I recently logged onto my Facebook account (not on purpose, of course), and had the supreme displeasure of receiving the following message from about eight of my buddies:
The following is a message that was sent to me that not only is worth thinking about……but please also think about this……….
Snap! I will be thinking about this message TWICE! So many periods after the sentence! So much tension being built! I am about to explode!
While our troops lack armor for their bodies and vehicles to fight a war in Iraq, the president……..who is already president and doesn’t NEED to have Inaugural Balls, is spending $40 MILLION dollars to throw parties. This is the ultimate insult to our troops in Iraq or any country. Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is "Not One Damn Dime Day" in America. There’s no rally to attend. No marching to do. No left or right wing agenda to rant about. On "Not One Damn Dime Day" you take action by doing nothing. You open your mouth by keeping your wallet closed. Not one damn dime for anything for 24 hours.
Oh yeah, hey this totally works. You spend one day not buying anything, and thinking "Man, I am really sticking it to The Man by not buying this candy bar from my local 7-11." It’s a good thing that the kid working behind the counter happens to also shape U.S. foreign policy. He is secretly a clerk by day, and international relations superhero by night.
The object is simple: Remind the people in power that they work for the people of the United States of America, not for the international corporations and K Street lobbyists who represent the corporations and funnel cash into American politics."Not One Damn Dime Day" is about supporting the troops.
…by sitting around on your ass all day.
The politicians put the troops in harm’s way. Now 1,200 brave young Americans and (some estimate) 100,000 Iraqis have died. The politicians owe our troops a plan — a way to come home. On "Not One Damn Dime Day" those who oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms of consumer spending. During "Not One Damn Dime Day" please don’t spend money. Not one damn dime for gasoline. Not one damn dime for necessities or for impulse purchases. Please share this email with as many people as possible.
Man.
First off, the last time I checked, sitting around and doing nothing is perhaps the least effective (not to mention wimpiest) way of facilitating change. I mean, at least with armed rebellion or uprisings, you get awesome footage of riot officers beating people up and pumping tear gas into crowds or experimenting with awesome new methods of crowd control (like maybe that gun that shoots out webbing like Spiderman, except Spiderman doesn’t usually web up criminals and then, while they’re webbed up, beat them mercilessly with blood-soaked stick and shout at them to stop resisting arrest. But he should). With peaceful sit-ins, you at least have the potential of some guy acting up and getting a roundhouse kick to the back of the head for his trouble. But sitting around at home and not buying anything? Booorrring.
Not One Damn Dime Day is supposed to be about supporting the troops. Here’s a brilliant idea I came up with while I was flossing – instead of supporting our troops by prancing around and not spending money for an entire twenty-four hours (that is an entire day!), why not support our troops by actually supporting them. Why not actually send some money over via a military charity? That way, you will actually be doing something concrete and worthwhile, rather than sitting around and hoping that your glorious inaction will eventually cause W to say, "Aw man, I guess we better pull out of Iraq now!" You and your buddies would than be all like "Oh man! High fives! Now we can buy Slurpees again!"
To me, this sort of "slacktivism" is the height of idiocy. All this effort is spent getting people to do nothing in the hope that it’ll cause massive upheaval and change. It didn’t work when you didn’t buy gasoline for a day. Remember that one? Gas didn’t suddenly drop when they tried doing that. If doing nothing can’t even get gas prices to drop, how does doing nothing get the United States armed forces to suddenly pull out of the Middle East? The only thing Not One Damn Dime Day would accomplish is a massive feeling of self-righteousness among its participants. It’s the business owners and employees who are suffering. I can guarantee you that the government does not feel a thing.
So look, here’s a list of military charities you could send money to. Don’t participate in this rampant masturbatory form of protest, and do something worthwhile with your money.
http://www.afas.org/ – The Air Force Aid Society
http://www.aerhq.org/ – The Army Emergency Relief
http://www.nmcrs.org/ – Navy/Marine Corps Relief Society
http://www.specialops.org/ – Special Operations Warrior Foundation
While you’re in a donating mood, you probably should donate to the tsunami victims. I’d link here, but every damn website on the internet is linking to those charities.
For more on why Not One Damn Dime Day is stupid: http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/not1dime.asp
-f.w.
I present for your viewing approval, the first half of the India Travelog! YAY FINALLY.
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First half of India Travelog coming soon!
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