Yes We Can
The infamous Yes Men recently appeared on the PBS program Bill Moyers' Journal, fronting as partners from Triglyceride Investments, a fictional holding company aiming to control all the media assets in America. The Yes Men have impersonated representatives from Halliburton, Dow Chemical, Exxon, and others, giving public presentations aimed at exposing the discrepancies between how these groups want to be seen and how they really act. They call this process, "identity correction." (They are also contributors to Reality Sandwich.)
Moyers introduced them as follows:
"Here with me now are two partners of Triglyceride Investments, a private equity fund that recently announced its intention of combining the assets of all the hedge funds on Wall Street in order to bring under a single canopy of ownership every media outlet in America. Their prospectus contends that the handful of big media companies that control most of what you see, hear, and read cannot possibly produce maximum return on investment as long as each has to field its own army of lobbyists in Washington. If only one holding company instead of four or five controlled all the country's radio and television stations and all of its cable, newspaper, and Internet outlets, eliminating the need for the competitive purchase of politicians, the savings on campaign contributions alone would increase the bottom line tenfold."
Only after several minutes of playing it straight did Moyers confess that they were putting on an act. Then came a wonderful, in-depth interview with Andy and Mike about what they've done and why they do it. Watch this part of the Moyers' program, in two sections, in the You Tube videos below.
Part 1:
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Part 2:
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- 7-31-07
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Comments
corruption
It's amazing how much corruption there truly is in our world. The people involved in it don't understand it. I'm sure a lot of these pranks will insult them, but I doubt they will cause such people to have a change of heart.
Wealth can be like alcohol. At a certain point your judgment is impaired and you can't tell how drunk you are.
In some ways it is good to be aware that our world really is in trouble, but I need to know what I can do about it. I feel so much anxiety already, if I worried any more I'd probably blow up.
Trying to get everybody hip to these facts and organize seems almost as unlikely as getting everybody to switch to a lunar calendar. I've been meditating more because it clears my mind and helps me make better decisions. Where I am, it's hard even to bring up a political issue without getting tangled in an argument.
I have to practice relaxation or else my tension affects other people. I don't need any more stress and I usually don't find it effective to stress other people out. How do we raise awareness and communicate concern so that people will take action?
I try to get people to buy local, but so few are willing to let go of the smallest part of their precious convenience. Then again, how many times do I inconvenience myself for the greater good.
I'm egotistical enough that I need to remind myself repeatedly that the people causing these problems are human beings. I see them as the bad guys, but how do I know I wouldn't end up just like them?
The question for me is, how have I recognized my own sickness and how am I dealing with it? I have to be deeply rooted in a sense of honor for the living presence of people who disturb me if I wish to be of service.
I want to stick it to the man, but I took advice from a Tool song and pointed that fucking finger up my ass. That was my first experience of Tantric sex. Boy, that prostate gland is really something!
This work is truly ingenious, don't get me wrong, but are we helping people to change this way? I mean, are the people involved in all this happy about it? Maybe they are like alcoholics who can't see how miserable they really are? Maybe they look like they are having fun, but it's deep sickness.
This kind of muckraking needs to be done, but what do we do now? It's hard for me to be too critical when I've fucked up on less than the people I'm focusing on. What would I do if I were in their shoes.
I always want to feel like I don't have my price, but in the past I've proven time and again that I can be pretty cheap. I'm scared, like the guy's poem. Somehow I need to find a way to channel that so it doesn't make me ruin what I've got right now.
Douglas Rushkoff works with corporate CEOs. Maybe he could help us understand how to influence them favorably? A guy in _The Corporation_ is a CEO who had a change of heart. I should watch it again to find out what made him come around.
I've always loved these guys