“IDENTITY CORRECTION” – – a fun way to get a point across. To re-define.
What is it?
Andy Bichlbaum, Yes Men parodist:
(From http://beautifultrouble.org/tactic/identity-correction/)
Key Principle at work
The real action is your target’s reaction
Often the most revealing moment in a successful identity correction is the reaction of the target. When you identity-correct a major corporation, you force them to react.
They can’t let the lie that tells the truth stand in the media.
GE had to tell the press it was NOT returning its questionable tax refund to stand in solidarity with struggling Americans.
Dow Chemical had to issue a statement indicating it had NOT apologized for the Bhopal disaster and would NOT be compensating the victims.
Identity correction potential, Lockheed Martin?
Canadians have not been told:
Lockheed Martin has been forced out of Statistics Canada by citizen protest. (Details are in other postings on this blog)
The Yes Men explain to citizens how to use the tool of identity correction.
Wouldn’t it be fun to develop a plan to apply the win against Lockheed Martin’s role at Statistics Canada for identity correction?! http://beautifultrouble.org/principle/real-action-targets-reaction/
A parody could certainly be made of Statistics Canada’s misrepresentation of the level of non-compliance with the Census. They have claimed 98% compliance, always quoting the percentage.
But in the transcript from the trial of Audrey Tobias the numbers used by StatsCan (mathematicians?) to arrive at 2% non-compliance are provided:
- 1.6 million households out of
- 14.6 million did not comply.
- That’s non-compliance of roughly 11% , not 2% – more than 1 in 10 households did not comply.
Further potential for parody:
they ended Lockheed Martin’s career at StatsCan because of protest (and rising non-compliance, I suspect) but then continued to threaten the protesters with prosecution, jail-time and a fine. Not everyone succumbed to the threats:
- 89-year-old Audrey Tobias went to Trial, October 2013
- 79-year-old Janet Churnin, November 2013
- (younger yoga instructor) Eve Stegenga, July 2014
All of these women protested the involvement of Lockheed Martin.
WHY the prosecutions? What a colossal waste of everyone’s time and money, when the decision had already been made by the time of the Tobias trial to end Lockheed Martin’s involvement.
Parody potential?
RELATED MORE DIRECTLY TO EVE’S TRIAL
For statistical purposes, Eve Stegenga lives below the poverty line. She cannot afford the cost of being on Trial, of defending herself against the charges. Taking the time necessary to preparing for Trial is time robbed from her self-employment, the ability to generate money to pay for basic necessities. (Eve is not “poor”. She lives a healthy, vital, connected, rich and productive life.)
Therein lies the parody. She is stacked up against the legalese and numerous senior lawyers within the Federal Department of Justice, also the resources of Statistics Canada. You could say, Eve against the whole Federal Government.
Whose interests are being served by the continued prosecutions? Where are the benefits for tax-payers and citizens?
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Note to self: Lockheed Martin forced out by citizens
- The International Community will be interested.
- The news will go to the dozens of Peace Groups on Facebook, including Journalists for Peace.
- It will go into the large North American networks of people working against corporate dominance, including Occupy and Idle No More.
- The International Community working to get George Bush and Associates arrested and brought before the Courts in The Hague have a direct interest because of Lockheed Martin’s role in starting the illegal war of aggression on the people or Iraq.
- People in Muslim communities will want to know of the victory against Lockheed Martin. Muslim countries have been hit hard by the illegal war and the dropping of bombs from drones.
- The international Marches Against Monsanto (many of the organizers are Moms) are now informed to the point of understanding that Corporate America is a huge problem. They will view the win against Lockheed Martin as fuel for “We can do it“.
- The news of the win will spread and travel far, whether or not mainstream media engages with the story.