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20030409
Reaction and reiteration
Last night, I wanted to link to a document that I found through Adbusters. The original came from the New York Independent Media Center. It's a .pdf that highlights the 100 or so most notable weapons, training and military research facilities in the country, among other things.
One will of course need Acrobat to view this file.
I had dialed up Adbusters to see what those naughty Canadians were up to these days. Their front page is a sign-up form for "Boycott Brand America." They're rallying people to drop American products as a response to the invasion of Iraq. The logic is bit shaky (but mine can be also):
"Because I am one of the millions of people against the war;
And because the American government has made it clear that it won�t listen to world opinion;
And because the symbols of American power are its corporations and their brands;
I hereby pledge to boycott Brand America, from the moment the war begins and to the best of my ability until the empire learns to listen."
Now I'd say the symbols and tools of American power (or at least force) are its bombs, guns, planes and tanks... so why not direct attention at the companies that manufacture them, and the government's use and sale of the same?
While any large/mega-large corporation has its own interests set far ahead of that of its nation of origin (or its impact on the earth), will boycotting Nike trainers or skipping the Frappuccino bring an end to American military aggression? It'll raise consciousness, create solidarity and put focus on exploitative business practices, sure, but as far as the other... it doesn't really follow.
More attention should be put on the fact that industrial/manufacturing use of water, oil, timber and ore far exceeds use by households. Personal consumption obviously has an effect on resource use and economy, but a refinery, foundry or processing plant can consume more energy and create more pollution than a whole neighborhood. So there needs to be pincer move against demand and (the methods of) supply.
Connect "supply" back to the federal govt's national insecurity stockpiles and research, arms and scientific sales and training (to Iraq, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, The Philippines, Colombia, Nigeria...) and you'll see what companies and practices need to be decried. And how elements of the government, and organizations affiliated with it, are managing to drain the life, substance, security and stability out of people/nations/the planet in an ironic/deluded quest to provide protection and freedom... or to encourage and profit from violence.
An example that came to mind was from when I saw the film No Man's Land last spring. There was a scene in which two Serbian soldiers laid mines throughout a Croat bunker. The sergeant in the depiction held up the most insidiously placed and least defusable mine and joked, "Made in the USA."
Oh, and I wanted to mention TV Turnoff Week, which begins on the 21st.
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