Wednesday, March 09, 2011

A shy person’s sneaky way to do a citizen’s action

Have you been moved by U.S. Uncut‘s citizen’s actions? The group, like its creative British inspiration, vows there is an alternative to cutting worthwhile programs: Make corporate tax avoiders pay.

If you’re like me, you’re not really a group protester, and maybe you’d like to help me try this small solo way to object to Bank of America’s sweet tax deal.

Here’s the idea: Print out this sheet—on both sides of the paper for the best result, so if the slips flip over, the message still can be seen. Keep some with you; fold up a couple sheets and put them in your pocket. When you pass a Bank of America location, tear off a few squares, and drop them on the concrete in front of the bank. Hopefully they’ll blend right in with the pavement, because there’s nothing more delicious than a subtle annoyance. Maybe do it at night for very small thrill.

I always loved the Virlomi character in Orson Scott Card’s Ender series (well, until she got power mad, anyway). She’s an older battle school grad who appears in the later books, and starts a phenomenon called “The Great Wall of India,” starting with one little pile of stones that she claims she saw people in other villages making. Pile-making catches on and the little piles become giant obstructions, hindering the Chinese invasion of her country.

I think this idea must be a blend of Virlomi’s protest and a prank I played on my ex and my dad on major birthdays: thousands of even teenier paper slips that said “40” and “75” respectively, sprinkled absolutely everywhere and still being discovered years later.