u/ValhirFirstThunder

When TPS came out I wasn't a fan of the game for a lot of reasons. Level scaling didn't feel like it made things more difficult and challenging for one. Or at least not significantly so. But Pickles, that was one of the few things I loved about the game. I loved his banter while I was questing for him. Sure a lot of it was fetches, but still, a big part of the Borderlands series is goofiness and comedy. And he gave me one of my favorite shotguns in that game, the Boganella. I loved that the gun kept talking shit whenever I shot and reloaded

But yea I really wanted to know, how did the rest of you feel about Pickles?

Background

To be honest, I'm not really an activist. I support and align with a lot of values in this group and with progressives. But I'm not exactly active. I work, I go home, I play video games and I watch TV. But every time you guys go out and protest, I upvote and I support you in spirit 👍

The Current Problem

Look man, protests USED to really work and USED to have real impact. We've all learned it in school. Rosa Parks and the bus. Free speech protests at UC Berkeley. Sit-ins at diners. They used to mean something. And they still do. But it wasn't just the protests back then. It was the novelty aspect of it. It doesn't happen often. Society, companies and politicians saw this and KNEW that those people meant business.

But that's not really the same today right. It feels like the oppressors have won and we have no idea how to really fight back. But we want to do something. We want to act. We want to send a message. We won't lie down in silence. But these protests, while having a reason, doesn't seem to have a goal or a purpose. It feels like we are just going through the motions. I personally sometimes like to go down there. Feels kinda like a small little mini party.

But we protest one day and then it will be another day. As anyone who has worked in a big company can tell you. These days are easily ignored. Ohhhh but they are symbolic right? Whooooo that fancy word. Symbolic. Yea you can't really feel symbols and I think we all know that companies and politicians can whether the storm for day or two. Because they have.

Look I'm not saying there is 0 impact to the protest but it's not the same as the old days and it feels like we are just doing this because we are going through the motions and we WANT and NEED to do something. So what else can we do?

Solution - Guerilla Pirate Protest Strategy

I'm not good with names, you guys can figure it out. I'm not the leader of this. But I do have an idea. So what was one of my biggest complaints about how we currently protest? It's a day or a few. Our oppressors can whether the storm. Cause it is kind of low impact. Okay. So let's increase the impact. Here is my proposal, we still boycott like we are going to do tomorrow for May 1st but here is are the differences and details

1. ONLY a small handful of targeted companies each month. I like to just go with 1. But 2 or 3 isn't off the table either
2. 1 month boycott/protest
3. We use mobile app push notifications, sms notifications, email notifications and a static site
4. Everyone is going to get those notifications at the first day of each month on who the targets are, the reason/purpose of this and what our goals/demands are
5. NO ONE will know who it is or what category of the company(s) are until the 1st of every month

So why this strategy. So first of all we are only going to select a handful of companies and we are going to target them for the whole month. This means it's more focused and it's more impactful. And will actually affect their bottom line. The problem before was that because we were protesting everyone ever where with as much as you can. Our impact is spread across to thinly. With this method, it makes us louder and more heard

It actually also makes it easier to get involved. Software engineer me, has flexibility and can participate whenever I want. But some people NEED to buy things because they have less financial and resource security. Some people going day to day. Some people can't just not work or not go to school. But we can all boycott company XYZ for a whole month and still do what we NEED to do

I also like the idea of no one knowing who the company(s) are until the day of. All at the same time. This way, companies can't prepare. Shock and awe adds to the impact. Adds to the loss of revenue, MAU and other metrics that month. Stakeholders WILL be livid. And then next month, new drop and we keep on rotating and keeping them on their toes. This of course isn't the end goal, but again, it allows us to be more strategic

1. More impact - by focusing on one or a few companies
2. More impact - by having it affect them for the whole month
3. Accessible to all - you can still support your mom & pops for your necessities and participate in the protest

I won't promise this side effect, BUT I would not be surprise that if we do this, that some people may even develop a habit because habits can be developed in a month. For example, maybe we protest Amazon for example. And maybe like 1-2% of the people involved realized that after a month without Amazon, they can actually live that way and decide to make that more permanent. I think this small side effect can happen. I don't know at what scale, I have to imagine small. But I wanted to point that out

Leaders & How We Pick Our Targets

So then it leaves some logistical questions. Who is picking our targeted companies and who can we actually trust? And to be fair, this part, I'm gonna lean on some suggestions. I think we shouldn't just have one person decide. I think we should have small council of known, reliable and trusted progressives. Ideally leaders who are part of grassroots movements, but also people who are familiar and understand big companies. We want heart, but we also need strategy. I don't know who they should be but they should be discussing who the drops are for each month

I think we also need to think about how we pick our targets. I think the most obvious methodology are those who are actually causing a lot of pain and damage to our society. But we also need to send a clear message of what they are doing wrong and what we want changed. We also need to think about WHO can get involved as well. I don't think a lot of us on here like UHC, but if your company gives you UHC and you NEED regular medication, you can't just NOT use UHC. I'm also not saying that means UHC can't be a target but if I was part of that council, I would think about these things when picking a target. Because the more people we can get involved, the more impact that can be felt

Conclusion

This is obvious just an idea, not a fully fleshed out and thought out plan. But we gotta pick a new strategy, because the regular protests are just not working and quite frankly haven't really been as impactful as it should be for the last 20 years or so. So what are your thoughts on this idea?

Background

To be honest, I'm not really an activist. I support and align with a lot of values in this group and with progressives. But I'm not exactly active. I work, I go home, I play video games and I watch TV. But every time you guys go out and protest, I upvote and I support you in spirit 👍

The Current Problem

Look man, protests USED to really work and USED to have real impact. We've all learned it in school. Rosa Parks and the bus. Free speech protests at UC Berkeley. Sit-ins at diners. They used to mean something. And they still do. But it wasn't just the protests back then. It was the novelty aspect of it. It doesn't happen often. Society, companies and politicians saw this and KNEW that those people meant business.

But that's not really the same today right. It feels like the oppressors have won and we have no idea how to really fight back. But we want to do something. We want to act. We want to send a message. We won't lie down in silence. But these protests, while having a reason, doesn't seem to have a goal or a purpose. It feels like we are just going through the motions. I personally sometimes like to go down there. Feels kinda like a small little mini party.

But we protest one day and then it will be another day. As anyone who has worked in a big company can tell you. These days are easily ignored. Ohhhh but they are symbolic right? Whooooo that fancy word. Symbolic. Yea you can't really feel symbols and I think we all know that companies and politicians can whether the storm for day or two. Because they have.

Look I'm not saying there is 0 impact to the protest but it's not the same as the old days and it feels like we are just doing this because we are going through the motions and we WANT and NEED to do something. So what else can we do?

Solution - Guerilla Pirate Protest Strategy

I'm not good with names, you guys can figure it out. I'm not the leader of this. But I do have an idea. So what was one of my biggest complaints about how we currently protest? It's a day or a few. Our oppressors can whether the storm. Cause it is kind of low impact. Okay. So let's increase the impact. Here is my proposal, we still boycott like we are going to do tomorrow for May 1st but here is are the differences and details

1. ONLY a small handful of targeted companies each month. I like to just go with 1. But 2 or 3 isn't off the table either
2. 1 month boycott/protest
3. We use mobile app push notifications, sms notifications, email notifications and a static site
4. Everyone is going to get those notifications at the first day of each month on who the targets are, the reason/purpose of this and what our goals/demands are
5. NO ONE will know who it is or what category of the company(s) are until the 1st of every month

So why this strategy. So first of all we are only going to select a handful of companies and we are going to target them for the whole month. This means it's more focused and it's more impactful. And will actually affect their bottom line. The problem before was that because we were protesting everyone ever where with as much as you can. Our impact is spread across to thinly. With this method, it makes us louder and more heard

It actually also makes it easier to get involved. Software engineer me, has flexibility and can participate whenever I want. But some people NEED to buy things because they have less financial and resource security. Some people going day to day. Some people can't just not work or not go to school. But we can all boycott company XYZ for a whole month and still do what we NEED to do

I also like the idea of no one knowing who the company(s) are until the day of. All at the same time. This way, companies can't prepare. Shock and awe adds to the impact. Adds to the loss of revenue, MAU and other metrics that month. Stakeholders WILL be livid. And then next month, new drop and we keep on rotating and keeping them on their toes. This of course isn't the end goal, but again, it allows us to be more strategic

1. More impact - by focusing on one or a few companies
2. More impact - by having it affect them for the whole month
3. Accessible to all - you can still support your mom & pops for your necessities and participate in the protest

I won't promise this side effect, BUT I would not be surprise that if we do this, that some people may even develop a habit because habits can be developed in a month. For example, maybe we protest Amazon for example. And maybe like 1-2% of the people involved realized that after a month without Amazon, they can actually live that way and decide to make that more permanent. I think this small side effect can happen. I don't know at what scale, I have to imagine small. But I wanted to point that out

Leaders & How We Pick Our Targets

So then it leaves some logistical questions. Who is picking our targeted companies and who can we actually trust? And to be fair, this part, I'm gonna lean on some suggestions. I think we shouldn't just have one person decide. I think we should have small council of known, reliable and trusted progressives. Ideally leaders who are part of grassroots movements, but also people who are familiar and understand big companies. We want heart, but we also need strategy. I don't know who they should be but they should be discussing who the drops are for each month

I think we also need to think about how we pick our targets. I think the most obvious methodology are those who are actually causing a lot of pain and damage to our society. But we also need to send a clear message of what they are doing wrong and what we want changed. We also need to think about WHO can get involved as well. I don't think a lot of us on here like UHC, but if your company gives you UHC and you NEED regular medication, you can't just NOT use UHC. I'm also not saying that means UHC can't be a target but if I was part of that council, I would think about these things when picking a target. Because the more people we can get involved, the more impact that can be felt

Conclusion

This is obvious just an idea, not a fully fleshed out and thought out plan. But we gotta pick a new strategy, because the regular protests are just not working and quite frankly haven't really been as impactful as it should be for the last 20 years or so. So what are your thoughts on this idea?