Corporate Personhood is an odious stench in the nostrils of society.
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I'm probably not saying anything that hasn't been said before or better, but here goes;
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There are three mass movements in the recent past i think we can learn from;
1 The civil rights movement. Main lesson, the great moral power of nonviolence
2 The anti-Vietnam war movement. Main lesson, the huge power of students
3 The Christian Coalition's rise to power-main lesson, the power of the grassroots
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Let's start with
THE POWER OF THE GRASSROOTS
which was also a key factor in the anti-vietnam war movement. Right now, the Corporate media are the propaganda mouthpiece of Big Business, LLC. Not to expect too much access or mention there, but maybe. What that means is face to face, person to person. The media may not report it, but it will still be there changing the world.
One important exception; advertising for a commercial product. If someone were to write a book with the title "How Corporate Personhood is Destroying America and Hurting Your Family", or something similar, that book could be advertised everywhere, since it would be a commercial message, not a political one, and of course that would cost money.
TEACHINS and teaching
Back to the grassroots. The immediate challenge is that most people have never heard of CP, let alone know how it is devastating their lives. In the 60s, there were teach-ins all over the place. That needs to happen now, in a grassroots way, tables in front of Post Offices and stores, flyers on bulletin boards.
Some tactics:
1 the christian coalition got power by running candidates for every small political office in america, school boards, etc. I think that Abolish candidates need to do the same. the point is not to win, but to have the legal right to present one's views as part of the electoral process.
2 I think Abolish people should register as Republicans and run in Republican primaries all over the country. Believe it or not, i think that the average Republican can clearly get the absurdity of the idea that a legal fiction should have the same rights as a flesh and blood human being. It is almost a Republican issue.
3 to this end, i think that the way the case is made needs to be in plain English, not wonkspeak
1 an appeal to the idea above,
2 a ridiculing of the absurdity of how things are and
3 A detailing of unsafe products and how you and your family are suffering harm from the present system.
4 Simple ad slogans; things go better with Coke, If a corporation commits a crime, who do you put in jail? Some simple message should be everywhere people look, bumperstickers, bulletin boards, shirts, local classified ads
There are three basic points to make
1 What CP is
2 How it hurts people
3 the dubious and corrupt way it started in the headnotes
I think the most Christian, truck driving, conservative cowboy will get it, if put in terms he is used to.
see Moral Politics, by George Lakoff, on the importance of framing.
THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDENTS
So much political change in the world is the result of young people. Generally, when people get to their late 20s-early 30s, have a job, credit card debt, maybe married, maybe kids, well, people like that do not usually change the world. Students and young people, idealistic, energetic, social, not so much to lose, they change things. I think that for the Abolish movement to be successful, it must start with students. I was 13 in 1969, and i remember the Vietnam War Moratorium, basically a one day teach in across the country. Students may not have stopped the war, but they sure slowed it down; without the anti war movement, Vietnam might have lasted another 5 years. That means something.
BIG TENT AND ALLIES
Corporate personhood is an issue that, when people understand it, cuts across every divide. We need to have a big tent. I think that this is a natural issue for many conservative people, some of whom leftists generally denigrate. However, if an anti abortion, anti gay, anti immigrant person is anti corporate personhood, i say amen brother, welcome to the fold, because my enemy's enemy is my friend.
As for natural allies-there are tons of environmental and political organizations that deal firsthand witht he toxic effects of corporate personhood every day.
In summary, the total absurdity of Corporate Personhood is so obvious that everyone in America and the world can get it, if the harm resultant is pointed out to them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcx9BJRadfw
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=351072399160
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=440806875385
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