I wonder, as I'm sure many have: if a people's uprising can take down brutally repressive rulers in the Middle East, what the hell can't we affect real change here?. We can make incredible progress and it wouldn't even require violence:
- We have a society in which communications channels, while, limited, are near infinite compared to those in other countries
- We have a government that, while oppressive to the left, is a loving aunt compared to those in other countries
- We have a seriously discontented population that needs an organized left to turn to.
If we can make ourselves demonstrably useful to the disaffected, we can make change.
For example, here are some suggestions as to how we could help labor:
- Set up an online information clearinghouse of companies that have both bad labor records and dangerous products (Like Buy Blue used to do).
- Add the names of competitors to these companies that are have good record in both areas.
- Circulate online petitions which show the numbers of people willing to boycott the former and promote the latter.
- Combine this with publicity generating proxy votes in the shareholders' meeting of the offending companies. In the 1970's, Saul Alinsky worked with an amazing and effective tactic for confrontic corporate power. He worked to get concerned citizens to assign their shareholder's proxy votes to organizers who then would demand votes on issues at annual meetings with the force of those votes behind them. These actions were not expected to change policy directly, because a few powerful sharholders would hold a majority of vote, but the resulting disruption and publicity was able to force change.
This can still work. The simple proof? Right wingers like Proof that this Andrew Briebart are scared of it. (I've diaried about this at Daily Kos here)
Grab them by the wallet, and their hearts and minds will follow. Bad press for the offenders and encouragement for the fair companies can act as real incentive for change, as companies move to market to progressive consumers.
Other opportunities to drive companies nuts are endless and easy, but require adapting to the individual circumstance. Again, Alinsky offers good guidance when he suggests that actions be:
- Within the law (because the opposition has to break the rules in order to fight you)
- Fun to do (get more people involved)
- Easy to do
Take boycotts. They are a useful tool if the majority are already with you. However, if the majority are indifferent, there are other ways to get a company to fear for it's bottom line. Alinsky suggested a number of ways to disrupt via actual purchases, which I'll adapt here:
Say you've got a really repulsive oil company (if that's not redundant). And say they are caught doing something awful (unlikely, I know, but just say).
You could organize a boycott of their products, and it might be successful. Reverend Jesse Jackson was able to scare the hell out of Exxon when some of their more racist communications were made public.
However, the boycott will only get those people who agree with you already engaged. How about this: don't boycott. but start a public campaign of going to every Exxon/Shell/whatever station you see and buying only one dollars' worth of gas?
You'll create lines, and even stockholders of the company will go to the competition to make their $20-$50 purchases.
Similar efforts could work at any retail chain.
Guerrilla theater can also be effective, if it will sell ads in the news. I remember seeing an anti-smoking ad from the Truth campaign in which body bags were unloaded in front of a tobacco company's headquarters. I don't know if it was real guerrilla theater, but it seems that anything like that, provided it had compelling visuals would get on to the evening news, because news audiences want to be entertained.
These are just a few thoughts, and I hope that we can start a conversation on both:
Driving the opposition nuts enough that they have to make changes out of sheer embarrassment
and, just as important,
Making ourselves into a dependable source of help to those who need it.