mnmlist: minimalist protest

The Occupy Wall Street protesters are rapidly becoming the Occupy Earth protesters, and for good reason.

People are finally pushing back against the incredible influence that corporations have on every aspect of our lives. People are finding a voice for the frustrations of being powerless against the corporations.

And that’s a good thing. Corporations have taken control of our economy, our jobs, our political system, our environment, but much more than that: they now tell us how to entertain ourselves, how to spend time with others, how to show love for friends and family, how to look good and feel good about ourselves, how to communicate, how to educate our kids, how to spend our spare time, how to be in public spaces together, how to create and enjoy music and art.

Every minute of our lives is now spent with products of a corporation, and we are never alone.

How can we find our non-corporate voices? How can we protest against this?

We can take a stand.

The minimalist might protest simply by not buying corporate products. Don’t eat at corporate restaurants, or buy corporate coffee, or buy corporate clothes. Don’t have logos on everything you own. Don’t watch corporate entertainment — make your own! Find non-corporate ways to spend time with people. Find non-corporate ways to celebrate Christmas. Find non-corporate music to listen to, or create your own.

It’s possible. We still have our humanity. We can still breathe, but first we must create some breathing room.