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Black March
Feb. 29th, 2012 20:47Have you all heard about Black March? I know a lot of posts were going around in January, but I haven't seen a lot of news on it since.
Well, and here is some information, but basically it's a campaign for people to stop paying the big companies money during March, to make a statement about how the big media companies owe us more than we owe them.
It's a nice thought. And I'm going to try it - no Hulu, no Amazon streaming, no downloading, no movies in theaters, etc. for one month.
But it's ultimately useless.
Time Warner Cable provides my internet, and there is no way I'm letting that go for a month. And you think that money doesn't funnel into the same pool as the rest of it? It's far too much of a hassle to turn it off for a month and turn it on again, not to mention the people with televisions. (No, I don't have one in my college apartment.) Do you think TV-owners will disconnect them for a month? Stop watching, maybe. But getting the cable guy in two times in one month, to shut it off and start it again isn't happening.
And that's just the beginning. Should people stop reading newspapers? Most of those are Big Business, these days. The ads certainly are. How do you stop the ads? They are everywhere!
Ultimately, Black March is a good idea. The Big media companies in this country are a VERY BIG, and are probably in violation of all sorts of anti-trust laws. (They do that sometimes.) But besides the wide-scale uncontrollable addiction most people have to their modern media, I don't think this idea is well-thought out enough to really make a statement or a difference.
I'm still planning to cut myself off for two weeks, and see what happens. Assume I'll be a month or so behind on everything, no spoilers please.
(And here is another tactic.)
Well, and here is some information, but basically it's a campaign for people to stop paying the big companies money during March, to make a statement about how the big media companies owe us more than we owe them.
It's a nice thought. And I'm going to try it - no Hulu, no Amazon streaming, no downloading, no movies in theaters, etc. for one month.
But it's ultimately useless.
Time Warner Cable provides my internet, and there is no way I'm letting that go for a month. And you think that money doesn't funnel into the same pool as the rest of it? It's far too much of a hassle to turn it off for a month and turn it on again, not to mention the people with televisions. (No, I don't have one in my college apartment.) Do you think TV-owners will disconnect them for a month? Stop watching, maybe. But getting the cable guy in two times in one month, to shut it off and start it again isn't happening.
And that's just the beginning. Should people stop reading newspapers? Most of those are Big Business, these days. The ads certainly are. How do you stop the ads? They are everywhere!
Ultimately, Black March is a good idea. The Big media companies in this country are a VERY BIG, and are probably in violation of all sorts of anti-trust laws. (They do that sometimes.) But besides the wide-scale uncontrollable addiction most people have to their modern media, I don't think this idea is well-thought out enough to really make a statement or a difference.
I'm still planning to cut myself off for two weeks, and see what happens. Assume I'll be a month or so behind on everything, no spoilers please.
(And here is another tactic.)
