Rolling Boycott — a blueprint for turning public outrage into effective action
Excerpt from “Why Knot?” Buy the book at Amazon
(I’m binging on Newsroom for the third time now. I just got to the episodes about Occupy Wall Street. That reminded me of something I wrote back on Oct. 17, 2014, during democracy protests in Hong Kong, a blueprint for how ordinary citizens, working in unison, can change the world.)
Occupy Wall Street in 2011 and the Hong Kong democracy demonstrations in 2014 each captured the attention of the media and won the sympathy of millions of people, but then fizzled out with no tangible results. They could and should have given their well-wishers ways to help their cause.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Civil Rights movement used boycotts as a way to turn public outrage into effective action. But in the pre-Internet era, that process took decades. We can’t afford to take decades to deal with global warming. And ease of access to the Internet and its social media platforms makes it possible to quickly implement boycotts on a global scale, and to make them rolling boycotts.
Focus on one clearly-stated issue central to the global warming crisis and mobilize not just to get publicity, but to force change.
Pick one well-known company whose practices you believe must be changed.
Declare a worldwide boycott on that company’s products.
If after two weeks that company does not take the action you require, call for a sell-off of that company’s stock and expand the boycott to include one or more of that company’s largest business partners.
If there has been no progress two weeks later, expand the boycott to a second company, with the same pattern of escalation.
Continue adding companies to the boycott until your demand is met.
With that approach, you give your well-wishers a way to help you. That can be far more effective than mass marches or sit-ins or advertising campaigns.
May the Force be with you.
