slogans

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
>>To reach at least some segments of the public, we have to do a lot 
>>of _local_ activist work _before and after_ going to the demo.  We 
>>can't expect that the coverage of the demo in the corporate media 
>>will be positive, even with the most innocuous slogans.
>
>Who said anything about the media? This is New York City, where 
>there are, on any randomly chosen street corner, thousands of 
>passers by. There aren't many places in this de-urbanized country 
>where you can address so many people just by gathering on a corner. 
>So if people walking through midtown - bankers, secretaries, 
>messengers - see a group of people saying "burn your fucking banks!" 
>they will certainly be alarmed. They won't have to wait for the 11 
>o'clock news.
>
>Doug

The slogan you mention -- "Capitalism?  No Thanks!  We'll burn your 
fucking banks!" -- never resonated with me (and I imagine I'm to the 
left of 99.99% of Americans as far as endorsement of civil 
disobedience for a left cause and the like are concerned), so I think 
it didn't resonate with most passersby in _Seattle_ and other 
locations in the USA either.  I figure that the slogan sounded cute 
to some, because it was clear that those who were saying it _never 
really meant it_.  It was just radical posturing.  Perhaps, the 
movement needs slogans that participants actually intend to put into 
practice (and not just in the WEF protest in NYC).
-- 
Yoshie

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