Let's boycott

Swami would be in favor of boycotts if the boycott crowd chose targets that really do need to be changed. Like lousy previews in movies.

There are rules to boycotts. Some are successful. Notice how few people you see wearing real fur coats.
Some are not successful. Despite pious zealots who wanted it stopped, there still are gay people who go to Disney World. (Ever notice how much theology is centered below the belt buckle?)

Boycotts don’t have to stop the evil targeted behavior. Just denting it will work, too. For commercial enterprises, all you need to do is negatively effect sales by 5 to 10 percent and the offending CEO will be forced to fall on a sword. In Japan, this is more literally true.

We think this is what should happen to American CEOs. Let’s hear it for public executions.

The other fact to keep in mind: The big companies that actually do the majority of evil empireness have dozens of corporate tendrils.

You might boycott a movie maker for racy scenes, but the company’s cookie manufacturing subsidiary might employ Keebler elves. Who wants to hurt elves?

Likewise, supporters of President Bush may wish to boycott gasoline from Citgo because Citgo is a wholly owned offshoot of the Venezuelan government and its populist (read Commie Pinko Sandinista leader) Hugo Chavez who dislikes Bush about as much as Democrats in Congress do. We expect to see Chavez posing with Barba Streisand any day now.

On the other hand, you might think that Chavez is only doing what you would do if you owned a country filled with oil wells.