“If I were to name the one crying evil of American life … it would be the indifference of the better people to public affairs … The indifference of the People is the opportunity of the despot. It is as true as that the whole is greater than the part, and the maxim is so old that it is trite - it is laughable. It is neglected and disused for the sake of some new ingenious and complicated theory, some wonderful scheme of reorganization, the fact remains, nevertheless, simple, fundamental, everlasting. The People have but to say 'No' and not the strongest tyranny, political, religious, or financial, that was ever organized, could survive one week."
--- Frank Norris
While we may seem powerless to intercede in the seemingly endless reach of industrial and political titans such as Koch Industries, history does in fact show us the way. Frank Norris knew this when he published "The Octopus", and Teddy Roosevelt got it when he went after that same Octopus. Our version is more of a Kraken - bigger, stronger, and more hidden.
So what do we do? We can choose to lob verbal mobs by being armchair revolutionaries
We no doubt all know someone - hell I've been that guy - who bemoans the corruption and wholesale destruction of the middle class by this or that bill or action of some less then benevolent government official and dutifully dispatches a letter to the editor, etc. and then moves on to the next windmill-tilted battle. For my part, I choose to ask my neighbors, friends, complete strangers on the BART train, the grocer, the bartender, and everyone I meet two things:
Have you heard about what is going in Wisconsin?
Do you know who is behind it?
This allows for a very pointed conversation about Koch Industries and the extent of the company’s corporate reach. It’s quite simple really. If people are in sympathy with the plight of the workers in Wisconsin, and want to be supportive they can begin right at the corner store: by boycotting Koch Brothers products.
You may feel it will do little to their bottom line – after all they purchased Georgia Pacific outright for $21 billion – but the pressure of boycotts allowed for a ratcheting up of pubic education and pressure on the regime in South Africa to the extent that even corporate giants in the USA in the last 2 years of the Apartheid years were forced to disinvest their investments in that country.
This is a long struggle, that will require patience, persistence and education of your neighbors, friends, complete strangers on the BART train, the grocer, the bartender, and everyone you meet. The best way to insure the Koch brothers and their fellow travelers on the corporate gravy train win is to kvetch about the state of things, whine about endemic corruption, and do nothing at all.
I refuse.
Here is a starting list, feel free to add your own Koch Industries products to the list. Start today. No more money for Koch Industries (sourced from Georgia Pacific website, Invista website, Koch Industries website, clips, and web sweeps) :
Koch Industries Holdings
All Georgia Pacific products
Consumer paper, pulp, plastic products
Dixe®
Brawny®
Angel Soft®
Mardi Gras®
Quilted Northern®
Vanity Fair®
Zee®
Sparkle®
Kant Leek®
AccuWipe®
PerfecTouch®
SmartStock®
EasyNap®
Insulair®
Soft-n-Gentle®
Spectrum® office and printing papers
GP® office and printing papers
Lumber and Building
Fiberstrong® Rim Board
GP Lam® LVL
Wood I Beam™ Joists
Broadspan® Engineered Wood Products
FireDefender® Banded Cores
FireDefender® FS
FireDefender® Mineral Core
DensArmor Plus® Interior Panels
DensDeck® Roof Boards
DensGlass® Sheathing
DensGlass® Shaftliner
DensGuard® Tile Backer
DensShield® Tile Backer
ToughRock® Gypsum Board
HeartWood™ Pen Mats
Blue Ribbon® OSB Rated Sheathing
Blue Ribbon® Sub-floor
DryGuard® Enhanced OSB
DryMax™ High-Performance OSB
Nautilus® Wall Sheathing
Thermostat® OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Plytanium® Plywood
DryPly® Plywood
Ply-Bead® Panels
Plywood Sturd-I-Floor® Sub-floor
Thermostat® Plywood Radiant Barrier Sheathing
Hushboard® Sound Deadening Board
Chemicals and Resins
GP® 1976
GP® 4445
GP® 577/677
Resi-Mix® GP 5100
Resi-Mix® GP 540/840
GP® 130C90
Resi-Stran® GP 143C54
Resi-Stran® GP 161C85
Woodweld® GP 145C30
Woodweld® GP 145C79
Resi-Mix® GP 5185
Resi-Bond® GP 2378
Resi-Bond® GP 99C28
GP® 3411
GP® 401W51
GP® 670CUB
Resorsabond® GP 4214/4552
Resorsabond® GP 4221/4520
Resorsabond® GP 4242/4553
Resorsabond® GP 7210/7310
Fiber products
Stainmaster®
Lycra®
Coolmax®
Cordura®
Antron®
Comforel®
Dacron®
SolarMax®
Tactel®
Thermolite®
and:
Matador Pro Shop hunting gear . . . seriously.
Start today, don’t buy products with these fabrics in them, use building products made by Gerogia Pacific, or put out Dixie® cups at your kid’s birthday party.
We can make a difference, but we have to start in our own kitchen.
Updated by RvgAqs at Mon Feb 28, 2011, 03:56:59 PM
n.b. This diary is intended as an expansion of the list contained in the "Walker Contributor Boycott" published earlier this morning.