I 
     
    
   
   
    
     ran banks, OCTOBER 1, 1974, PAGE’4' 
     
    
   
   
    
     Biron/s In General. .:  
     
    
   
   
    
     ! 
     
    
   
   
    
     This summer I worked on 
     
     several informational 
     
     picketts boycotting pro— 
     
     ducts that have been rec— 
     
     ognized as detrimental to 
     
     human rights. ' 
     
    

    
     It was interesting to 
     
     open ourselves to the 
     
     criticism find disposition 
     
     of the public. A boycott 
     
     demonstrates that we do 
     
     live in a "global village" 
     
     and neighbours are not 
     
     limited to personal geo— 
     
     graphy. Often we encounter 
     
     hostility, indifference 
     
     and often, to our good 
     
     fortune we found people 
     
     received literature with 
     
     genuine ihterest and con— 
     
     cern for boycotts. 
     
    

    
     Boycotts began in the 
     
     19th century and have 
     
     been, since then, a refu— 
     
     sal to buy, use or endorse 
     
     a product, an action or a 
     
     group that openly belitt— 
     
     les the dignity of men. 
     
     Most boycotts are direc— 
     
     ted against profiteering, 
     
     or exploitation of people. 
     
    

    
     The on the spot boycott 
     
     is a mixture of many exper- 
     
     iences. Boycotts are fruav 
     
     trating because people 
     
     must co—operate and for 
     
     many, co-operation is a 
     
     threat. Boycotts are "mind 
     
     openers" when we discover 
     
     how much man will rape, 
     
     exploit and violate human 
     
     rights to save a buck. 
     
     Boycotts do not work over— 
     
     night, sometimes we are 
     
     fighting giants. It requ- 
     
     ires that we are constant— 
     
     ly aware of the need.for 
     
     information, alertness and 
     
     care. We must avoid unques— 
     
     tioning acceptance and im— 
     
     pulsive consumption of 
     
     media and products. Often 
     
     advertisement is merely 
     
     attempting to pretepd imm— 
     
     ediate gratification of 
     
     our needs. Sometimes pro— 
     
     ducts are produced under 
     
     extreme conditions of in— 
     
     humanity and exploitation 
     
     of people who are oppressed 
     
     Sometimes the profit from 
     
     products that you buy are 
     
     used to Supress political 
     
     revolution, to deny facil— 
     
     ities that we presume are 
     
     basic, such as schools, 
     
     hospital care, unemployw 
     
     ment insurance and even 
     
     washrooms and water while 
     
     we work. 
     
    

    
     The harvest of some pro— 
     
     ducts that you buy is 
     
     controlled by the mafia. 
     
    

    
     Sometimes the convenie—‘ 
     
     nces that you are being 
     
     convinced to use in the 
     
     name of efficency are 
     
     just machines doing the 
     
     same work in the same am— 
     
     ount of time as men. (A 
     
    
   
   
    
     edit-Avin 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘é'fi 
     
    
   
   
    
     cynical comment I received 
     
     the other day was "Mach— 
     
     ines don't go on drunks 
     
    

    
     or strikes do they?") 
     
    

    
     Boycotts are organized 
     
     and carried out by people 
     
     who are concerned for 
     
     people's rights. That's 
     
     probably why’they may 
     
     appear small, on the con— 
     
     trary, most of the boycotts 
     
     that have taken place in 
     
     Charlottetown have been 
     
     a response to national, 
     
     international an multi— 
     
     national calls for supp- 
     
     ort in boycotts. 
     
    

    
     This summer people res— 
     
     ponded "Farmers...hum!!", 
     
     "Kraft; what else would 
     
     my kids eat?", "If I boy— 
     
     cotted everything that I 
     
     was asked to I couldn't 
     
     flw#3"mfimmjwtcmme 
     
     trouble", "I don't care." 
     
     Were people really saying, 
     
     "Don't raise any conscien- 
     
     ceness, I'm threatened",~ 
     
    
   
   
    
     \ 
     
    
   
   
    
     "The world is just a place 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
    
   
   
    
     to poverty, to a high mor- 
     
     tality rate, to oppression, 
     
     to dehumanization of self, 
     
     family and community. 
     
     Youchoose, you can not 
     
     pretend it doesn't matter. 
     
     One of the pains of life 
     
     in the 20th century is we 
     
     can no longer honestly 
     
     remain uninformed. It is 
     
     an informed decision each 
     
     of us makes. It is not 
     
     an impulse or a passive 
     
     response. 
     
    
   
   
    
     that I occupy", "It's 0.K. 
     
     until I feel restrained", 
     
     "I'm on vacation". 
     
    

    
     Yet many people responr 
     
     ded with warm encourage- 
     
     ment and support. .1 
     
    

    
     Unfortunately, the logic 
     
     of illusion is sometimes/ 
     
     sadly misinformed. Next 
     
     time you are asked to de- 
     
     cide on a boycott, think 
     
     of the disease that begins 
     
     with a germ, a revolution 
     
     that begins in dialogue 
     
     across a coffee table, a 
     
     war settlement often ends 
     
     with one‘thought. Think 
     
     that you have power, as a 
     
     person. You also have mon- 
     
     etary power and whether 
     
     or not you like it you use 
     
     of abuse that power every 
     
     time you spend a cent. 
     
    

    
     You may buy goods or sets s 
     
     viCes or you may buy some— 
     
     ones continued enslavement 
     
     to threaten job security, 
     
    
   
   
    
     - Boycotts are people 
     
     attempting to use their 
     
     power as people for people. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ' Boycott the Postal Code 
     
     Boycott Algonian coffee 
     
     Boycott South African 
     
    

    
     Brandy 
     
     Boycott non-U.F.W. Grapes 
     
     and lettuce 
     
     Boycott Kraft. 
     
    
   
   
    
     D. MacDonald '