Erosion of the Agora, Apple Style

tbutler (apparently) - 03:17pm Dec 9, 2004 PST
via email

> Kid and Pets Against Overtime, a guerrilla theater group, was
> allegedly intimidated by Apple Computer's security while driving
> around on public streets near the company. KAPAO has equipped a car
> with a P.A. system to broadcast their message of reuniting overworked
> tech workers with the families and pets.

<http://emperor.tidbits.com/.3c552b47>

I have about three different thoughts about this...

* The core issue KAPAO is protesting against does bother me, a lot. I've
been in the same situation myself many times over the last decade and a
half, putting in a lot more than 40 hours a week as a salaried employee;
even without the personal experience, it's something I see popping up
again and again as companies across the board work employees much harder
to avoid hiring new people. If this is what they call 'productivity
increases,' perhaps they should remember the lesson Henry Ford
originally taught, that your employees are also the customers that drive
economic growth...

* On the other hand, the tactics used by KAPAO bother me. I firmly
believe that the right to free speech does *not* include the right to
force people to listen. Looking at guerilla speech tactics, there's a
very definite progression from things like posting handbills (which I
find completely acceptable) up through protestors using noise,
intimidation and body-blocking to try and prevent people from moving
(which I find completely unacceptable, and should be subjected to
maximum criminal prosecution; the more egregious examples send my blood
pressure skyrocketing). KAPAO's tactics are in a grey area, but fall on
the unacceptable side of the line for me; I would have no problem with
them driving around in a car completely plastered with 10-foot
billboards, but using a PA system crosses the line of forcing people to
listen to your message.

* On the third hand, all-nighters, 30-or-40 hour straight hacking
sessions, and the like are all enshrined parts of the computer
enthusiast culture. I sure as heck don't want to see people forced or
pressured into working these kinds of shifts; OTOH, I don't want to lock
down enthusiasts who are on fire about a project and *want* to work
those kind of hours to finish something. That kind of spirit has
produced some of the greatest work of the computer revolution (including
the Mac itself; look at some of the stories on
<http://www.folklore.org>).