The Clean and Green Club

The New York Times estimated in early April that US unemployment had hit 13 percent by the end of March, and is climbing rapidly. That’s already a level we haven’t seen since the 1930s.

While I work mostly in business-to-business consulting and copywriting, I’ve always had a sideline of writing resumes. As far as I know, I pioneered the one-visit, in-person-while-you-wait resume in 1984, and I’ve continued to keep my hand in it. In this time, I want to be of help.

I have the skill and there’s an urgent need. So…

1. I’d been charging $50 to critique a resume. Now, I’ll do them at no charge.
2. It took some figuring out (and infrastructure strengthening)–but I can now offer while-you-wait resumes (for the US and Canadian job markets) for clients located anywhere in the world, at the same low price I’d been doing them in person–but over Zoom.
3. For anyone who has lost their job due to COVID-related closures or cutbacks, the first cover letter (normally typically $50 to $75) is included with your resume order.

If you or someone you know is struggling in today’s job market, this help is available at https://accuratewriting.com/resumephilosophy.shtml

Here’s my response: Petitions, by themselves, rarely create change—but sometimes, they do. Petitions kept Net Neutrality in place for the remainder of the Obama administration. In my town of 5000, submitting 1200 petition signatures to the town government had a definite impact during the Save the Mountain campaign—but it certainly wasn’t our only tactic and wouldn’t have been effective by itself. Petitions are one spice in the spice cabinet, one arrow in the quiver.

And petitions serve other purposes even if they don’t immediately create the change they call for. For example:

For a non-activist, signing a petition online is an easy first step; think of it as a “gateway experience” for activism, just as opponents of pot often call it a gateway to the harder stuff.

After signing, a request to share the petition with others might have that newly-minted activist taking that petition around and sharing it, either in person or online. This is another way to get involved that is easy, not time-consuming, and doesn’t require writing or public speaking.

It’s also a way to provide social proof: safety in numbers. It’s less risky to take a position if you know hundreds or thousands of others have taken that petition.

For the organization, it’s a way to collect names and contacts for future organizing efforts (and a way to raise funds, too).

In paper format, a huge stack of petitions creates a great visual for the media (including your organization’s newsletter and social media feeds)

You’ve probably figured out that I believe in using a mix of nonviolent tactics, separately or together as appropriate. And that different issues lend themselves to different actions. In these days of mass quarantine, many of our most popular actions, like mass demonstrations and civil disobedience actions, have to be put on hold. Nonviolent action scholar Gene Sharp (1928-2018) put together a wonderful list of 198 different nonviolent social change tactics, and more are being invented all the time. Obviously, we’re not going to look at each one—but let’s do two more that are still relevant in our no-contact world. And I’d love it if you’d put your own favorite tactics or ideas in the comments, so we can discuss their effectiveness as a community.

Vehicle-based Public Marches and Protests:

This may seem like a new tactic in response to quarantine. But although rarely used, it’s actually been around for decades. When we can’t gather closely, it’s a way of taking up a large amount of space with a small number of people, using signs and horns to get a message across. And it can incorporate more aggressive tactics, such as blocking key intersections. Of course, it has a high carbon footprint compared to many other kinds of actions.

Strikes and Boycotts:

For any workplace that is still functional, a strike (which could include a slowdown, work-to-rule, work stoppage in place, refusal to go to work, and probably a dozen other models) still has power. Jobs don’t get done without employees, and many employees can’t be instantly replaced.

But strikes have many drawbacks, especially in a climate with more than 30 million unemployed, many of them highly skilled. If there’s a strike, there’s always a risk of replacement workers being found. Strikes need support from strong unions, and strong unions are rare these days.

Boycotts are harder to organize, but probably have an easier time achieving their goal, as long as they have a way to dissuade enough customers from spending their money, hitting the power structure where it hurts. If they don’t get enough participation, they can be counterproductive—but that participation can build over time, as it did for the United Farm Workers grape and lettuce boycotts. Boycotts (along with mass demonstrations, sit-ins, and many other actions) helped end segregation in the American South, encouraged the British to get out of India, made major gains for organized labor, shut down hate-spewing talk hosts, and much more.

Again, let’s hear your favorites in the comments (and why).

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• A Great Opportunity for Eco-Designers
• Amazon’s Two-Edged Sword

Turn Your Sustainability/CSR Report Into Powerful Marketing!