Corporatism\r\n\r\n <\/p>
Mussolini (Father of Fascism, a philosophy that led to the death of\r\n millions):
\r\n <\/b>\"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism, since it is the
\r\n merger of state and corporate power\"<\/i><\/p>\r\n\r\nAuthor: Stephen\r\nDeVoy\r\n
Holly was the president of the Spanish Club. Some people fall in\r\nlove with languages and Holly was one of these people. She was so\r\nenthusiastic about the Spanish language that she would listen to Salsa and Meringue\r\nrather than rock-n-roll. Outside of her small group, the other students in\r\nher English speaking town thought she was strange. This did not discourage\r\nher.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The Spanish club was hoping to raise money for a trip to Puerto\r\nRico. They wanted to try out their Spanish language skills and learn more\r\nabout Latin American culture. It would be an expensive trip. They\r\nlived in a working class town and few families could afford to send their\r\nchildren away for such a trip. Holly and her friends knew that they would\r\nhave to work hard and long to raise the money. At this year's first\r\nSpanish Club meeting, they decided to make it first priority and begin raising\r\nfunds right away.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
It was fall in New England. They had decided to have a collective\r\nyard sale. Winter would be upon them soon. It was important to have\r\nthe yard sale before the first snowfall, so they made this their first\r\nfund-raising event.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The children had decided that either all of them would go on the trip or\r\nnone of them would go. All of the earnings from their fund raisers would\r\nbe placed into one single account. They would all work together and if\r\nthey raised enough money, they would choose the hotel and tour that would fit\r\ntheir budget. If they earned just enough, they would have a modest\r\ntrip. If they earned more than enough, they would have an even better\r\ntrip. Whatever the case, it would be all for one and one for all.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Each child collected their unneeded possessions. They asked their\r\nparents to do the same. One family had a large garage and a large\r\ndriveway. They agreed to allow the Spanish Club to hold their yard sale\r\nthere. On the night before the yard sale, they worked hard together and\r\nbrought all of the items for the sale over to the garage. In the morning,\r\nthey opened the yard sale early and took turns negotiating with customers. \r\nAt the end of the day they raise $800.00. There were nine students in the\r\nSpanish Club. $800.00 was a good beginning but not enough.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Next the children held a bake sale. From the bake sale they earned\r\nanother $100.00. Two of the members of the Spanish Club offered tutoring\r\nto students that needed help. Over the course of the year, these two\r\nstudents raised another $400.00 for the club. Three of the students\r\nshoveled driveways over the summer and raised $600.00 for the club.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The students got the school's permission to use the gym for a Salsa Night\r\nwhere other students could join them dancing to Latin Music. They raised\r\n$200.00 from that event.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
All was going well. One by one they were putting to practice their\r\nplans for raising money and it was working. However, an unexpected event\r\nthrew things of course.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The Spanish Club members decided to show a Spanish language movie every\r\nThursday afternoon. Their Spanish teacher granted them use of her class\r\nroom. They brought in a DVD player and a wide screen television set. \r\nStudents were charged a $4.00 donation to see the movies.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The first two weeks it was a hit. They made almost $50.00 each\r\ntime. They had more room in the class room, so they printed up leaflets\r\nadvertising their Spanish movie program and posted the leaflets around\r\ntown. They posted them in the town square. They posted them in the\r\nmall. They handed them out in the halls of the school. This\r\nThursday, they thought, they would earn much more money for their trip.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
On Thursday, after school, twenty students came to see the movie. \r\nThis would be the best showing yet! As they started the movie, the\r\nschool's principle came barging into the room, ordered them to shut off the\r\nmovie and told all of the students to leave.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Holly stood up and ask, \"Why are you doing this?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The principle looked angry and frightened, \"Because you are competing\r\nwith local businesses. I got an angry telephone call from the owner of the\r\nmovie theatre in the town square and he demanded that I stop this, this, this\r\nabuse of school property.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The students were silent. They all looked at each other in shock.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"This is a school, isn't it?\" asked Holly.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Of course it's a school,\" said the principle.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Then how is expanding the cultural horizons of students an abuse of\r\nschool property?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"This isn't a movie theater,\" he retorted. \"Don't\r\nquestion my authority.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Holly was miffed. The students were now demanding their money\r\nback. \"Look,\" she said, \"is there a law against this?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Not that I know of, but I don't want to have to find out,\" the\r\nprinciple said. \"We have an angry business owner threatening to take\r\naction. I don't need this.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Holly raised her voice, \"You mean you would put the profits of a\r\nbusiness owner over the welfare of your students? This town has no Spanish\r\nlanguage movie theater. We aren't in competition with him! You know\r\nthat.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"I don't care,\" he said. \"I don't need the\r\nheadaches. Now, all of you, go home.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Holly handed the money back to the students. They left, mystified at\r\nthe power of some businessman they didn't even know. Holly was not about\r\nto give up.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Holly and her friends wrote up a petition demanding that the school permit\r\nthem to show the movies in exchange for donations. They went from house to\r\nhouse and got over one thousand signatures. Holly herself brought them to\r\nthe superintendent of schools. The superintended gave in and ordered the\r\nprinciple to allow the students to hold their movie events.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The next Thursday, only 15 students showed up. Word had passed\r\naround about the previous fiasco and some were hesitant to show up. The\r\nmovie started and all seemed to be going well for about 15 minutes when the\r\nprinciple burst into the classroom again.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Do you have permission to show that movie to a public\r\naudience?\" he asked.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"What do you mean?\" asked Holly. \"We rented it. \r\nHere, I have the receipt. Why are you doing this?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"I just got a call from the owner of the movie theater,\" he\r\nsaid. \"He told me that if you didn't have permission from the\r\ncopyright holder of the movie, he would be calling the FBI and demanding that\r\nthey prosecute us for violating the license under which you rented the\r\nfilm. I can't risk it. The movie is cancelled, permanently!\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Holly once again passed back the movie donations. All of the\r\nstudents were getting very angry. She asked the students to gather at her\r\nhouse.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
On the way home she passed by an office store. She purchased a large\r\npackage of poster-board and markers. When she arrived at home, 12 students\r\nwere there waiting for her. She took at a copy of the petition. It\r\nwas 20 pages long. She asked for five volunteers.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Each of the five volunteers was given four pages of the petition. \r\nThey went home and began calling those who had signed it. There was to be\r\na protest that evening in front of the movie theater, starting at 6:30.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The other seven students began making signs with various slogans\r\ndenouncing the owner of the business. One sign read, \"Who are you to\r\nsilence us?\" Another read, \"Education over profits!\" \r\nThere were many signs and they came up with a large array of slogans.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
At 6:30 they gathered outside of the theatre, passing out signs to the 100\r\npeople who showed up. They marched back and forth on the sidewalk in front\r\nof the theater, chanting slogans against the owner of the business and asking\r\nmovie-goers to go elsewhere to see a movie. Some movie-goers still went\r\nin, but many did not.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
As would happen at any protest, some people insulted the students. \r\n\"Get a job!\" and old man yelled. The children responded,\r\n\"We're children, what do you mean, 'Get a job?'\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Soon the police arrived. They told the protesters that they needed a\r\npermit.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"No we don't,\" said Holly. Just then the press arrived.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"We don't need a permit,\" she said. \"According to the\r\nlaws of this state, we need no permit to gather on public land. We are\r\nstaying.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"You are interrupting a business,\" the police man said.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Too bad,\" she replied. \"He's interrupting our\r\neducation and now you are interrupting our rights.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The students began to chant, \"We have rights. We have\r\nrights. We have rights.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Soon, many parents came to stand with their children. More members\r\nof the press showed up. A television news program sent a reporter. \r\nThe police could see that they were being watched and that they would be seen in\r\nconfrontation with children. The order went out to stand down. The\r\npolice retreated to a distance and watched. One police officer had a\r\nconversation with a member of the news crew.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The news crew member came over to a few of the students and said,\r\n\"Hey, do you want to be on television?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Sure,\" said one of the students.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"OK, then. We need some action. This is getting kind of\r\nboring. Why don't you guys fake a fight. I'll put it on the\r\nTV.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The students looked at each other, turned to the reporter and said,\r\n\"Sorry, we're not stupid. Take a hike, asshole.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The protest continued.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
At 9:30, when the second batch of movies were starting, the business owner\r\nlooked at his numbers for the day. Only half the normal number went into\r\nthe theater that evening. About half had turned and gone somewhere\r\nelse. He was angry. He did not predict that bullying his way into\r\nmonopolizing the showing of movies in the town would harm his profits.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The movie owner came out of the theater. \"I'd like to speak to\r\nthe president of the Spanish Club!\" he called out.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Holly walked over. \"I'd like to speak with you in private he\r\nsaid.\" It was his hope to cut a deal with her. Maybe he could\r\ngive her free movie passes or something and she would end the protest.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"No,\" Holly replied. \"You speak with us in public or\r\nnot at all!\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"What can I do to stop this?\" he asked. \"I have a\r\nbusiness to run!\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"You should have minded your own business and not ours,\"\r\ncountered Holly. \"This is all your fault.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"OK, OK, he said. Play your stupid movies. It's not like\r\npeople will stop coming to my theater if you do,\" he said.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Then why did you try to stop us?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The business owner was silent.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Why,\" she demanded!<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Don't get smart with me,\" he said. \"I have influence\r\nin this town. I suggest you take my offer and shut up.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The students were unsure of how to respond.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Holly said, \"You have influence? Look around you and see the\r\ninfluence of the people! Don't threaten us! We will have our movie\r\nprogram whether you like it or not. Keep to your own business if you don't\r\nwant to alienate the people who keep you in business.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
With that, the protest ended. Holly arranged for a private location\r\nto view the movies. They never heard from the movie theater owner\r\nagain. He became unpopular and some people began to drive to the next town\r\nto see movies from that day forth.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
By the Spring, the Spanish Club had raised enough funds to send the entire\r\ngroup to Puerto Rico. As they plane landed in San Juan, they raised a\r\ncheer. They were proud of themselves for persevering. Most of all,\r\nthey were proud of themselves for fighting for their rights.<\/b><\/p>\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.stephen-devoy.com\/anarchismforkids","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"Students learn about corporatism first hand.","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/12\/120331.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}