On Wed, 15 Mar 2017 16:57:15 +0000
KatolaZ <katolaz@???> wrote:

> On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 05:44:17PM +0100, Alessandro Selli wrote:
>
> [cut]
>
> >
> > This sounds like telling minorities to stop whining for being
> > discriminated against because they are ... well, a minority, and
> > the place is run by the majority. You are basically saying that
> > only majorities might feel entitled to protest, because only
> > majorities can make a difference. This is plain false.
>
> Nope. This sound like telling minorities to stay on their track and
> forget the majority of savvies and wise, if they (us, the minority)
> think they are on the right track. Protesting against majorities at
> their home usually doesn't bring anything useful to a minority.

I disagree with the word "usually" and would change it to "often", and
then rephrase the sentence as:

Protesting against majorities at their home sometimes brings useful
things to a minority, and if such protests go on often enough and long
enough, they usually do.

More to the point, the list is in no way an alternative to working on
the Devuan project, or any other pro-choice activity. It's just one
more pebble in the box: 30 seconds to email Steve Litt and ask to be
placed on the list. If it doesn't accomplish anything, that's 30
seconds out of your life. If it results in changes, well, you were a
pioneer patriot.

Once upon a time I was a minor league antiwar (Vietnam) activist. I
attended this 400 person meeting where they were arguing back and forth
about what to do and how to do it. I raised my hand, said I was going
to hang antiwar signs in storefronts up and down Devon avenue, and I
needed one or two people to help me. One girl volunteered, we left,
made signs, and by the end of the day, 20% of the stores on Devon
between Sheridan and Clark had signs saying "Stop the war now!"

Did she and I stop the war? Of course not. But for the next few days,
people in the Rogers Park neighborhood saw those signs and figured
"hey, maybe it's not just dirty hippies that don't like the war. And
I'd like to think that even the 80% of the store owners we didn't
convince perhaps had their thinking changed a little bit, and maybe
influenced others (or stopped influencing them in a pro-war stance). As
far as the other 398 people, they did whatever they ended up doing, not
at all inconvenienced by the loss of two people.

Most philosophical/ideological wars, which always have material
consequences, are fought on many fronts in many ways. In my opinion
this multifront attack eventually succeeds.

But anyway, it's low hanging fruit: It costs 30 seconds to do it, and
we already have 10 people on the list.

SteveT

Steve Litt
March 2017 featured book: Troubleshooting: Why Bother?
http://www.troubleshooters.com/twb