I got some interesting ideas after watching The Yes Men.

People seem to know the truth about the WTO, since they weren't shocked or outraged at the speaker (either that, or his spin-speak was so good that it made them believe that what he was saying was positive).

But why, in this system of enslavement an exploitation, do all the individuals in the organizations knowingly do evil, and why do those being exploited allow it to happen?

I think it's because they're not unified. They don't realize how large and powerful they are. They don't see the reality of the situation, which is that the few are stealing from the many.

It reminds me of the story of the chained elephant trick:

• To make sure that circus elephants never run away, the trainers 'recruit' elephants when they're very young and chain them to posts, using chains which the young elephants can't break. Of course, the elephants still try to break the chain when they're first chained up, but to no avail. As these elephants grow, the trainers keep them tethered with the same chains, which the elephants have come to believe they cannot break; not realizing that, as full grown adults, one swift tug on the chain would snap it like a twig.

The public are like chained elephants -- they could, at any moment, crush the ruling class by moving in a different direction, but they're psychologically programmed not to.

TODO:

• start a blog on harmless.ca that talks about these issues
  • make it a fun site! put lots of happy community-inspiring things on it
• fair-use media company

  • harmless.ca would be a good name

  • magnatune licensing scheme, applied to movies and music

  • make it compatible with current licensing structure, to absorb as much media as possible
    • if the movie is irreversibly licensed under other terms, at least show trailers or whatever those terms allow

      • circumvention of unfair terms possible through fair-use law