OTHER IDEAS

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OTHER IDEAS

[From: Robert Groezinger, Bath, UK, Coordinator]

It is possible that lots of the American friends of WFC are planning
something around Thanksgiving Day to highlight their D2 events.
Now over here in Europe, Thanksgiving Day is, for obvious reasons,
no big deal.

But, at least in Britain and Germany, and maybe in some other
European countries, there are, in November, Days of
Remembrance.

On November 11th each year, Britain remembers
the people who died in the two World Wars. (That day, in the year
1918, marked the end of World War One, formally known as "The
War to End All Wars"...). In Germany, it is always the 5th last
Sunday before Christmas, so this year it will be November 25th.
These are usually fairly solemn events and should in my opinion be
treated accordingly.

Notwithstanding the solemness of these events, those days offer
an opportunity to present the case for capitalism (in an appropriate
way).

One could mention how one British minister (I'll have to
research the name) remarked on the eve of WW I: "The lights are
going out all over Europe, and we will not see them light up again in
our lifetime".

One could point out that WW I was a logical
consequence of too much state intervention into the economies by
envious members of the old royal ruling classes, which had brought
the first era of globalisation (also known as the "Industrial
Revolution") to a grinding halt.

One could point out further how
Nazism is in truth just a variation of Socialism. And lastly, one
could say how, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the lights in Europe
AND in the whole world lit up again in a second phase of
globalisation, bringing with it unprecedented growth worldwide, less
pollution (yes, LESS pollution), the Emerging Economies,
affordable PCs, Mobiles, Notebooks, Palmtops, MP3-Players, the
Internet and Viagra (Well, ok, that last item might not be
appropriate on the day...).

And today, stifling state regulation and
taxation, anti-capitalists and terrorists are doing all they can to
bring new darkness over the world.

On D2, we will uphold the torch
of freedom to ensure that the world will stay an "enlightened" place,
not only in our lifetime, but in the lifetimes of all that come after us.

Or words to that effect.

[From: Jorge Vazquez]

I think a great flag to carry at the walk would be the American Revolutionary
Flag. Its a coiled, segmented snake under which reads "don't thread on us."
Not only is it a symbol of the spirit of the founding of America, but it
sends a message to the anti-capitalist and the governments of the world "dont
thread on us."

[Prodos - Clarification of policy: This flag, along with the American
flag (see PLANET message #246), and other American Revolution symbols,
is acceptable.

Please note: These particular symbols *may* be used. However, the
decision regarding whether or not to use them on any particular D2
event is at the discretion of each Coordinator.]

[From: Warren Stewart, Perth]

Just a quick message suggesting maybe T-shirts and/or pamphlets with
"Capitalism World Tour December 2, 2001"
on the front and all the cities on the back. [snip]

[Prodos: Approved. Other design ideas are welcome. But please
run them by me before production. Please also always include
"WalkForCapitalism.ORG" in your designs or else
"CapitalismWorldwide.ORG" Also, please send me the graphics
so it can get added to our website. Thanks.]

These are the 89 cities so far, (come on over 100) going from East To
West moving with the sun, starting at the International Dateline.

Hamilton Auckland Wellington Whangeri Christchurch Brisbane
Sydney Canberra Melbourne Adelaide Seoul Perth HongKong Dhaka
Delhi Moscow Bucharest Thessalonika Belgrade Budapest
Stockholm Brno Vaxjo Prague Berlin Lund Copenhagen Goteburg
Munich Oslo Milan Stuttgart Dorsten Bergen Amsterdam Brussels
Lagos Paris Valencia London Southampton Manchester Bath
BuenosAires Caracas Boston Burlington Montreal SaratogaSprings
NewYork Binghamton Syracuse Kingston Westminster Washington
Amherst Toronto Miami Cocoa Stratford Orlando Detroit SanJose
Dayton Atlanta Louisville Indianapolis Montgomery Chicago
StLouis Houston Austin Denver Tucson SaltLake Edmonton
LasVegas Spokane LosAngeles CarsonCity Sacramento SiliconValley
Seattle SanFrancisco Portland Olympia Vancouver Victoria
Honolulu

I also have the cities in order with the longitudes next to the city.

[Question:] What city is being used as the main one in SiliconValley as
I need the exact co-ordinates.

Thanks and buy
Do you want affluence or effluence??

From: Prodos

Q: "May I use my National flag on the Walk?"

Reply:

Of course. I consider a pro capitalist nationalism
rational and positive and consistent with our position statement.

For instance, I am very proud to be an Australian.
I love my country. True, it has become a bit of a Welfare State
over the years. But that's temporary. As long as I am free
to conduct something like a "WalkForCapitalism" in my
country, I am hopeful of victory, and appreciate the
freedom I have.

If, in your country, nationalism has been hi-jacked by
protectionists and other ratbags, it might be wise to also
include a placard or banner saying something like:

"Freedom and Prosperity for [Australia]!" or

"[Australia] Walks FOR Capitalism!" or

"More CAPITALISM! More LIBERTY for [Australia] or

"Celebrating [Australia's] Producers and Creators!" or

"[Australia] and the World Celebrate Capitalism (or Free Trade or
whatever)!" or

"Let's make [Australia] a symbol of Capitalism! Free Trade! Free minds!"

"[Australia] walks with Ayn Rand, Adam Smith, Frederic Bastiat (etc)!"
(Please only use the authorised list of WalkForCapitalism thinkers)

That sort of thing. I'm sure you can come up with
something better than the above.

It might also be useful to create a flyer explaining
why YOUR country needs MORE Capitalism and
that you are inviting your fellow citizens to join
the worldwide Capitalism Day celebrations. (Please run flyers,
slogans, etc. by me. Also, please make them available
to others. Thanks.)

If you are in a country where "Nationalism" is
associated with protectionism, tribalism, isolationism, etc.
It's important to make it very clear that you are
NOT in that camp. That's a very important point.

If you have the opportunity to speak to the media
you may like to explain early on in the interview
how unfortunate - even tragic - it is that love and
respect for your country has been hi-jacked by
certain anti capitalism, anti freedom & prosperity
movements. And explain the glory - the unleashed
prosperity and creativity - that awaits your
country when it embraces Capitalist Principles:
respect of individual rights, private property, etc.

From: Prodos

Dan Sullivan wrote:
> Proceeding here in St. Louis, little by little. Making contacts, jotting
> down ideas about where and how to do the Walk, putting together a Press
> Release, compiling a list of possible Capitalism Award nominees, etc.

Nice work!

> One idea I had is to conclude the Walk with a taped lecture on a local
> college campus (if we could arrange a classroom, with the help of a local
> student) ... off the top of my head, I thought of George Reisman's old
(but
> still timely as ever) "Capitalism: The Cure for Racism," or maybe Nort
> Buechner's tape about terrorism & capitalism (as antitheses, of course)
...
> [...] Anyway, how does something like that sound?

Thanks for checking.
It would be preferable to use tapes or readings of works by or about one of
the
"authorised" thinkers:

John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson (and the Founding Fathers),
Frederic Bastiat, Ludwig Von Mises, Ayn Rand

Please write to me off-list to discuss variations: prodos@prodos.com
Thanks.

[Moderators, Rodolphe & Fredrik: Please snip mentions of thinkers other
than the above list and refer them to me privately so that I can deal with
them off-list. Thanks gentlemen.]

> Regarding your call for Webmasters ... I need help too! I was just looking
> through the great webpage Rosemary Gately of Saratoga Springs set up ...
> Wow! It's so neat and professional looking, great info and artwork. I
haven't
> the slightest idea how to go from my present BLANK page to ANYTHING, much
> less something like that.
>
> If there's somebody involved who could help, please let me know ...
Thanks!!

I'll send this request to our super duper CapitalismWebmasters team :-)

[CapitalismWebmasters: If you reply off-list to Dan's request, please send
me
a note or CC me so that I can have it on record. Thanks for your
assistance.]

[From: Robert Groezinger, Bath, UK, Coordinator]

We here in Bath feel that we ought to let the proprietors of the
places we want to appreciate with the double blue ribbons know
what we're doing beforehand.

One of the more persistant questions [from] the media has been:

"Where do you want to go, who do you want to honour?" and I've
been declining to tell them yet. For one thing, the list we have at
present is bound to change. The more important point though is
that we feel it is a matter of courtesy to ask the proprietor's
permission first before letting them know through the newspaper. It
is a matter of politeness we feel is part of the British culture.

[Prodos: Good point.]

I have incorporated the recent "Capitalism Award" template to give
the recipients a fuller picture of what we're doing and to give them a
good reason to answer!

And we will be notifying the media of this move as well.

Here is the final version of the letter to the proprietors in Bath:

[Prodos: Approved.]

--

Dear Sir/Madam,

Walk for Capitalism – in Bath

On Sunday, 2 December 2001, the first ever global Walk For
Capitalism will take place. Scheduled for 100 cities worldwide, over
90 cities including Bath have so far signed up.

The Bath "Walk" is open to any person who supports free market
capitalism and free trade. This includes business people,
employees, teachers and students, actors, poets and anyone else
who understands the importance of individual rights.

During the Walk, certain places, buildings or businesses which we
consider exemplary for the merits of free trade, enterprise and capitalism
in Bath will be highlighted and appreciated by us TYING A DOUBLE
BLUE RIBBON ONTO OR NEAR THEM.

With this letter, I am asking you in the name of Walk for Capitalism Bath
for permission to appreciate the good work you are doing for the
community and to allow us on Capitalism Day to tie a double blue ribbon
onto your property.

Capitalism Award – in Bath

We will also present the first ever Bath "ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL
CAPITALISM AWARD" to recognize the person in Bath who has done
the most to defend and promote the principles of capitalism and/or who,
by his or her example, most gloriously embodies the spirit of capitalism.

The CAPITALISM AWARD will be presented each year on
"CAPITALISM DAY" - the first Sunday of December. Nominations for
the Capitalism Award may come from business, science, art, education,
politics, invention, or any other field of creative, productive, human
endeavour. The inaugural award will take the form of a certificate,
provided by The Prodos Institute.

To send in your nominations for the Capitalism Award please use the
form set up @ http://prodos.com/bulletin/capitalismaward.html
Or go to http://WalkForCapitalism.ORG.
You may nominate someone in your own city or in any other city.

For more information on the Bath Walk For Capitalism, please email me at
r.groezinger@gmx.de or visit the website www.walkforcapitalism.org/bath.

Yours truly

Robert Groezinger
Co-ordinator,
WalkforCapitalism.org/bath

[From: Barun Mitra]

How about flags of countries where the W4C is taking place, and with the
names of cities written on the flag? For instance the Indian flag with
Delhi and Mumbai.

[Prodos: Anyone who wants to do something like this is most
welcome. Also a placard or flyer that mentions one's own city and then
lists ALL the other participating cities OR a sample, indicating
the enormous range of cities participating is very welcome.]

That way all cities if they like could adopt the same strategy, and give
the walk in every city an international flavour.

[Prodos: Thanks, but I leave it to the discretion of each
coordinator to decide such things. Participants will have
noticed that, at every turn, I seek to have the LEAST centralised
policy possible - i.e. to impose as FEW rules and requirements as
possible - and the MOST decentralised/individualised variations.
I even encourage variations.

The reason for this is simple: Whoever controls administrative procedures
in a campaign ends up controlling the campaign. In order to make
it impossible for such "power plays" - even if done innocently -
I make it my job, at every opportunity, to dissipate and divert
almost every manifestation of centralised or standardised procedures.

For instance, you'll notice that I have deliberately NOT created
a standardised "WalkForCapitalism" logo or poster or flyer.
That may seem like a trivial thing. But it's not.

Whenever someone designs something I feel is consistent with
our position statement I make it available to ALL participants.

I know this has the disadvantage of some inconvenience and
some degree of dissipation - and even a sense of uncertainty.

But this is FAR outweighed by two factors:

1. It makes it *impossible* for any individual or any group to take over
the campaign (including me). I have seen many movements and groups
which have been brought down or else stagnated because they
have centralised and standardised their systems. Even the choice
of placing the emphasis on gathering CITIES rather than countries
or states helps to keep power as dissipated as possible.

2. It leaves room for many surprises, creative solutions, and
individual variations which are far better than HQ (me) could
ever have thought of.

Let me give you a wonderful example of this. Our Saratoga Springs
coordinator, Rosemary Gately (who's probably blushing at being
singled out) came up with some children's activities to
offer her city on D2. Now Rosemary is working with me on a
subsidiary campaign called "KidsForCapitalism" where we will
develop a set of recreational and educational material to
help children better understand the principles of free trade,
rights, and other principles of Capitalism. Don't you agree
that this is a delightful idea?!

Of course, this is probably all just a rationalisation for the
well established fact that I'm actually quite terrible at
"administrative" functions and procedures. ;-) ]

[From: Neil Lock]

May I suggest an alternative "flag for capitalism"? Plain, unadorned, pure
gold on one side and pure silver on the other.

That would make the point of what capitalism is about (creating wealth) as
well as being clearly independent of any particular country or currency.

Cheers,

[From: Dan Sullivan]

It's always been one of my all-time favorite American Flags and the message
has never been more appropriate, since the Revolution, than it is now!

BUT ... to be historically correct, the wording is "DON'T TREAD ON ME." :)

"Us" is certainly implied, but it also brings it down to the individual
level.

Best regards,

For others who may be interested, here are some ideas I've been developing for our St Louis Walk.

I sent them to Prodos for feedback and for everybody's information, have pasted his replies at the bottom.

I hope my ideas and/or Prodos' thoughts will be helpful to other city coordinators ...

[Re: A previous question of mine, about playing a taped lecture by an Objectivist economist after the Walk] ... PRODOS HAD REPLIED: It would be preferable to use tapes or readings of works by or about one of the "authorised" thinkers: > John Locke, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson (and the Founding Fathers), > Frederic Bastiat, Ludwig Von Mises, Ayn Rand

MY ANSWER: No problem ... I'm sure I have a good AR tape or 2 regarding capitalism in the "archives," if we do end up wanting to use a taped lecture.

[... The part of the message deleted here is included in Prodos' reply anyway :)]

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ PRODOS' REPLY TO THE ABOVE:

> > No problem ... I'm sure I have a good AR tape or 2 regarding capitalism in > the "archives," if we do end up wanting to use a taped lecture.

Speaking of Ayn Rand, it occurs to me that there are also the movies: The Fountainhead, and We The Living, which might be worth considering. The only problem is that the copyright holders often impose strict restrictions on anything that might be considered a "public viewing/screening"

> It would have to be really TERRIBLE!! to keep us from bundling up & > doing our Walk, hanging ribbons on doorways, etc.

> Plus I plan to try to have > a little ceremony (I picture it as on the sidewalk in front of their > business) & present the Certificate Award to the Capitalism winner.

Good point. I've been meaning to say something about some sort of mini ceremony at each of the Double Blue Ribbon (DBR) stops. If you come up with some sort of brief wording perhaps you could let me know about it - other coordinators may appreciate borrowing it.

Maybe a one-third A4 flyer of the wording could be included with each DBR? Maybe it could be stapled or pinned to the DBRs?

We could put such a flyer online as a PDF file for printing out and you would, of course, be noted as the author.

> BUT it might be cold, rainy, blustery winds, etc. to the extent that we > all can't wait to get inside ... so I've been trying to plan outdoors, with > indoor contingency plans ... or at least ending up indoors, to warm up.

Too bad you're not in Melbourne - lots of cute girls in their Summer outfits, etc. What a shame ;-)

> One plan would be to adjourn to (ideally by ending the Walk at) a bar or > restaurant ... actually, my so-far top nominee for the award owns & runs a > great restaurant/bar (+ numerous other businesses) where we might end the > Walk, present the Award, then further award him by partaking of food & drink

> Another plan is to end the Walk on the campus of Washington University > (my alma mater) which is the most highly respected college in the region... > it is generally a "modeled after Ivy League" university, spewing liberal > economics, socialist politics, Kantian & skeptic philosophy, etc. ... BUT it > has a graduate division of the Economics Dept., called the Center For the > Study of American Business, which is actually pro-capitalist ... well, not > consistently so, but for a major university, pretty good (probably worth a > double-blue-ribbon).

> I've thought of approaching them to ask for nominations for the local > Capitalist Award ...

> plus to see if any prof. is interested enough to get us > a classroom to use as the ending point of the Walk. That would provide us > with a venue for running a taped lacture.

> If I knew more about the profs there, I could even ask them to present a > live 30 min talk on Capitalism ... trouble with that is, I don't know how > consistent they'd be ... even though we could follow it with a Q/A where I & > other local Objectivists could make sure the right ideas are brought out & > discussed, it would be going out on a limb.

You could give them a copy of the Bernstein Declaration and/or The Money Speech. That should flush them out. Anyway, they don't have to be totally consistent.

Thanks. Your thinking is spot on and enjoyed reading it. Perhaps you'd like to send the above - either in full or edited as you wish - to PLANET?

My overall thought is, plan the alternative that YOU personally would most enjoy. You're the coordinator. You've been working hard. Make it a Great Day for Dan.

Since about a month we have a great, sponsored, site of our own on the domain www.wfc.st. It works as an information umbrella for all four cities of Sweden planning the walk. The site is in Swedish, so I guess you will not understand anything... Sorry about that.

In Stockholm we're focusing on getting sponsors to rent loudspeakers and other equipment necessary for the meeting following the walk. Also, trying to get famous and humorous speakers is high up on the agenda. It is, however, quite difficult to commit people to speaking at the walk, since capitalism is a no-no in Sweden, and it is supposedly very cold on December 2nd. If we're counting on Murphy's law, there will be a blizzard... ;)

Every Thursday we're arranging a meeting in a pub in the Old Town of Stockholm. This usually is kind of pointless, but it makes people think their important, and they can see with their own eyes that there is something really happening.

Most of my time, except for trying to reach sponsors, is dedicated to promoting the event to the market segments we believe are most likely to support and take part in the walk. Lots of e-mails have been sent to party offices and officials among the conservative parties. We've actually got conservative youth organizations to arrange bus trips to Stockholm to take part in the walk! Pretty cool.

Since getting sponsors is quite hard if we cannot offer anything in return (we're not even a formal organization!), we're now trying a new approach. There is, of course, a banner on the website, but we're now trying to "sell" placards to companies, organizations and persons. One placard is 100 SEK (i.e. approx. 10 USD), for which they will get their name on one placard. Hopefully this will help us collect enough money for us not to go bankrupt.

We also have a mailing list with the latest information. About 50 people are subscribing to the list, helping us in formulating letters etc.

One big thing is promoting the walk to organizations that have many members (but not necessarily lots of money). We've formed an informal network among classical liberal, libertarian, and conservative organizations, using their "promotion apparatus" to the spread word.

There is a continuous struggle to get articles published in the media. It is almost impossible, except maybe for leftist newspapers that would really like to see us hung. We have, however, managed to get an interview in State Radio (which was cut to focus on animal sex in some weird way...), and I had an article published today on sourze.se (a webbed newspaper "by and for" their readers).

As you can see, there is a lot happening in this godforsaken country. I hope we will manage to get this thing going--and make it big. As of now the interest within libertarian/conservative organizations is rather good. We estimate the number of people taking part in this event will be > 200 (which is pretty good, but not even close to the leftist riots in Gothenburg this summer...).

Symbols are important. Maybe a pair of clasped hands (the deal handshake) signifying quality (equals shake hands as a greeting), fair deal (they have finished talking and came to a fair deal), honesty (shake on it), friendship, and togetherness, and peace (that is why the next statement) Make them both right hands. [...] Green (symbolizing growth), Red (representing courage), white (representing truth) and blue (representing virtue) are good colours. So four diagonal areas, with each colour representing one of the virtues with the shaking hands in front. [...]