Reply #9: Copied from another thread....

[InvisibleTouch]

And sorry for the dupe, but I really want this info out there:

Here's what we do. We hit 'em where it hurts - anti-consumerism. There are so many people on this site alone, but we're widely scatterd, so we gotta organize - but it can be done. If possible, try to move within proximity of each other, so we can help each other out directly. Lower your dependence on power companies and big business. Get off the grid. Neighbors can pitch in to buy solar panels, a bit at a time. (I know, the starting cost is prohibitive....) If you own a farm or a garden plot, share your produce. Or patronize farmer's markets rather than big grociery stores. Use the barter system. Are you a doctor, lawyer, electrician, plumber? Barter your services. Need something for your home? Ask on DU if someone's throwing it away. Join Freecycle.org in your community ... or better yet, can we start a Freecycle/Barter forum here on this site? More and more, we can pull back from supportig the big business that's the heart and soul of the republican money machine, and learn to support each other. Not only will we undercut them, we'll help ourselves to a better life at the same time. And the real beauty of such a system: even a republican can join and make use of it, and whether or not they agree with our ideology, the mere act of using this system, helps us and hurts them (while helping that individual person ... an appeal to their base self-interest).

Another thought: home schooling. I know, I know ... when you hear "home schooling," you automatically think "right-wing wacko anti-science fundamentalist." But believe me, if I had human children, I would never subject them to our school system. Let's raise the next generation to be discerning thinkers with an interest in the world, rather than zombies who allow television talking heads to tell them what to think. Rethugs can steal elections and influence people because PEOPLE ARE STUPID. And we know the rethugs have every vested interest in keeping them that way. Let's raise our own generation in contrast. Anyone here qualified to teach, and could offer their services to local DUers?

And, to put my time where my mouth is: this is what I can offer at this point in time (with more to come in the future). I'm a web designer, computer graphics artist, and an Ebay seller. I can help you get rid of your excess clutter. My educational background is in zoology, so I'm an animal person; I can watch your pets when you're on vacation. Dogs, cats, reptiles, fish, birds, arachnids, horses, exotics ... I've probably had experience with them all. I'm in central Ohio (blech), so these are mostly local offers, of course. What am I looking for in trade? Well ... I'm nervously keeping watch on a leaking furnace at the moment. And I have an endless ability to screw up my computer - which is running fine at the moment, but it's only a matter of time....

Everyone here has some skill or resource that they can barter to someone else.

At the same time, I'm not advocating a withdrawal from the rest of the world. I just want us not to be dependant on the rest of the world. From that position of power, where they can't turn the screws on us, we need to keep fighting. Right now, we need to be swinging into action to IMPEACH the scumbag pResident. Prove LIHOP - we know the info is out there. Prove election fraud. This nonsense about Dubya winning Florida in 2000 by 500-some votes, that we keep seeing? We know that's not true. He actually lost Florida once all the votes were counted. Why didn't we say so at every opportunity?
Keep pushing the memes. The other side wants to use fear tactics? Big bad Osama? Well, here's a fear tactic for our side, and it's a legitimate one: we're now under a very real threat of nuclear war. Insane fundamentalists have siezed the reins of power in our country, and there's not an iota of difference between them, and someone crazy enough to blow themselves up in a crowded mall. Actually no, scratch that. The difference is that our home-grown fanatics have the ability to destroy the whole planet.

Get our people into every local government position from the ground up, starting with the school boards. How many of us here are qualified to run for office, any office? Probably more than we think. The next local elections are, what, two years away now? We need to start grooming each other for them now.

Hammer the truth. Rethugs win in part because they're willing to say anything, do anything, make up the most heinous lies and smear tactics. For a moment sometime this morning, I thought that we need to start doing the same thing. John Kerry is a statesman, and statesmen don't go around saying "fuck yourself" - nor do they invent lies about their opponants. I'm not saying he should have. But then I see how we've played above board, and it hasn't been enough.... But, no. No selling our soul for the sake of power, or we become just like them. And then there's no one left to speak for those that need a voice. We have to keep hammering the truth, but we have to do it less politely. Don't say "spreading misinformation." Say "lying." Tell it like it is. Take an example from Howard Dean. We need to stop being so statesmanlike, and start getting down and dirty - while still never caving in on our own integrity.