Tips for the 99%

As previously discussed, I support the Occupy Wall Street movement. But as much as we need changes to the political system, there are many things we can do to help bring about the goals of the 99% that don't require a corporately-supported politician to do anything. Here are some suggestions:

-Boycott the bad guys.

-Buy local and buy small. Mom and Pop's shop doesn't put them in the 1%. If you don't want CEOs to make 500 times what their employees make, don't buy from big companies. If a privately-owned company, such as Koch Industries, won't tell you what their executives/owners make, don't buy from them. Same thing for environmental protections, providing health insurance to their employees, or whatever else is important to you.

-Ignore political ads. The only reason political donations matter is that people allow biased (i.e., sponsored) media to influence their vote. If the 99% ignored ads, Karl Rove and the Koch Brothers could spend all the money they wanted and it wouldn't make much difference in the outcome of elections, so then politicians wouldn't feel like they owed their rich sponsors anything. Other forms of electioneering (voter canvassing, mailers, etc.) would still have a role, but these aren't nearly as effective or expensive as TV ads.

-Ignore ads in general. While you're at it, ignore all ads. If a company's big enough to buy an ad on a national network, it's probably big enough to hideously overpay its management.

We have more money than them. We have more votes than them. They can only maintain the current system by keeping us from using our power. Political protest is one way to fight back, but it's not the most direct or the most effective.