tremendous fun, though... 

mike

-- 
// mike castleman, mlc67 at columbia.edu
// current location: columbia university, new york, ny, us
// ph: +1 (646) 382-7220
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