Infiltration
Nov. 14th, 2004 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
semiotic_pirateHow do we send a message to corporations? We do the same thing that people back in the day did to shame McDonald's into stop using styrofoam packaging. Simple. Right? Well, someone is trying to start something along those lines in order to send a message to neocon's and the corporations that support them. Rock on!
Infiltrate the system and then fight from within.
Thanks to Raven...
Fantabulous entry: http://www.terminal3.net/archive.php?blogYear=2004&blogMonth=11&PHPSESSID=7027885cb7068f76818375baf1c938ca#128
I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you. ~The Matrix
So today all of us have been milling around and feeling sorry for ourselves for most of the day. At some point however, people stopped whining and bitching (myself included) and stopped talking about moving to Canada and decided to fight back.
We have to take all of our angst and hit the Republicans where it hurts, in their wallets. I was surfing around over at Daily Kos this evening when I ran across a brilliant idea which I promptly recommended.
During the last weeks of the election Sinclair Broadcasting was going to force a slime job film called Stolen Honor to be shown on all of its affiliate stations. Well the guys at Daily Kos were having none of that and they started an aggressive boycott campaign. As advertisers started leaving in droves and Sinclair's stock dropped like a rock , Sinclair caved in and didn't show the film on many stations.
The idea I mentioned above was to take that national. Corporations which supported President Bush, have bad labor and/or environmental policies or even if they are located in a Red State will be boycotted and outted on the web. Someone in the thread came up with the name Buying America Blue and I thought that was brilliant and I intend to spread the meme. Please spread the idea if you agree.
The way it works is simple, you find a company that supports the Republican party with campaign donations or has horrid economic or environmental policies and you boycott them. As an example, Bank of America supported the Republican party this year. I have an account with Bank of America and if enough people that have accounts with them also email them and tell them we'll drop our accounts if they don't stop donating, that is when change happens. If they don't listen, we hurt their bottom line.
"I want my country back. We want our country back. I am tired of being divided. I don't want to listen to the fundamentalist preachers anymore. I want America to look like America."
- Howard Dean
brilliant idea:
Hey Blue States - DO YOU WANT REAL CHANGE NOW?
by Karma Mechanic
Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 at 19:05:11 PST
The kind of power that makes the Republicans quake in their boots? What is it the Republicans always say when Democrats propose legislation in Congress in order to curb corporate malfeasance?
LET THE FREE MARKET HANDLE IT! Economics 101 right? If the company is harming the consumer the consumer will find out and withhold business.
Well, how do we find out about it? We can no longer trust the watchdogs. Politicians and the media these days are bought off with corporate money. In the event that something does leak past these two estates corporations have teams of PR agents and media whores ready to be dispatched at a moments notice to do damage control so we busy consumers don't get a grasp on the real issue and move on to the next news cycle.
We could create a well publicized website that lists the most and least progressive corporations in America whom we can reward and punish depending on their support for our ideals. How much money do we unknowingly spend each day supporting big polluters, big Republican donors or companies that use slave labor? Much more than we think. Let's make it more transparent.
It can be a real effective tool of change. If we as Americans want national health care, a living wage, non-partisan media, and environmental regulation the best way to get that is not through legislation but through economic pressure. Face it, no matter what law we pass a corporation is going to figure out how to get around it anyway, but what strikes real fear in all of their black hearts is millions upon millions of consumers boycotting their products and giving them bad publicity. We learned how quickly Sinclair caved to our pressure and that was barely organized. Imagine the full force of 49% of the electorate. Let's get on top of this while we are all still filled with rage. Let's turn this negative energy positive.
We are facing yet another 4 years of a hijacked government where our issues are going to sit on the back burner. We can sit still and hope or we can get creative and fight. I say we fight. Let's vote with our dollars! Let's make every day election day!
There are a lot a great ideas here. The consensus is that we create a searchable database with a sophisticated rating system based on numerous criteria with comments and rating to be added by users. That makes sense because what's important to one person may not be that important to another - the true goal is to make these corporations as transparent as possible and allow quick searches by either company or product.
I agree with most that we should keep this as a positive operation. Revenge against red states might seem like a good idea right now but negative energy will only serve to alienate people in the end.
As far as the name I think we need to keep it as simple and as short as possible considering we want it to be easy to remember and more importantly - easy to type. How about just "Buyblue.org".
We need to move to phase two. I do not have the web skills to create this on my own. If some of the people who have been the most vocal on the board can email me we can escalate the discussion further. I notice there are a couple of people who are willing to donate their time and skills to this project. I welcome any and all participants who feel they have something to offer. Email me at buyblue@gmail.com
UPDATE FROM RAVEN:
When I first wrote about Buying America Blue last week I wondered if it was an idea that would ever make it out of our minds and into the real world. I thought it might be one of those things where that everyone gets fired up about, we all agree it should be done and then we go our separate ways.
Well, that hasn't happened. A core group of the more vocal people got together and for the the last week and a half we have been making it happen. We've been discussing a wide range of topics, but probably most importantly our focus and purpose. I believe it has been tempered a little bit from the original idea but I believe it is still very powerful. We didn't want to make it about revenge (although that would be easy to do), but instead about positive change with a partisan focus.
I have taken on a big role and I'm really excited to be doing something for once. I don't yet know if we'll be successful, but we have a good group of people I think. After a little over a week of discussion we have quite a few ideas and I volunteered myself to take a stab at a mission statement, so I'll probably be getting around that that this weekend.
We've acquired the domain BuyBlue.org and hopefully we'll have a live site sometime early next year. There is a small blurb out there now (will be expanded later), but if the idea sounds interesting and you'd like to play a part then please do email me.
It also looks like we'll likely be setting up as a non-profit which will be good for me because it'll give me some experience getting that kind of organization started and keeping it running so I'll know what to do when I start my own. I bought a book on the subject tonight, but I haven't really seen anyone giving books on the subject rave or horrible reviews. If anyone knows of any good (or bad) books on non-profits send them my way.
If you also want to read all the fascinating comments to the original posting of this subject on daily kos for more information about what other people are saying about this idea: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/3/22511/6832
Pass it on!
Infiltrate the system and then fight from within.
Thanks to Raven...
Fantabulous entry: http://www.terminal3.net/archive.php?blogYear=2004&blogMonth=11&PHPSESSID=7027885cb7068f76818375baf1c938ca#128
I know that you're afraid... you're afraid of us. You're afraid of change. I don't know the future. I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it's going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone, and then I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you. ~The Matrix
So today all of us have been milling around and feeling sorry for ourselves for most of the day. At some point however, people stopped whining and bitching (myself included) and stopped talking about moving to Canada and decided to fight back.
We have to take all of our angst and hit the Republicans where it hurts, in their wallets. I was surfing around over at Daily Kos this evening when I ran across a brilliant idea which I promptly recommended.
During the last weeks of the election Sinclair Broadcasting was going to force a slime job film called Stolen Honor to be shown on all of its affiliate stations. Well the guys at Daily Kos were having none of that and they started an aggressive boycott campaign. As advertisers started leaving in droves and Sinclair's stock dropped like a rock , Sinclair caved in and didn't show the film on many stations.
The idea I mentioned above was to take that national. Corporations which supported President Bush, have bad labor and/or environmental policies or even if they are located in a Red State will be boycotted and outted on the web. Someone in the thread came up with the name Buying America Blue and I thought that was brilliant and I intend to spread the meme. Please spread the idea if you agree.
The way it works is simple, you find a company that supports the Republican party with campaign donations or has horrid economic or environmental policies and you boycott them. As an example, Bank of America supported the Republican party this year. I have an account with Bank of America and if enough people that have accounts with them also email them and tell them we'll drop our accounts if they don't stop donating, that is when change happens. If they don't listen, we hurt their bottom line.
"I want my country back. We want our country back. I am tired of being divided. I don't want to listen to the fundamentalist preachers anymore. I want America to look like America."
- Howard Dean
brilliant idea:
Hey Blue States - DO YOU WANT REAL CHANGE NOW?
by Karma Mechanic
Wed Nov 3rd, 2004 at 19:05:11 PST
The kind of power that makes the Republicans quake in their boots? What is it the Republicans always say when Democrats propose legislation in Congress in order to curb corporate malfeasance?
LET THE FREE MARKET HANDLE IT! Economics 101 right? If the company is harming the consumer the consumer will find out and withhold business.
Well, how do we find out about it? We can no longer trust the watchdogs. Politicians and the media these days are bought off with corporate money. In the event that something does leak past these two estates corporations have teams of PR agents and media whores ready to be dispatched at a moments notice to do damage control so we busy consumers don't get a grasp on the real issue and move on to the next news cycle.
We could create a well publicized website that lists the most and least progressive corporations in America whom we can reward and punish depending on their support for our ideals. How much money do we unknowingly spend each day supporting big polluters, big Republican donors or companies that use slave labor? Much more than we think. Let's make it more transparent.
It can be a real effective tool of change. If we as Americans want national health care, a living wage, non-partisan media, and environmental regulation the best way to get that is not through legislation but through economic pressure. Face it, no matter what law we pass a corporation is going to figure out how to get around it anyway, but what strikes real fear in all of their black hearts is millions upon millions of consumers boycotting their products and giving them bad publicity. We learned how quickly Sinclair caved to our pressure and that was barely organized. Imagine the full force of 49% of the electorate. Let's get on top of this while we are all still filled with rage. Let's turn this negative energy positive.
We are facing yet another 4 years of a hijacked government where our issues are going to sit on the back burner. We can sit still and hope or we can get creative and fight. I say we fight. Let's vote with our dollars! Let's make every day election day!
There are a lot a great ideas here. The consensus is that we create a searchable database with a sophisticated rating system based on numerous criteria with comments and rating to be added by users. That makes sense because what's important to one person may not be that important to another - the true goal is to make these corporations as transparent as possible and allow quick searches by either company or product.
I agree with most that we should keep this as a positive operation. Revenge against red states might seem like a good idea right now but negative energy will only serve to alienate people in the end.
As far as the name I think we need to keep it as simple and as short as possible considering we want it to be easy to remember and more importantly - easy to type. How about just "Buyblue.org".
We need to move to phase two. I do not have the web skills to create this on my own. If some of the people who have been the most vocal on the board can email me we can escalate the discussion further. I notice there are a couple of people who are willing to donate their time and skills to this project. I welcome any and all participants who feel they have something to offer. Email me at buyblue@gmail.com
UPDATE FROM RAVEN:
When I first wrote about Buying America Blue last week I wondered if it was an idea that would ever make it out of our minds and into the real world. I thought it might be one of those things where that everyone gets fired up about, we all agree it should be done and then we go our separate ways.
Well, that hasn't happened. A core group of the more vocal people got together and for the the last week and a half we have been making it happen. We've been discussing a wide range of topics, but probably most importantly our focus and purpose. I believe it has been tempered a little bit from the original idea but I believe it is still very powerful. We didn't want to make it about revenge (although that would be easy to do), but instead about positive change with a partisan focus.
I have taken on a big role and I'm really excited to be doing something for once. I don't yet know if we'll be successful, but we have a good group of people I think. After a little over a week of discussion we have quite a few ideas and I volunteered myself to take a stab at a mission statement, so I'll probably be getting around that that this weekend.
We've acquired the domain BuyBlue.org and hopefully we'll have a live site sometime early next year. There is a small blurb out there now (will be expanded later), but if the idea sounds interesting and you'd like to play a part then please do email me.
It also looks like we'll likely be setting up as a non-profit which will be good for me because it'll give me some experience getting that kind of organization started and keeping it running so I'll know what to do when I start my own. I bought a book on the subject tonight, but I haven't really seen anyone giving books on the subject rave or horrible reviews. If anyone knows of any good (or bad) books on non-profits send them my way.
If you also want to read all the fascinating comments to the original posting of this subject on daily kos for more information about what other people are saying about this idea: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/3/22511/6832
Pass it on!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-11-15 02:32 am (UTC)if you need advice, you can use me. I've studied everything from administration to budgeting to risk management to board developement to grantwriting and developement to volunteer management and on and on.
newsome.5@wright.edu
Thanks!
Date: 2004-11-15 03:02 am (UTC)Re: Thanks!
Date: 2004-11-15 03:35 am (UTC)glad this is helping.
::smiles::
it's worth the thrashing I got on one of my communities that I posted on.
Re: Thanks!
Date: 2004-11-15 03:41 am (UTC)What community was that if you don't mind sharing? Just curious what people wre saying. I always like to know what the opposition is thinking so I can beat them ;)
Re: Thanks!
Date: 2004-11-15 03:51 pm (UTC)http://www.livejournal.com/community/womens_studies/132302.html
http://www.livejournal.com/community/feminist/1451470.html?view=32816334&style=mine#t32816334
http://www.livejournal.com/community/atheism/372999.html?view=5970439#t5970439
Links you may like
Date: 2004-11-15 02:40 am (UTC)http://www.legitgov.org/
http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.asp?cycle=2004http://www.opensecrets.org/overview/topcontribs.asp?cycle=2004
Re: Links you may like
Date: 2004-11-16 03:15 am (UTC)thanks for posting these.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-15 01:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-15 01:38 pm (UTC)CoB
no subject
Date: 2004-11-15 01:39 pm (UTC)