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Stories, Humor, Cleverness & General Goodwill

[From: Peter Cresswell]

I was telling a socialist friend about the WalkForCapitalism (I confess - I have socialist friends) and he exclaimed: "Walk! Capitalists should drive!"

He has a very good point. And capitalists should not drive just anything. Accordingly, I am making plans to include a Lamborghini Countach and a Dodge Viper on our walk in Auckland. At the very least they'll enable us to make a quick getaway. :-)

[Prodos: Here is a progress report from Mary Lou Gutscher who's on the Toronto team.

Progress reports from all cities are very welcome. They provide helpful information and inspiration. Please send PLANET any progress reports you have. Eg: Obtaining permits, printing flyers, advertisements, part of your plan completed, the path of your Walk, plans for Capitalism Day party, etc.]

[From: Mary Lou Gutscher]

OTHER ORGANIZATIONS' E-MAIL LISTS
We have several organizations who pass on announcements of meetings to their e-mail lists.

This week, we had a volunteer show up as a result of one of those notices, who has lots of experience working with the Ontario Taxpayers Coalition, which had been formed to defeat the Socialist government here in Ontario (it worked!).

Ted is now helping to set up our promotion materials and organize volunteers to put up and hand out posters, and to knock on business doors to get sponsorship for t-shirts, hats, buttons - the visible things that people can wear now, at the Walk and beyond!

CALL IN TO TALK SHOWS
On Tuesday, during the Anti-Poverty demonstration here in Toronto, someone as yet unknown, called in to a radio talk show and mentioned the Walk for Capitalism and the web address.

TWO NEW VOLUNTEERS just showed up at last night's organizing meeting, and we now have a team putting together all the promotion materials (we'll fly them by you first, Prodos).

[Prodos: Thanks. I look forward to it :-) ]

We're all pretty excited with the success of our efforts so far. The energy levels are visibly higher now.

Big hugs and thanks for starting this beautiful beast that's taken on a life of its own, Prodos.

[Prodos: Wait until you see what's planned for after D2. The best is yet to come ;-) ]

Just an fyi for the group, I read this on one of the anti-globalization mailing lists that I subscribe to. The response is from a local DC anarcho-authoritarian.

I think it has been mentioned before, but when time comes near, perhaps late November, we should post the w4c press
releases on all the Indy Media sites.

Though these are mostly used for posting protest information, they have a free speech policy, so this will be a good way to
test out how true they are to their alleged belief in free speech.

Cheers, [Name witheld]

[Prodos: We have a few anti capitalists on PLANET. And they have a few of our people on THEIR lists keeping an eye on things. Thank you to our infiltrators for forwarding juicy notes to me. If you'd like to have a go at infiltrating any of the anti capitalist lists and keeping me informed, please let me know. But I warn you, they're a nauseating and dumb mob. I've tried it myself but don't have the stomach for the incessant muck they generate.

Please note: I generally do NOT forward this sort of stuff to PLANET. This is a once-off just to give you a tiny and *very*
lightweight sample.]

>From: xxxxx <xxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: stoptheWTO@topica.com
>To: stoptheWTO@topica.com
>Subject: Re: Fwd: [mobglob-discuss] OMYGOD - the end is nigh!
>Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 23:41:53 -0400
>
>Graeme Bacque wrote:
> >
> > I thought this was a gag - until I visited the website.
> >
> > Truth is definitely stranger than fiction.
> > Graeme

> > Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 16:11:48 -0700
> > To: mobglob-discuss@lists.tao.ca
> > From: "xxxxx" <xxxxxxxx>
> > Subject: [mobglob-discuss] OMYGOD - the end is nigh!
> >
> > Hate to sound melodramatic but that was my first impression upon
> > seeing:
> >
> > http://www.walkforcapitalism.org/vancouver/index.html
> >

>
>I don't understand why activists find this website so fascinating or
>threatening. If anything, you have to laugh at whoever is seriously
>organizing these protests.
>
>The majority of the people around the world are not going to "walk" for
> capitalism. If anything, as soon as they shed their capitalist chains,
>they walk for the nearest exit.
>
>Let's walk for the bosses!
>
>xxxxx
>Infoshop.org

[From: Robert Groezinger, Bath, UK, Coordinator http://WalkForCapitalism.ORG/bath]

Last Thursday, the Bath WFC group convened for the first time. There were 4 people present, and at the moment there are 3 to 4 more people who are more or less interested but were unable to attend this time. We agreed that we would have two events in the run up to D2. As a first event, we would try to find someone in the international logistics business to give a talk about worldwide benefits of global trade from a practicle viewpoint. The second event would be a talk about the philosophy of freedom and capitalism (it will probably be me holding it.)

We also discussed where to go and what to celebrate on the Walk in Bath. McDonalds is a "must". "Sainsbury's" ( a big supermarket- chain), another (foreign dish) restaurant, an old tram station which is being converted into a business centre are on the list. The best idea so far is to tie the blue ribbons round one of the massive pillars of a railway bridge called "Brunel's Bridge" after its erector, Isambard Kigdom Brunel, that arch industial revolutionary of 19th cenury Britain.

It must also be said that the local media are very impresssed with the whole idea. One of the journalists who interviewed me after the meeting thanked me for a "very enlightening" interview, saying something about "great things have small beginnings". The media seem particularly impressed that the whole thing is a worldwide, decentralised movement and that there are already 80+ cities involved, including many outside the "western industrialised" world.

[Prodos: What an inspiring message! I'm sure I speak for all the coordinators and supporters when I express my congratulations to the Bath team. Marvellous work my friend!]

[From: Peter Jaworski, Kingston, Ontario]

Well, I suppose it's time I put in a word or two on the progress here in K-town, Canada.

Things seem awfully good. Our first executive meeting will be held tomorrow and our team seems very excited.

I've made those double-blue ribbons for people to pin on their lapels, bags, shirts, whatever. This is a good tool to let people know that you plan on walking, and it elicits a lot of questions (what's that for?...)

Big breakthroughs have been getting the Queen's University (my school) campus Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance groups to officially support the walk. That means I get access to a list of people 200-some-odd strong.

Last years student government hopefuls (two out of three) are also supporting this event, and they are both wonderful people (i.e. they do their work, and seem eager to spread the word).

There you are. Progress is being made.

Y'all kick ass!

Off the couch and onto the streets!

Meneer Jansen has done some fine tuning on his screen saver design. I've replaced the earlier version with Meneer's latest version @ http://www.WalkForCapitalism.ORG/screensaverbymeneerjansen.html

Please pass this on to your friends, colleagues, bulletin and discussion lists.

Also, thanks for all the great - and hilarious - feedback. Moderator's Rodolphe Lebrun and Fredrik K R Norman have
forwarded your messages to me directly rather than send them through to the list (These guys are ruthless! What sort of monsters have I created!? :-) )

Thanks.

From: Prodos

Replying off-list to an enquiry about whether his WalkForCapitalism screen saver can be made available for Macintosh, Meneer Jansen has written to me:

> The Screen saver I sent you was made in Flash (as a movie) and then
> converted into a screensaver using the FlashForge programm.
> I'm sure something similar exists for the Macintosh, but I do not
> have it AND I don't have a Mac myself to run it on...
>
> Should you (or any of your supporters for that matter) have a
> programm like that, I'll be happy to sent you the 'raw' Flash
> movie so they can convert it into a screensaver themselves.
>
> Nice to hear the saver is appreciated, of course!

You can write directly to Meneer Jansen @ walkFORcapitalism@meneerjansen.com

Again, thanks very much to Meneer Jansen for his excellent work and helpfulness.

[From: Rob Coats, Perth, Oz]

An email to inform and enlighten other organisers of the progress being made in the most isolated capital city in the world, beloved Perth, West Australia.

Firstly I would like to thank Rosemary Gately for her Designs (tri-folding .pdf's) for the Bernstein declaration, and also a handout. Perth has used both of these for its handouts. The Business card idea has gained acceptance here also [...].

In regards to the permits topic that has been bought up recently, Georg and myself have recently had an interview with a Sgt. from the "public events section" and the "Technical Officer" from the Perth City Council. The major reason for this is because on December 2, there is a "victims of crime" meeting in Perth, as well as the 'Cirque de Soleil (rough translation: The Soleil Circus). Also, the walk route we originally applied for followed a major ambulance and fire route and we were advised to alter (in reality it was only a slight modification) to our walk route (we have done so).

Some of the things bought to our attention I will say here to advise you of the types of issues that you may not be aware of (I indeed, hadn't thought of it till the meeting). It seems the police were overly concerned about "counter-protests", saying that there have been numerous "anti-capitalist" marches since September, 11. They have made nuisances of themselves at congregations ranging from a Public Workers strike to a Gay Pride procession. I am sure things like this might be dependant on the type of city you live in and the number of "anti-capitalists" residing there. One thing directly relating from the number of left-wingers in our city was relating to the blue ribbon. A suggestion put forward from the "technical officer" (and one both Georg and Myself are warming to) is to approach the recipients (or winners) of blue ribbons on the Friday or such and give them the blue ribbon then, saying what the ribbon is for and if they are willing to hang it on their shop front. The police officer was concerned that the act of hanging the ribbon up by one of the marchers will create the ideal opportunity for the "left-wingers' to stir up trouble. One of the central ideas of the Perth walk is "product differentiation". One of the main reasons we will be working closely with he police and have taken advice on reducing opportunities for clashes to eventuate between ourselves and left-wing counter-protestors. The police officer was quite open about the fact he expected plenty of opposition to our parade.With the differentiation in mind, and from what future discussions with police and security personnel yield I will post any ideas on "harm minimisation" so that others may share in this knowledge.

Other questions there were: Numbers, route, literature (and the size of the paper the literature would be on), time spent in congregation, end times and start times. A point made was that when a permit is granted the time listed is the time that we must set out. Talk about coordinating bus services, taxi information, intersection light editing, courier awareness etc.. all taking place so they all know that there will be a procession (and its size) and the time it will take, and the amount of disruption (if any) it should cause.

Two weeks before the day our team will be walking the route approaching all businesses along said route and informing the businesses of what will be happening. At this time we will be giving the business owners some literature (bernstein etc..) about the walk, and (if they would like to support the walk) how they can do that. At present we are rolling with the idea to have businesses put up the Page one of Rosemary Gately's Tri-folder. Nothing is finalised yet, and anything we do do, will be posted to Planet (and run by Prodos :)

That is all I can think of at the moment, and are the main issues and events concerning planning that is going on here in Perth. If other coordinators could post some of their issues and problems (and successes), it would be appreciated... so we don't have SO many surprises... :)

It's been a while since I've written to the list, so I thought I'd let you all in on what's happening in the great city of Louisville. The first major thing is that I've updated and cleaned up Louisville's website; you can check it out at www.bluegrass.net/~hax0r. (Note to any other city coordinators, their webmasters, and the members of the CapitalismWebmasters team: Feel free to use as much of my site design as is appropriate for you. Email me with specific questions/suggestions.)

I've also pretty well solidified the specific plans for D2. You can read all about them on my News page. [...]

I'd also like to send a message to any city coordinators who feel overwhelmed, or like they can't possibly come through with this thing. I know exactly how you feel. A couple of weeks ago, I was debating whether I should try to find someone else to take over my responsibilities. I had just started a new job, family problems were taking up most of my free time, and I hadn't reached any of my goals for the Walk. I sat down, made a new, improved list of goals, and budgeted my time like I budget my money. (Okay, I'm actually MUCH tighter with time than money.) There is a lot of work involved, but we have all the best minds in the world on hand to help. :-)

Lastly, I have a question for my fellow coordinators. Have any of you finalized the wording of your ribbon-tying ceremonies? I'm working on a short, simple speech which I'll send to everyone as soon as I'm finished, but I wonder what sort of things the rest of you will be saying.

The permit should be on its way - we already asked for it and should have a meeting with police officers this week.

The media releases have given some results: 4 newspapers in Belgium have published a very small article about the walk. And I've been interviewed this morning by the pro-capitalist editor-in-chief of a financial magazine :)

As for the walk we are trying to get a couple of "bonuses": we will try to have some kind of after-walk or party in a café in Brussels where, hopefully, there will be a stand from a bookshop where walkers will be able to buy or order books on freedom/capitalism/free-market/... We are also trying to get so-called "mini-enterprises" (i.e. businesses run by students as part of their studies) to manufacture and sell D2-related goods like T-shirts, mugs, mouse pads,... after the walk in that café.

The walk will start at the World Trade Center of Brussels (yes, there is a 130 meters high WTC in Brussels ;) ) and end at the "Palais de Justice". We chose those two places because they represent Prosperity and Justice, two important principles of capitalism.

It's been an incredibly busy, yet exhilarating past two weeks for us here in Seattle, trying to play catch-up to Toronto, Hong Kong, and many other cities. We've been very productive.

I compiled a local media email alias list that's well over a page long, and sent out our first press release Friday 11/2. This was rewarded almost immediately with a request for a radio interview with Prodos, and queries from a couple of TV stations.

I also compiled a recruiting email list equally long, and sent out an official notice for that on Monday 11/5. For the month of November we'll be holding planning meetings nearly weekly, and more so in the days just before D2 of course.

Our local website is being developed by Tom Boes, and the prototype looks mighty sharp. Tom has also been busy working up flyers and graphics.

I secured permits on Friday to walk and rally in the heart of Seattle's downtown commercial district, opposite the Westlake Center, where much of the rioting and looting occurred during the anti-WTO protests here two years ago. During the holidays it's also the focus of considerable shopping activity, which we intend to "capitalise" on :D

Unfortunately, the lion's share of the park where we will hold the rally will be taken up with a holiday carousel and a midsection of trees, which will obscure us from public view from the Westlake Center. We may be able to ameliorate that somewhat however, by deploying some of us near the Center to direct people's attention toward the rally. We'll festoon the whole area with DBRs of course.

There's also a Border's bookstore and other prominent businesses immediately adjoining us. I shall hit up Border's with the idea of having a stand where they can hawk books by Rand, Mises et al; I shall also remind them of what their competitors Barnes & Noble (or is it the other way around?) are doing with their ARI-sponsored promotion of Rand's books ;-)

Mary Bachmann is coordinating our Capitalism Award, which we intend to give to Bill Gates (who else?!) She has contacted Microsoft in that regard, and is waiting for the request to wend its way thru the pipeline. Hopefully we'll at least get a Microsoft official to accept the award on Bill's behalf. Mary is also setting up an online store to sell W4C merchandise like t-shirts etc.

On Thursday 11/8, three of us, armed with trifold brochures, cards, and sign showed up at a "United We Stand" rally at the University of Washington. This was put on by the College Republicans, who were most cordial and interested in our effort. There is also a conservative/libertarian group at the UW which may be very supportive. We passed out ~80 brochures and provoked much spirited dicussion, both positive and negative. The latter was due principally to the leftist counterdemonstration being held on the other side of the square. We concluded with a grand promenade thru the university commercial district, provoking more discussion.

We staged our own counterdemonstration on Friday 11/9, when Bruce Bracken and I showed up at a "Global Justice/Global Peace Coalition" rally and march. There were at least a couple hundred people in attendance, trying to recreate the momentum of the original anti-WTO march. I've never seen a more motley collection of people, and they weren't smiling. We were, however, and handed out ~40 of our brochures, and had several discussions. The biggest reward was just seeing the look of bemusement on the leftists' faces upon seeing our unabashedly PRO-capitalist slogans and literature. It just blew their little minds.

The most amusing part came when the rally's organisers asked us if we wanted to "present our side" on the podium. We of course declined, since that would confer a respectability on the proceedings that would be wholly undeserved. However we did ask them about staging a debate in a neutral forum at a later date. We'll see if anything comes of that.

> > > >We have a time! We have a place! We have a starting point! We have a > >finishing point! We have Andy Bernstein!

So do we in Auckland - but we don't have Andy Bernstein. But we hope to have some surprises!!

We are kicking off at noon on Sunday December 2nd at QEII Square at the foot of Queen St, then proceeding along either Customs or Quay St to the Viaduct Basin, honouring various businesses along the way such as Starbucks, McD's, outdoor pubs and cafes, Microsoft - and also including any Americas Cup yachting teams who are there in December.

Site for the end of the Walk isn't finalised yet, but might be either Victoria Park (good open air summer afternoon venue) or Victoria Park Market (Sunday afternoon, full of people engaged in capitalist activity - trading and shopping)

Afters to celebrate the day's activities at a bar nearby - perhaps the Cheshire Cat.

We're still looking for nominations for deserving recipients of the awards for capitalist excellence, and as Sheryl says:

> > > >Please contact me if you can/want to help in the following areas: > > > >obtaining double blue ribbons > >advertising and promoting the walk > >obtaining literature for and manning the stand > >devising and producing banners and signs for the day > >renting/buying PA system > >producing T-shirts > >

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO FORWARD THIS TO ANYONE WHO SHOULD BE WITH US. SEE YOU THERE!!

Yes! After a long period of hermit-like withdrawal from society due to sixth form exams, D2Hamilton2k1 is back online. Just posting a message to let all NZ and Hamiltonian Capitalismophites know!

On a more desparate note if you are a New Zealander or NZ Hamiltonian interested in helping the campaign please send me a message at dpphatness@hotmail.com , right now I'm looking for a good spokesperson (hint, hint...)!

Anyway it's good to be back and I'm looking forward to a good D2! Keep up the good work, I've been looking at the archive and it's very impressive!

We're doing well here in Vancouver. Solid support from the Fraser Institute and Canadian Alliance membership. Good volunteers are coming in to help with the publicity and coordination of the event. I am finding this is a good chance to meet interesting people who are more than happy to walk.

E-mail canvas of identified supporters followed up with a phone call to each e-mail sent will happen next week. The major media outlets in our city have been notified. Good progress, all is well.

The [Albany, NY] Times Union carried this "Article" in today's paper.
On the bottom of the BUSINESS section in a box called THE BUZZ was the following:

Not to be outdone by left-wing protesters, capitalists have planned their own marches in cities around the world. From Saratoga Springs to San Francisco and from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Lagos, Nigeria, people have joined the Internet movement (www.walkforcapitalism.org) and are planning the walks Dec. 2. Organizers think capitalism has gotten a bum rap. It's about individual freedoms, they say. But Rosemary Gately--coordinator for the Saratoga Springs walk, proud capitalist and Braille translator--said she doesn't know how many locally will heed the call. "If there are only five people at it, its still a start," she said, "We want to make this an annual event."

> I have been told by the bureaucrats that to have any event on public > property, we will have to purchase liability insurance

When we did the Elian demonstrations the coordinator in Boston had the same or similar problem. She eventually had to hire an attorney. The city was wrong.

I've very pleased that many coordinator have written to me and asked for help. I've been going through each request one by one. I've phoned several coordinators already, written to several more and, guess what? Together, we solved every single problem they had!

If you are one of the coordinators I've talked with and have found my suggestions helpful. Perhaps you'd like to send a note to PLANET and tell everyone.

Why? Because I want every coordinator to have no qualms about contacting me. The thing is that, because I'm corresponding off-list with coordinators every day I have a pretty good idea of the sorts of problems and worries many coordinators are experiencing.

Everyone thinks they're the only one with that problem. But so far I haven't heard a single, unique, surprising problem.

"We can't choose a Capitalism Award nomination. There's no one in this city we can think of."

"I've had a personal crisis and don't know if I now have the time to organise a Walk."

"There's a very suspect organisation that has said they'll be joining our Walk."

"A journalist wants to talk with me, but I've never done that sort of thing before."

"I don't want to admit it, but to tell you the truth I feel completely overwhelmed by this project."

And many, many more like these. Are any of the above familiar? I'll bet they are!

By the way, if you're problem is that you've written to me and I haven't replied, sorry. My email program is giving me a lot of problems. And then the quantity of daily correspondence is so large, that I do miss the occasional message. Please don't worry. Just resend your message. Thanks.

My number one goal in life at the moment is to see that you're happy, that you're not worrying needlessly, that you know you've got my full, 100% support.

--- "d-dmiller@shaw.ca" <d-dmiller@shaw.ca> wrote: > Anyway, I know that I will have fellow walkers (if > only my darling wife) > but I WOULD WALK ALONE...A IS A...LET'S WALK!

Yes...here in El Paso, Texas (end of the John Galt Line!) I might be walking with only my wife and son, but we'll walk! ---And no, I'm not worrying about permits....:-)

Tomorrow thousands of individuals all around the world will walk *for* capitalism. In 117 cities in 35 countries on all 5 continents, individuals will proudly uphold all the principles that until now have allowed mankind to evolve to its current state: individual rights, creativity, freedom, rule of law,...

For the past century, those principles have daily been attacked by all kind of anti-life activists. Tomorrow we will mark the beginning of the end of their reign.

Tomorrow, we shall lay the foundations of a capitalist society based on the principles envisioned by America's Founding Fathers and by Europe's Enlightment philosophers. Those same principles that have been exported to unknown countries that are now named Australia, New Zealand,...

Tomorrow, we will show the whole world that these magnificient and life-giving principles shall not be crushed, silenced nor destroyed.

The Founding Fathers were only a few... yet they gave birth to one of the greatest country in Mankind's history: the United States of America. The Enlightment philosophers were only a few: yet they gave birth to generations of freedom-loving individuals all over the world.

Tomorrow, we will be only a few... yet we will give birth to a whole new generation of individuals upholding the values and virtues of capitalism.

Tomorrow... shall be a whole new day in mankind's history. A day that will not be forgotten for it will be the milestone of a new kind of activists, a new kind of society: it shall mark the birth of a society envisioned 2 centuries ago by the Enlightment philosophers and the Founding Fathers: a capitalist society.

How about each city in the walk take pictures, if possible, and then have a post event showing on line ? It would be really great!

D2 is coming. Tomorrow Tirana will WalkForCapitalism, together with more than 100 cities of the world. It will be a great party, though a few people. The double-blue ribbons are ready to hang in some shops and places, though we had difficulties in finding the right width for the ribbons. The walk will be a short one, as most people don't like street demonstrations. But we will go for it. Still not sure if the press will publish anything on this activity. We are waiting for the award to be given to Mr Zef Preci, one of the leaders of the ideas of free market and private property in Albania.

Thank you, Prodos, for your precious help. Many thanks to Mary Loo, Hubert and all the city coordinators for their ideas and opinions.