The Worcester folks who hear all my stuff may recall a poem (from Mano Poderosa)called “Eileen is Burning,” about a long suffering, artistically stifled suburban woman who at last figures out a way toward a bit of freedom.
Think of this as a prequel, or perhaps I’m turning her into a multipart poem.
1. Overt/confrontation.
Direct action. journalism — response articles, public argument, opinion pieces, etc, that are designed to help recast the debate from (Christian)Morality/Conservatism vs. Secular Humanism/”Liberalism” to one of restriction vs. equitable treatment, intolerance vs. tolerance, etc.
Direct action, cultural — lend artistic voices to benefits and protests. Consider that written/spoken media may be less powerful these days than visual/interactive, and look for opportunities to go multimedia where possible.
Boycotts of businesses that discriminate against oppressed populations and/or support conservative/oppressive social policies.
What else?
2. Covert/Subversion.
Specific ideas: the sign thing from my earlier post.
Bumper stickers/T-shirts that flip the script:
“LEFT WING PATRIOT”
“CULTURAL WARRIOR”
“MEAN RELIGION SUCKS”
“NOT MY PRESIDENT — OR ANYONE ELSE’S”
Street teams for infiltrating neighborhoods, etc. with contrary opinions. (Not sure what this looks like — just seems to bea method that might be useful.)
Try to avoid large scale demonstrations. I think they’ve lost their effectiveness.
PUT FACES ON ISSUES IN THE NEWS. Reduce abstractions, make stuff personal.
Take back our language from the Right. Speak of patriotism, morality, etc. as we talk of our own positions.
Fly the flag AND leftist iconography. Stop being afraid to claim our citizenship.
Avoid demonizing/stereotyping Christians as a group. Attack and relentlessly pursue behaviors, not people.
MORE!!!!! What do YOU got?
Long day.
Seems like I didn’t miss a whole lot, looking back over the day’s entries.
The high point of my day was finally, decidedly, settling in to a confirmed 30-lb. weight loss (by which I mean the average fluctuations for the last week or so have been within a pound or two of a point 30 lbs off of my peak weight, which I was at when I started watching my carbs).
It is a measure, I think, of how overweight I am that people keep saying, “You’ve lost some weight, haven’t you?” and are then genuinely surprised when I tell them how much I’ve lost. It’s really not so noticeable yet. I can tell, of course.
I didn’t start out trying to lose weight. I started this because my meds manager suggested that I might be less groggy and lethargic from all those lovely drugs if I tried reducing my carb intake. It worked. The weight loss has been a welcome side effect.
Now if I could just find the right hair care products and win the culture war, I’d be happy.
Long day.
Seems like I didn’t miss a whole lot, looking back over the day’s entries.
The high point of my day was finally, decidedly, settling in to a confirmed 30-lb. weight loss (by which I mean the average fluctuations for the last week or so have been within a pound or two of a point 30 lbs off of my peak weight, which I was at when I started watching my carbs).
It is a measure, I think, of how overweight I am that people keep saying, “You’ve lost some weight, haven’t you?” and are then genuinely surprised when I tell them how much I’ve lost. It’s really not so noticeable yet. I can tell, of course.
I didn’t start out trying to lose weight. I started this because my meds manager suggested that I might be less groggy and lethargic from all those lovely drugs if I tried reducing my carb intake. It worked. The weight loss has been a welcome side effect.
Now if I could just find the right hair care products and win the culture war, I’d be happy.
Dark Matter 