Forum Post: How to have a peaceful revolution in a capitalist society
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 23, 2011, 10:45 p.m. EST by WarmItUp
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So you want to have a revolution, but for some reason you keep fighting the man and the man keeps fighting back, it escalates and escalates until you have to become so radical that your movement loses all but the most extreme supporters.
Think about what a truly revolutionary act looks like in a capitalist society?
Step One: Vote with your dollars.
Step Two: Watch the market change.
Step Three: Enjoy your new society.
I am calling for a quiet revolution. Start now. Be a conscious consumer.
Buy all of your holiday presents at one of those neat little local mom and pop shops in your town. Chose items made in your town/state/country. The only thing capitalism will respond to is where you spend your money. If you don't want jobs to go to China simply don't buy Chinese goods. If you don't want multinational corporations lobbying congress, don't spend your money with them. The revolutionary answer you are looking for is so simple and so easy. If we all commit to this idea today change will come when the next market reports come out. Every time you spend a dollar you are voting for everything behind that item you purchased. Every time you deposit a dollar in Bank of America you are voting to support that organization. Chose very wisely how and where you spend your dollars, the same way you chose who you vote for. That is the only thing that ever makes them listen, you don't reason with capitalism, capitalism is an abstract concept not a person. Capitalism only responds to trends in how your money is being spent. Be a revolutionary and support your neighbors by buying localy grown food and locally made products put your money in local banks. Local banks give 90% of the small business loans in your town, big banks don't usually deal in small business loans. Not revolutionary enough for you then google "local currencies". Local currencies are popping up in many towns around the US. Find out if there is one near you. This ensures that your money can never leave your community.
Don't walk into a big box retailer this week. If you truly want to be a revolutionary buy local.
whats so great about being peaceful ?
Just because you are not violent does not mean you are passive. Some very smart people are making change all the time. Doing something as huge as getting corporate influence out of politcs will take a massive uprising of the people, it will require more than 50% of voters to be on board in the event that we actually get a referendum on the ballot to revoke corporate personhood or campaign finance reform where corporations can not donate to campaigns. We need to act in the interest of the people of this country. Yes you are angry, I get it, but that energy would be much better channeled into making real solutions that people can vote on...after all that is what a democracy is about. How is smashing in windows and setting things on fire democratic. You will not out compete the military but if you can get military funding cut now we are talking a real strategy.
Check this shit Out! I want you to speak truth to power!. Say it once, say it twice. Say it loud. Say it proud. I'm down with the KTC. The Revolution starts here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGaRtqrlGy8&feature=related
http://occupywallst.org/forum/make-a-stand-join-the-clan/
The Revolution starts here! No one can silence the Revolution!
Also we could quit using government money. They control us through the fiat money. Jus tthink of the power you could have to create your own money. You could bail out your friends business, you can not bail out the people you don't like, you can cause booms and recessions. You can fund wars, you can manipulate commodity prices, stocks, interest rates and bonds. You can make rich people richer and poor people poorer. You can buy anything you want and buy votes. Is this a power we want in the hands of a private organization like the Federal Reserve which was created in 1913 for the benefit of the bankers. This is the root of our problem. Our best tactic would be to use only barter and sound money.
My town has been using a local currency for many years now and it has forced the businesses you spend at to use that money to pay employees (partially) and spend only locally as no one outside the county will accept the currency.
Fascinating concept. I didn't know that was possible. And the other points you make in this thread are spot on. You're someone who actually understands how we need to go about things. We need a couple million people just like you in this country. Now THAT would be a force to be reckoned with.
That is most excellent. I want to get that started in my community. Thanks for the idea.
I'm not in favour of violent revolution, but the idea that we can consume our way out of this is deluded, although rather typical of the way of thinking that has led us to this point.
It is not about spending more. It is about continuing the trend we are seeing in produce. People are buying local organic food now, it is the fastest growing sector, guess what all the mega food companies are trying to do now.Move into organic. unless you are deluded enough to think you will actually overthrow the concept of capitalism the only two choices you can make are don't buy anything or be socially conscious when you make purchase.
It doesn't have to be about spending more. Yes a niche market is buying local organic food. And the supermarkets and health food chains gleefully cater to it now, after all, it is just another "value added" (ie overpriced) product now, for the well off, middle class consumer. Those on the edge have to buy what they can afford.
Socially conscious consumerism is, I guess, better than socially unconscious consumerism. But how it really plays out in the real world is people just identifying themselves by what they buy. I buy local organic, it makes me a better and more caring person etc ... as if human beings could be defined by what they buy, as if that is the most essential thing about them. Well they'll gladly just sell that as another value-added product, and they do. Won't be long before Wal-Mart has a local organic section, maybe they do already. It's certainly not going to change anything fundamental.
You sound angry and impatient and want change immediately. In a capitalist system it is supply and demand, the price of organic food has been dropping as more producers go that route, when I was buying organic food many years ago you could only get it at specialty stores, if you look at the long view of things the local food movement and organic movement have come a very long way. It has already fundamentally changed the way we view food. If we can get that same momentum with other sectors like local banking and regular locally made products. we won't be so reliant on multinational corporations. I am not well off, or even middle class, bu tI chose to buy slightly more expensive things if I know that product is made in US. We are never going to be the cheapest, nor should we strive to be, we do not want our people making 50 cents a day like in china. I don't care how poor you are if you are educated you can still make a difference, this argument that I am so poor that I can only afford to shop at walmart is not a real argument, prices of walmart have been tested against other stores and they are litaraly only a few cents less on most products. shop smart and help change the system
Angry and impatient? No, not really, I think you're reading more into it than what's there.
In a capitalist system it is supply and demand, the price of organic food has been dropping as more producers go that route, when I was buying organic food many years ago you could only get it at specialty stores
You're right, now you can get it at giant supermarket chains, and the price has gone down. Soon it will be on Wal-Mart shelves, and even cheaper, though still premium relative to other foods. And maybe you do buy all of your food that way and you don't have much money - doesn't mean you can truly afford to.
And I'm not talking about myself. I don't think I've ever even been inside a Wal-Mart. I'm talking about society as a whole, not individual anecdotes. Organic food will be just another consumer choice, another value-added product, another advertising trick (just like so-called "green" products that aren't really "green" at all), and it will mostly be purchased by middle class consumers seeking identity through product choices, seeking a feeling that they are somehow "doing something" when in actual fact they are just doing somewhat less harm. Which is great, but it's not the same thing as a solution and it's not a substitute for one.
I'm not knocking how you spend your money. If you spend it conscientiously, that's great. But don't expect any profound social change to come about from it - that's all I'm saying. It'll do some good, I'm not saying it won't, but ...
You're not buying a revolution; they won't sell you one. I can guarantee you that.
Mom and pop went away a loooong time ago...
No matter what city you live in there is a farmers market. Shop there and you will meet the people who grow your food. You will help cut out the middle man and give your dollars directly to your neighbors who are more likely ot spend those dollars in the community than invest that money in some hedgefund like multinational corporations do
There are these things called oligarchies and monopolies. They are created and supported by governments or they are governments. Have you tried shopping for local government lately? Prices just go up and up.
Just don't buy that big one. Get a little one. Find one near you. This will ensure that you can never leave your community. But your money can. Government only responds to how the 1% spends your money. I had no idea revolution was soooo easy.
I was saddened to learn that only about 10% turn out for non-presidential year local elections. Then I realized that makes it so one vote counts for 10 people in your community, local elections are where you can get some of those grassroots organizers with real ideas for 99% into office. Chose your local officials wisely and most go on to higher offices after the next round of elections. A long term view to consider. Part of the reason we have such out of touch politicians is that we don't vote in local elections, many of those politicians in office started out on a town council, on a board of alderman as a county treasurer. I hope that knowing your vote in local elections has 10 times the voting power will help motivate people to vote in local elections.
Corporations change their practices all the time based on consumer demand, lets have no illusions that we are not partly to blame for not thinking more carefully about what companies we give our money to.
Your dollars are worth the most in voting power this month. Retailers will be paying very close attention to market trends. Send a clear message this week, if you must buy, then buy local
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