Do Fathers Rights Leaders Understand Nonviolent Resistence

Many people ask why Boycott Florida orange juice and California wine? There are many proponents of the Fathers rights movement that profess a belief in the teachings and sayings of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Yet when you delve into their knowledge of the practices of Gandhi and King you find that they have only scratched the surface when studying the methods of these two leaders. Gandhi set forth a very specific template of actions in order persuade the British to leave India. Despite the fact that he made incredibly moving speeches to persuade his opponents it was the actions of his followers that drove his point home. Gandhi believed that if he could not persuade you he would find someone else that could. This was achieved by the economic boycott of the British monopolies on salt and cloth. Gandhi didn’t hesitate to put thousands of Englishmen out of work. It was the discontent of these out of work Englishmen that eventually convinced the British government to concede defeat. So why Florida orange juice and California wine? It should be evident to anyone the value of these agricultural commodities to each state. California reaps over $1 billion a year from its wine industry. Florida spends millions promoting orange juice and tourism. Yet neither state gives a damn about the rights of a divorced father! In keeping with the boycotts of British salt, cloth, the Birmingham bus companies and the white own businesses of the segregated South we are instituting a worldwide boycott of Florida orange juice, California wine and their theme parks. If these states are prepared to ignore the voices of so many disenfranchised fathers then they will surely listen to the complaints and pain of their growers and corporate theme park owners. So join us as we spread the pain and suffering of our children and fathers across the entire states of Florida and California. Remember once these states fall and grant Fathers’ equal rights and equal custody this boycott will be shifted to other deserving states such as Vermont, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and the many other states that turn their backs on the Rights of Fathers and the Happiness of our Children.

Our Children Our Lives Our Right to Fight Back

One of the most underused but powerful weapons the individual has to effect political and social change in this money driven world of ours is their purchasing power. It’s underused because in America’s consumer obsessed society the relationship between "shopping" and “political action” is not an immediate connection to most people. This action also requires organizational and communications resources to implement. An article in the Financial Times (London) entitled "How should Companies Respond to Boycotts" (November 16, 1998, Monday) tells us:

The use of boycotts as a coercive marketplace tactic has increased in recent years and is expected to rise further. One reason for this is that consumer protests are proving more successful than in the past, both because those who organize boycotts are adopting more sophisticated tactics and because more consumers are supporting and joining organizations with explicit social and political agendas. The prudent marketing manager no longer worries just about product and service quality. Monitoring deeper feelings towards the business and its home country may be critical in preserving customer relationships.

The single most important factor for the increasing success of consumer boycotts is the development of global communications; fax, email, satellites the proliferation of cell phones and the explosion of the internet. The internet alone has dramatically improved the opportunities for boycotts by providing individuals access to every kind of information imaginable and permitting individuals to disseminate their views world-wide through web-sites or discussion groups.
Even in the old days economic boycotts were conducted and often succeeded. Gandhi's Swadeshi campaign to boycott English textiles was the first effective demonstration of the shakiness of British rule in India. Gandhi's campaign caused a lot of suffering in Britain. Thousands were jobless and a large number of textile mills in Lancashire were closed.

The most recent demonstration of the power of economic boycotts was demonstrated in South Africa with the fall of apartheid. The boycott and international sanctions hurt the black community, nevertheless the resolve of South African blacks and their leaders never wavered. In the US, alumni and students insisted that their Universities divest their trust funds of large blocks of stock in companies doing business in South Africa. Even after Nelson Mandela was released and a number of important reforms put into place, the ANC called for the continuation of international sanctions until apartheid was completely dismantled and a transitional government was in place.

Most of the activism for Fathers Rights has been on the symbolic level: Father’s Day Marches, parades, demonstrations, law suits, Press Grabbing Civil Disobedience, etc… All these activities are important. They are powerful on a symbolic level and serve to renew the commitment to the cause. They also attract sympathy and publicity for the cause of Fathers Rights and create a greater awareness of Fathers in the world. Yet after the event members and supporters go home, put up their signs and wait for the next event to happen.

Another form of activism has been the petitioning of governments, leaders and world bodies to intercede on our behalf. All the letter writing campaigns to presidents, prime-ministers, senators, congressmen, governors, parliamentarians, are in effect forms of petitioning. Even our so called meetings with government heads, can be put in this category, as we bring no form of pressure or threats to bear in these talks. We as a group have to appeal to the other sides generosity, compassion or whatever for help. However important these efforts appear they are still passive and a form of supplication.

Its time we take a course of action that is not just symbolic or an act of supplication but a direct blow at Family Court tyranny. We must do something that causes a tangible injury, loss or disadvantage to the individual states. We must also think in terms of what causes pain to the individual states and not necessarily what gives us activists and participants satisfaction. Boycotts will empower our membership, their families and friends with an ability to strike back from their own homes. A direct action for Fathers rights and Equal Parenting. Right at this moment the States of Florida and California are incredibly sensitive to economic loss. Any type of economic injury would hurt both California and Florida. One person not buying agricultural products grown and processed in Florida or California and bypassing their Theme Parks would cause, let us say, a loss of $1000 annually to the Florida and California economy, which may not seem much. But the fact remains that it is a loss to both California and Florida. No matter how small it is at least real, tangible and quantifiable; and therefore far more valuable and effective than all the promises and assurances Fathers have received from National and State leaders, politicians and ‘experts’.

It is a solid starting point. If five thousand Families in the US refused to buy Florida or California goods we could be causing $5,000,000 loss to both of them every year, which may not seem like much, but if each of these 5000 people recruited ten friends each…? And so on?

On Fatherless Day we can move past the symbolic and begin a direct action that will empower our movement and lift us from the passive supplicate holding the beggars cup for our god given rights to be parents.

Take the next step and support the Boycott now!!

William Lake

fightingfathers@yahoo.com

www.fightingfathersofdistrict1.com

Take the next step and support the Boycott now!!

On June 13th Let Fatherless Day Begin the Boycott!!!

Most of the myths and misconceptions surrounding Gandhi have to do with nonviolence. It’s surprising how many people have the idea that nonviolent action is purely passive. Let’s be clear about this: There is nothing passive about Gandhian nonviolent action. Gandhi helped create this confusion by referring to his method as “passive resistance,” he soon changed his mind and rejected the term.

Gandhi’s nonviolent action was not an evasive strategy, nor a defensive one. Gandhi was always on the offensive. He believed in confronting his opponents aggressively. In this way they could not avoid dealing with him.

Some political dreamers that have seen the movie or read a book of quotes ask? Wasn’t nonviolent action designed to avoid violence? That depends on whether you were a follower or a opponent. Gandhi avoided violence toward his opponents, but couldn’t care less if you did violence toward himself or his followers.

To Gandhi the nonviolent activist, like any good soldier in the trenches, had to be ready to die for the cause. In fact, during India’s struggle for independence, hundreds of Indians were killed by the British.

Gandhi pointed out three responses to oppression and injustice.

One was the coward’s way: to accept the wrong or run away from it.

Second was to stand and fight back with force. To Gandhi this was better than acceptance or running away.

The Third Way was the best of all and required the most courage: to stand and fight only by nonviolent means.

One of the biggest myths about nonviolent action is that Gandhi invented it.

Gandhi is often called “the father of nonviolence,” and while he did raise nonviolent action to a level never before achieved, it wasn’t his invention.

The book “Gandhi as a Political Strategist,” shows that Gandhi and his colleagues in South Africa were well aware of other nonviolent struggles prior to their adoption of such methods. In the years before 1906 they’d been impressed by mass nonviolent actions in China, Russia, India and among blacks in South Africa itself. Some of the best examples of nonviolence come from right here in the United States, in the years leading up to the American Revolution. To oppose British rule, the colonists used many tactics similar to Gandhi’s and they used these techniques with more skill and sophistication than anyone else before the time of Gandhi.

For instance the Boycotts of British imports were organized to protest the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, and the so-called Intolerable Acts. The campaign against the latter was organized by the First Continental Congress, which was originally a nonviolent action organization. Almost two centuries later, the boycott of British imports played the pivotal role in Gandhi’s struggle against colonial rule.

The forms of Satyagraha which could be conducted in a manner consistent with the love-ethic are negotiations, arbitration, agitation, demonstration, economic boycott, strike, nonpayment of taxes, and noncooperation. Violence may enter into any one of these, but violence may enter into complete withdrawal in the form of hate. These modes of social action represent love insofar as they retain emotional and physical discipline and are performed in the interest of a suffering minority or in the interest of justice. Inherent in both the principle of nonresistance and Satyagraha are the self imposed criteria which test the rightness of the cause and the action employed.

Gandhi’s "Satyagraha” is a principle of social action that informs and controls the conduct of the conflict. with the requirements of truth, nonviolence, and self-suffering. The positive expression of Gandhi’s love-ethic is to 'overcome evil with good'."

Lets Bring this Movement to the Next Level!! On June 13^th Let Fatherless Day Begin the Boycott!!!

William Lake

www.Fightingfathersofdistrict1.com

On June 13^th Let Fatherless Day Begin the Boycott!!!