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Practical Anti-corporate magick

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12:26 / 21.02.06

Just a theorical question to all:

*Assuming unlimited power to make things happen, what would you do to change the world?

Start a new thread on that. It's a little broader than what we've got going on in here.

What do you think? Any ideas? Is there any weakness in the system that you have identified? Or is a global change in consciousness the only thing that would do the trick?

The only "weakness" in the system that I know of is in the hearts of other people. When I was working at the Corp HQ, I found there wasn't very much I could do to change things. I couldn't make the company more responsible towards it's employees, the environment, or any of a thousand other options. I was one one number in a sea of numbers. I won't say there was one overriding Will directed by the Corp entity opposing my efforts. I will say that there was an amalgam of Wills that had either been attracted to or bent toward the general aims of the company. That's a lot to overcome, and you can't do it alone or even with a small group. I couldn't anyway.

No, the best option I found is 'one person at a time'. The most anarchistic thing you can do in an office environment is create a small zone of peace around you and leave enough to share with others. 'Tending the Light' as LVX says above. And it's funny to say, but being straightforward, tactful, peaceful, and honest can really piss some people off.

13:11 / 21.02.06

Start a new thread on that. It's a little broader than what we've got going on in here.

Point taken. I was wondering about the same thing just now. Didn't know if I was threadrotting or not, so, in a way yes, by being too broad.

And it's funny to say, but being straightforward, tactful, peaceful, and honest can really piss some people off.

I do agree with that. As they say: "Love your enemies, it is the best way to get on their nerves"

15:31 / 21.02.06

Assuming unlimited power to make things happen, what would you do to change the world?

It is kind of too broad a question. And it assumes we'd have some sort of omniscient perspective, which we'd need to assess what the consquences of our willing would be.

More exactly, what would be the smallest thing you should strike, or change, to topple the whole thing upside down with maximum benefit to all?

This kind of reminds me of a lot of questions that are raised about revolutions i.e. "what kind of judicial system would we have in a perfect society". I thnk they might be interesting to think about, fun diversions, but ultimately any changes you bring about are going to be on a small scale. You could start in your own attitudes, compassion for one, and work out from there with small actions in accordance with your principles. That's as much a reminder for me as anyone else.

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

15:17 / 23.02.06

I worked in a number of Corps(e) over the years - big Telecom outfit and Insurance...

one day, after working at the Insurance place for a coupla weeks, I stopped by the men's room, wandered into a stall, closed the door, and voila - a sigil I had designed had been inked on the back of it.

don't recall having done it (writing on bathroom walls is a bit cliche, and I never have a good pen).

the sigil, btw, was for "cthulhu" (working on writing a story).

while there, I recorded alternative calendar dates on all my documentation (got yelled at).
I drew colourful pictures on the public sidewalk outside (got yelled at).
wore my hair in pigtails (got yelled at - boys aren't supposed to wear pigtails, it has been assumed).

these are all personal decisions, and not one instance reflects the written corporate position.

I thought about the cursing (read Bey), and looked at my boss, who was so wound up and stressed and unhappy (miserable, in fact), and couldn't think of anything worse I could wish upon her. However, with a little smile, a kind word, doing my best not to ruffle her feathers, she still yelled at me, was still miserable etc...

what curse would make that situation resolve itself? None that I could envision.

--

If you want to think of this as a war (vs ideas, harmful behaviour or what-have-you), then define your mission goals, and work towards accomplishing them by figuring out how to get from here to there.

I think attacking a corporation as if it were a person (say defining a agribusiness as the Pestilential Horseman of the Apocalypse and disseminating it to investors), the confrontation ends up with Marketing (not necessarily, but in this paragraph, it does).

Marketing are certainly key to much of the corporate illness. They lie. that is their job. The first thing the industry did (in its 1980s incarnation, vs the ad-men, spin-doctors and publicity-stunters that preceded them), was convince us that we've always accepted them, because they're great!

then the lying. "toxic sludge makes good fertilizer" for example.

how can such a momentous force as the marketing industry be opposed by magical means?

--not jack

ps I've been mulling over this subject for some time, and am glad to see such an engaged response.

16:31 / 23.02.06

The work I've done has typically been less aimed at cursing and more aimed at enlightening. My own experience has led me to feel that people and magickal constructs are more open to positive influences than negative ones. The work I did with News Corp was aimed explicitly at waking up the cattle and bringing love and rebellion into their lives.

On the very last day of the working (which was 33 days long) it was announced that a Fox employee that was being sexually harrassed by Bill O'Reilly (loofah!) had come forward with graphic details as outlined in her suit against her employer. And recently an article appeared discussing how conservatives are becoming frustrated with Fox over the growing liberal-ness of the former guardian of the Right. I would consider these successes.

The point again is that cursing institutions (or people), I feel, is not very effective. Sure it's punk rock and all but in the end I think it's important to keep your karma very clean when getting deep into magickal work. Beware the Black Brothers and all...

16:35 / 23.02.06

[self promo] And seriously, if you're really interested in this kind of thing, I'd encourage you to read my article in Gen Hex. I'm quite proud of it and feel I was able to create a very rich document about magickally engaging a large corporate entity. [end self promo]

16:43 / 23.02.06

On the very last day of the working (which was 33 days long) it was announced that a Fox employee that was being sexually harrassed by Bill O'Reilly (loofah!) had come forward with graphic details as outlined in her suit against her employer.

Really? If you're responsible for that, LVX, you're my new role model. I like to watch Bill "Talking Points" in the net just to infuriate myself.

And recently an article appeared discussing how conservatives are becoming frustrated with Fox over the growing liberal-ness of the former guardian of the Right. I would consider these successes.

Now, that's precious. How far in the right one must be to think FoxNews is leftist?

And I agree with you 100% when you say cursing is counter-productive, not only in a pragmatic, but also in a moral sense. Hatred should be the other side weapon.
The ends do not justify the means. The means determinate the ends. How you fight, and what you fight for, are the one and the same.

19:26 / 23.02.06

Responsible? Well, you know what Pete Carroll says: take any seeming result of your work as a direct indicator of its success.

20:46 / 23.02.06

Thus Sprach Dead Megatron
Well, yeah, there's no way to be sure which way it will go at this point. The big-corps sure would like to use the Machine to further their goals, so they are keeping a close watch to its "egg" (metaphorically speaking), but who knows? Maybe it will be brought to life by a bunch of anarchist hackers working in a shed somewhere. Or come from somewhere even more unexpected (it could even be a MMORPG character sudenly realizing it exist, if you want to be pre-teen pop culture about it - like an orc in World of Warcraft going "what the fuck, I think therefore I am"). I do expect it, once it's "born", to rapidly evolve into something way beyond the capacacity of its creators to control or predict. Let's see.

That, I think, I can Work with. I'm in the process of kicking off a new project and if I can get it to fly then in a few years we might be able to begin the process towards delivering ourselves a bouncing new Singularity and perhaps the sort of world we've always promised ourselves. Of course I can't make any promises myself it's all in early stages but good things come to those who wait, well work towards them.

Thus Sprach not jack
I thought about the cursing (read Bey), and looked at my boss, who was so wound up and stressed and unhappy (miserable, in fact), and couldn't think of anything worse I could wish upon her. However, with a little smile, a kind word, doing my best not to ruffle her feathers, she still yelled at me, was still miserable etc...

what curse would make that situation resolve itself? None that I could envision.

Maybe a healing carrying with it a fair amount of self realisation that her unhappiness is a result of her job. Under the right influences she could a perfect spanner in the corporate machine.

nyarlathotep's shoe horn

21:11 / 23.02.06

well, my boss wasn't so stressed about her job...

she wasn't there too often, and had a remarkable capacity for taking "away days" "appointments" (like her grandson's haircut) and random "work from home days."

whatever her source of distress was, work didn't figure high on the list.

--- after all this is said and done, I still have a particular corporate "persona" I wish to confront... essentially, I hope to appeal to the spirits of the land itself to help rid us of the corporation's ill-deeds while holding compassion and mercy for the people and living things involved.

it's still developing in my thoughts, and I'm not sure what approach to take. I'm considering moving to the city in which their canadian corporate headquarters are located - but I have spent very little time there, and the winters are really really cold.

in other words, a work in progress...

wrt to cursing in general: while discussing curses with someone, a passer-by interjected that she prefers to wish minor inconveniences on people - like having their toilet overflow for a week without explanation.

(akin to the vengeful pranks in the film Amelie - although their effectiveness as anything but a vehicle of schadenfreude is questionable).

--not jack

21:21 / 23.02.06

well, my boss wasn't so stressed about her job...

she wasn't there too often, and had a remarkable capacity for taking "away days" "appointments" (like her grandson's haircut) and random "work from home days."

If that's not a Pointed Hair Boss...

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