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As an average merchant you wouldn't have any reason to care about the ethical actions of large companies like VISA unless you were affected. These types of actions (right or wrong) force you to care.

In fact, this is one of the core principles that America was founded on through the symbolic Boston Tea Party and beyond.

I think the real point of these things, though its likely that the intentions of many participants differ, is to simply bring these issues to light to the common person.



> force you to care

I prefer to live in a world where people don't force me to care about things but persuade me through reasoned discourse.


Won't happen. Even if you don't like it when groups such as Anonymous force it on you, the State has mechanisms for you to care as well, many of them highly undemocratic.

I'm thankful that there's a balancing agent on the other end of the spectrum. Even if I disagree with it, it helps to distribute power.


> Won't happen.

I don't assume a paradigm of force. Sure it exists, but I don't assume it has to be that way. I'm not naive but I also know that people and organizations often do have the capacity to interact on a higher level; but it takes a lot of insight to see how. I don't assume the low road is the only one available.


I don't assume it has to be, but that's the way it's been through all of human history, and I'm guessing we're several thousands of years away from that changing.


Unfortunately the laws of physics prevent that world from ever existing; data is growing exponentially whereas time and attention are limited.


But you can grab my attention in a way that doesn't involve an attack.


I am talking about the effect of these things. You are talking about the point of these things.

They are not the same.




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