Since he wrote the book, Perkins formed a foundation in an attempt to do more than just write about the problem. Has reading the book motivated you to do something in reaction? either in countering or profiting from the alleged "American Imperialism" and its corporatocracy?
Any ideas on how to 'take the power back'?
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I think the fact that this book hasn't led to any significant change in my life has left me feeling frustrated. I'm sort of left with this question mark...so what do I do? Do I stop shopping at Target? I'd really love to hear your guys' input on this...
It made me think about what I do for sure. I would have liked to see some examples of how specific actions we take affect the "corporotacracy"; the examples he gave us followed to their logical conclusion would be interesting, because when it comes down to it I feel like my personal actions, while they make me feel better about myself, don't amount to much. Larger changes in policies and regulations would have a much bigger impact, and I feel like I should get myself informed enough to have a strong, grounded opinion of what those policies should be, and then work (through letter writing, conversations, voting, volunteering, etc.) to have them implemented. More than anything, this book made me feel the need to be more informed and aware of what is happening in the world, and specifically, what role myself and the representatives I elected are playing in current events.
Here are my ideas about what we could do (I DON'T do all these . . . they are just ideas):
--Support groups that empower indigenous people and their cultures so that they aren't taken advantage of
--Support local, small businesses who keep employment and money locally
--Support non-profit organizations because they are supposed to have "public trust" meaning they are supposed to be relatively impartial and for the public-good as opposed to corporatocracy
--Make yourself aware of what is really going on (I don't think this is a problem for people in this group) by listening to/reading/watching unbiased news
--Be aware that when you buy something cheap, it is probably made by a poor person in a foreign country. Look at the tags of your clothes! Buying American-made products is usually a good way to avoid this.
--Support international micro-enterprise so that people in foreign countries have better options than to work for multi-national sweatshops
--Reduce your carbon footprint. A lot of the corporations he talked about were big oil companies
--Buy less stuff in general (I really need to remember this one)
Those are great ideas. I find it very difficult to turn my idealistic attitude into actions. One thing that has helped me to begin the change is the last point you made Blair - buy less stuff.
If you all haven't seen it yet, I would recommend The Story of Stuff(21 min.). You can see it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLBE5QAYXp8
This is a hard one. I like Blair's suggestions. This is one of the things I hope to also start figuring out in law school, especially since I want to focus on international law and human rights. I will not become a tool for the man.
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