Make Something Happen

Howard Zinn was recently interviewed on the English-language version of Al Jazeera. He pointed out that when he lived in the South for 7 years before the civil rights movement, things seemed hopeless even though change was bubbling under the surface. He went on to point out that America traditionally sees change when people are organized, action-oriented, and willing to work together. A little civil disobedience doesn’t hurt, either.

Oops! According to the Consumerist, while the Senate considers whether or not to OK this giant bailout, the House has passed a credit card holder’s Bill of Rights and it will likely go overlooked.

SUGGESTED ACTION

The only way something like this is going to get seen is if a stink is made by the people. A credit card holders Bill of Rights should be appealing to all credit card holders. An excellent way to draw attention to it would be to organize a group of NYC-based protesters who are in favor of the passing of the bill, wait for an appropriate number to join (while pushing for potential participants to sign on by reaching out to them through various social networks, message boards, email lists, etc.), and to bring the action down to the filming of The Today Show with signs, etc. that on one side read “Hi Mom - from Jenny-Lynn in Kentucky” or whatever, and then on the back read, “Pass the CCH Bill of Rights NOW.” As a collective, pose as a series of unrelated spectator families and then while in front of the window, or while the wacky morning host comes out and asks questions about where y’all are from, show your signs.

According to NME, Weezer is working on a new album.

SUGGESTED ACTION

No. Please? Really? Another one? Isn’t there something that we can do about this? Nostalgia very much keeps the Blue Album and Pinkerton alive and even the Green Album is fine now that enough time has passed. But another one? Perhaps we can convince their record label that they don’t need to release this. Fans who want to preserve Weezer in a good light can suggest to the record label that they promise to buy another album on the label if the label promises to shelve this new album. Thoughts? Is it possible?

A Current reader asks, “Ron Paul, the next Nader?” They ask if his influence and endorsement of third party candidates will push folks on the Left to vote for someone other than Obama.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Those who advocate for Paul could start setting up campaigns that bring together supporters for house parties in favor of those candidates he supports. Those who do not advocate for his influence in this way could set up adverse campaigns, which aim to inform Paul supporters why a vote for Obama will ultimately help to set into motion Paul’s vision.

I was just thinking about yesterday’s post about Jay of Ryan Is Hungry. He had written to me in an email, “I wish more people would learn to grow their own food, even on the smallest scale.” There’s definitely an actionable item in his wish.

SUGGESTED ACTION

It would be interesting to get together a collection of people interested in just this to put together a wiki-primer that covers how to get started with growing their own food, and put together some money for care-packages that include seeds and other necessary starting-points for a person who wants to learn how to grow their own food. They can then distribute these care packages and direct the recipients to the online primer, while also making themselves available to answer any questions that come up about the home-growing endeavor.

This blog suggests that atheists are discriminated against more than other religious groups in this country.

SUGGESTED ACTION

I’ve thought about this subject here and there, and I have wondered why this discrimination exists myself. I’ve always wondered if there were more civic-organizations for atheists, if there would be more acceptance. A popular argument, mentioned in the lined post, is that conservatives say that it was Stalin’s Atheism which helped to put him into his position of power/allowed him to engage in the way he did. The counter argument is, of course, notes the Nazis, which had some root in Christianity. The difference, of course, is that despite the Christian association in the bad there, there are many Christian organizations perceived as good that clearly counterbalance that piece of history in the perception of the average person. Where are the organizations that counterbalance the perception of Atheism and Stalin?

Perhaps atheists will consider forming some sort of civic league to show that there is some form of shared, societal value, be it by starting a campaign to raise money for a local or national issue, or by seeking enough pledged support to start a local or national chapter of a group like Atheists for Increased Civic Participation, or something that advances the image of the atheist of the public eye.

Accordingly to Larry Holland’s blog, oday in Michigan, legislators and family rights advocates are are gathering to show support for a parent’s rights bill. The advocates claim to seek putting “the family as nearly back together as possible by minimizing the conflict between parents post-divorce, post separation, and post-paternity.”

SUGGESTED ACTION

Since the rally seems as though it’s looking at a pretty good turnout, perhaps this campaign could benefit by raising money through pledged contributions for politicians who support the bill.

The Pocono Record reports that some students in Northeast Pennsylvania recently took their frustrations with their school dress codes to the streets. They protested outside of their school, holding up signs, and pumping their firsts in the air.

SUGGESTED ACTION

A complaint that showed up in the paper more than a week later (in addition to the fact that the word “sucks,” as in photos that appeared in the paper of signs that read “Dress Code Sucks,” is inappropriate), suggested that if dress codes are that big of a problem, then surely more than six of 2,000 students would have shown up to make their voices be heard. In the future, these students should consider protesting once they have an awesome amount of student support. Rather than picking a day to protest and protesting, they could set up a campaign that pledges to protest when 50-100 kids pledge to participate.

I recently spoke with Jay of the fantastic blog Ryan Is Hungry. He very recently shared some of the things that he considers issues close to his heart. They include decentralization of the power grid, a disconnect from the growing process on the part of the consumer, and a lack of civic participation on the local level.

He recently moved to a small town in Virginia where he started a blog about the localization process. He says, “We meet in person once a week, but we are also using the web to make something happen.” In addition to the blog, they also maintain a wiki and a presence on Lefora.

SUGGESTED ACTION

By putting together a campaign that suggests, “If X people pledge Y money, I will harvest a CSA,” a Point campaign might be a great way to figure out if you’ll have enough people to buy into a CSA.

There is an anti anti-Islam presence growing in Germany. They very recently protested against seemingly-familiar voices (er, Nazis) recently in Cologne.

SUGGESTED ACTION

Street-action isn’t the only way that protest has to go down, of course. Perhaps this movement could put together a campaign that gets supporters to chip some money in so that they can hire an official spokesperson, who could talk with newspapers, radio stations, blogs, and go about figuring out press and outreach strategy.