All Are Up-held ! (Was FWD: power elite tactics)

Dear Friends, all,

I snip from the below:

> Be afraid.
> Be VERY afraid.
>

<

I hope that none will be afraid.

We are all here to help one another.

My phone number is (UK) 01992 501854

I hope that any Friends' Meeting House (Quakers) will help *any-one* in
local distress - and, in the event that they don't understand
('stand-under') the call for help, try me, try elsewhere - just keep calling
!

Friendly xx's

j
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>From: Maryellen Lewis <lewisma9@pilot.msu.edu>
>To: communitydevelopmentbanking-l@cornell.edu
>Subject: FWD: power elite tactics
>Date: Sat, Aug 14, 1999, 7:39 pm
>

>I am forwarding this because I believe it till interest many participants
>on this list.
>Maryellen Lewis
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>Date: Fri, 13 Aug 1999 17:22:07 -0400
>Subject: power elite tactics
>From: Lee Winkelman <leew@gbls.org>
>
>We've been talking about how to research the power elite. Here's
>how the power elite researches us.
>
>This info comes from the Center for Media and Democracy
><http://www.prwatch.org/99-Q1/outrage.html> This is a sample of the kinds
>of things corporations will be using against us in the future. Be afraid.
> Be VERY afraid.
>
>Michael Morrill
>PCAN
>1-610-478-7888-tel
>morrill@pcan.org
>+++++++++++++++++=
>
>Mad as Hell? This Program May Have
>Your Number
>
>by Bob Burton
>
> Is ToxicSludgeCo trying to build in your neighborhood? Are you and your
>neighbors swarming like angry bees to attack and drive away the intruder?
>If so, you may be have become a blip on someone's "Outrage" meter.
>
>"Outrage" is a software package based on Peter Sandman's risk
>communications theories. As the name suggests, it is designed to assist
>companies in "predicting and managing" the anger of "stakeholders" affected
>by corporate actions.
>
>Like many PR consultants, Sandman says he is working to make corporations
>more open and accountable. His theories about "outrage" can be used, he
>says, both to help companies reduce community anger and to mobilize
>activism for improvements in public health.
>
>A glance at the software, however, suggests where its loyalties lie. A demo
>version for Windows is downloadable at <www.qest.com.au>. If you want the
>real thing, though, it sells for $3,000 a copy ($36,000 for a national
>corporate license, or $48,000 for a worldwide license).
>
>Obviously, these prices were not set with grassroots community groups in
>mind. Corporations with deep pockets are Sandman's primary market, and the
>demo package is tailored to appeal to that audience.
>
>The demo offers a hypothetical sample "situation definition" which lays out
>the following scenario: "Our factory in the South Side neighborhood has
>long had visible air emissions, sometimes very thick. The poor, minority
>residents, with whom we have very little relationship, recently began
>organizing to do something about the problem, maybe even shut us down."
>
>The demo then leads users through the steps needed to track and categorize
>people as allies, neutrals, or opponents. Among the sample "opponents," it
>lists names including "S.S. Latino Assn.," "Mrs. Charles," "City Air
>Quality Board," "Sierra Club," "Greenpeace," "South Side Elementary School"
>and "nearest neighbors."
>
>Computing Power
>
>"For obvious reasons, we are also interested in how much power each
>important stakeholder can bring to bear," the software explains.
>
>Sandman's strategy relies on a fairly crude but undoubtedly effective
>formula which invites PR managers to map the overlap between "passion" and
>"power" among stakeholders. Depending on how they rank in these two areas,
>the company can choose one of four strategies: "deflect, defer, dismiss, or
>defeat."
>
>Stakeholders with power but no passion should be "deflected." Distract
>them, change the subject, or just wait them out until their attention
>wanders elsewhere.
>
>People with passion but no power, on the other hand, can be "defeated."
>Sure they care, but can they do anything about it? And people with neither
>passion nor power are easier still. Just "dismiss" them.
>
>The one occasion when Sandman says real reform is necessary is when dealing
>with people who have both high passion and high power. Those people he
>says, are "a force to reckon with," and the company will eventually have to
>"defer" to their demands--"one way or another, to one extent or another."
>
>The "Outrage" software is marketed by the Qest Consulting Group, an
>Australia-based joint venture between Sandman and the global environmental
>consulting firm Dames and Moore. The Australian launch of the software
>included a panel discussion at which community activist Colleen Heartland
>was invited to participate as a representative of the Hazardous Materials
>Action Group (HAZMAG).
>
>HAZMAG, a local activist group in Melbourne, Australia, was formed after a
>series of chemical plant fires in the area. More recently, it has worked to
>organize area residents affected by a massive explosion that destroyed much
>of the Coode Island chemical plant and sent a toxic plume across Melbourne.
>
>"The more I sat through the presentation, the more worried I became,"
>Heartland said after the demonstration of Sandman's software. "The program
>is very, very sophisticated and based on the assumption that working with
>the company can be effective and the company can be trusted," she said.
>"From my practical experience neither assumption is true."
>
>Heartland said she "found the concept behind the software frightening. No
>longer are we up against PR people just trying to be nice to us, but they
>are being quite systematic in analysing activists to make sure they get
>their way."
>
>This sample screen from the demo version of Peter Sandman's "Outrage"
>software invites users to "list your opponents--declared opponents and
>potential opponents. This is the group we're going to analyze further, so
>don't stint on your list."
>
>


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