Electing the scumbag politicians and paying the companies that grease their palms. Our blame is twofold. ;p

Here's an idea: while BP's stock is at an all-time low, why aren't rich lefties out there buying it up and motivating like-minded people to do so? Buy it all up cheap so that you have a controlling interest in the company, and then turn it into that green juggernaut that's going to lead the charge.

I'd love Obama to treat this like a real crisis and start a "Manhattan Project" to get us out of this mess. We can sure come up with creative ways of killing people at taxpayer expense but when it comes to this, where is all the brainpower?

(super cynical these days, folks, sorry, I realize that I've steered this clearly into "We've put a man on the moon but we can't make a deodorant that lasts past 1?" territory)

I completely agree with this. Ever do some research on the U.S. before World War II and after? The term "military industrial complex" is so cliched nowadays, but lordy lordy it is true.

As far as consumers go, here is what I know about consumers: Consumers follow more than lead in purchases. They will always go for price over quality if there's not that much difference in quality. They will not "boycott" products as much as as gravitate towards products that suit their needs better.

Remember when people were protesting Nike like crazy? What was the alternative? Nobody pointed it out. New Balance was made mainly in the U.S. back then but the idea of supporting another company instead of just protesting one was beyond the scope and skills of some.

And I don't want to sound elitist: I fall for marketing as much as anyone else. But age and experience has made me acutely aware of when my buttons are being pushed and how I should act. That's a very conscious effort and damn it's hard. But doable. Most people just won't make that difference or understand.

Heck, I was trying to explain to a corner store about why I always by these "oddball" sodas and explained HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) to the guy, but he still thinks it's silly. Funny thing is I explained it over a few weeks to this guy at a local Mexican grocery and he understood: Now he carries more Jarritos and Mexican Coke! And he's bumped up the price a bit but whatever. At least he gets the idea that there is a market for non-HFCS soda, he has an "in" on that market and he's making money.

Small example, but I don't know of large scale protests that change corporate behavior. Maybe just more and more education at elementary school level so kids understand the difference between a McDonald's hamburger and local restaurant's burger?

Seemed appropriate.
I'm not making light at all.

Enter the zeitgeist movement

I'll prob get some heat for bringing this but its the activist in me.

I've been into this for a little bit now so please dont go slagging it off(not directed at you Roger) unless youve spent some time reading all the answers to the criticisms. I believe it has the possibility of providing some answers to todays problematic paradigm.

I offer it up here not as flame bait but simply to make it aware to people who made not of heard of it yet.

I stress to anyone that has glanced it or seen the movies and brushed it off as pie in sky to look deeper into the movement.

Alot of criticism has ensued. Most, if not all is answered deftly by the still young (31) filmaker Peter Joseph, taking on all comers in his weekly blog radio address.

Partnered with Jacque Frescoe of The Venus Project, they make a formidable tag team taking on any "self appointed guardian's of the status quo".

Jacque Fresco is no spring chicken. Now 94, saying he has lived a life is an understatement.
Living through the great depression of the twenties, he's a multi disciplinarian with untold accomplishments (to numerous to list here now}. He has spent the past 40+ years working on his ideas of what would be most easily described by quoting the opening intro on his website..
"The Venus Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society: unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth's ecosystems.

As you will see, The Venus Project is dedicated to confronting all of these problems by actively engaging in the research, development, and application of workable solutions. Through the use of innovative approaches to social awareness, educational incentives, and the consistent application of the best that science and technology can offer directly to the social system, The Venus Project offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which human beings, technology, and nature will be able to coexist in a long-term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium."

Zeitgeist Addendum is the film I recommend to watch first before Zeitgeist as it focuses more on the concept of a RESOURCE BASED ECONOMY or RBE, which is introduced in the second half Zeitgeist Addendum as a solution to the debt based fractional reserve banking system that we are all forced to live in (there are better films about this but it's explained briefly in the first part of the film).
Zeitgeist is a clever documentary that condenses many issues we and the planet face and does it well.

edited to add some links:
http://www.thezeitgeistmovement.com/
http://www.thevenusproject.com/