[Edit: Changed title from "Fun Math..." to BUSH SUX..."]
Do you want to know why the National Strike for Truth and Peace on December 7 will be happening in a BIG way? It is because of two related factors:
- The pure unmitigated power of the focussed collective human soul
- The exponential function f(x)=a^x
Failure to understand the exponential function is the reason we have six billion people straining this beautiful planet's capacity to support us. It is the reason we are running out of oil.
On the positive side, the exponential function is the reason the General Strike for Truth and Peace will involve at least 100 million people around the globe and will change the course of history.
Regarding 1): It's a subject for another diary, a book, actually. Everything boils down to intention+action. The Bush Cabal understands this, and this is why they have been so tremendously successful. But I'll diary on that subject another time. Right now, I'm more interested in 2).
Most people think in linear terms, totally failing to realize that most events on the macro scale don't happen in straight lines. They happen in curves, exponential curves. Population growth is the the simplest example to wrap your head around. The growth in computer processing power is another. Critical mass and the fissile nuclear reaction is yet another more esoteric example.
The exponential curve starts off with a very slight rise. Let's say you have one dollar. Every day you double the amount of money you have. After two days, you think, "Damn, I only have two dollars." After a week, however, you have $2^6 or $128. After 30 days you have $2^29 or $536,870,912 . Wall Street can only dream about those kinds of returns.
So what does this have to do with the General Strike for Truth and Peace? Today, two days into the effort, I guess about 100 people know about the effort. Let's say that each of those people manages to tell ten people in the next three days and that everyone who hears about it tells ten people every three days. How many folks will at least know about it 32 days from now?
Let me just get out my envelope and sketch it out for you on the back.
By this Sunday, 1,000 people will know about it (I am absolutely confident of this number because I will be handing out fliers at the NYC Marathon on Sunday.) There will be at least 1,000 people from various countries who will know about the action as of Sunday, three days from now. If each of those people tells ten people, by next Wednesday, 10,000 people will know. By next Friday, 100,000. By next Sunday, November 13, two weeks before the event, 1,000,000 people will at least know about the action. by Wednesday, November 16, 10,000,000 people will know. By Friday, November 19, 100,000,000 people will know. By Sunday, November 22, one billion people around the world will know about this action. Gee, you think we're generating a little excitement by that point?
Now, let's just for the sake of argument say that by the day of the event pretty much everybody knows about it. How fucking hard is it to call in sick one day? Let's say ten percent of people actually still have the 'nads to follow through (admittedly, that might be a little ambitious) and that there are 150,000,000 workers and students in the U.S. That gives us a participation rate of 15 million.
So tell ten people. It's on, December 7 we halt one day of business as usual. Seems slow now, but tell ten people. And get ready to feel the power of the most powerful civil disobedience this country has ever seen -- and you can do it without breaking the law and from the safety and comfort of your own home!
[Edit: Add]
Related diaries:
Anglico's diary today on the subject, complete with a flier to print out and hand out.
Anglico's diary from yesterday.
Also be sure to check out my other diaries on it.
And a shout-out to the student walkout organized by The World Can't Wait for inspiration... (BTW, students and teachers... well, I can't advocate truancy by minors, but university students, please, WALK THE HELL OUT OF CLASS on December 7.