Green Party crashed by "anti-technology" activists

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

http://bureaucrash.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=260

MILWAUKEE, WI – In an effort to see just how extreme members of the U.S. 
Green Party are, or even if they have any sense at all, a cell of 
Wisconsin Bureaucrash activists, calling itself “Progressives Against 
Progress,” infiltrated the U.S. Green Party’s 2004 presidential 
nomination convention. They handed out flyers (pdf) nominating Fidel 
Castro for president, circulated petitions (pdf) calling for an end to 
modern farming, the internet, and business in general, and distributed 
“Anti-Globalization” quizzes (pdf) that pointed out just how many 
products of globalization surround us.

Green Party delegates, members, and observers never questioned the use 
of digital recorders, camcorders, cell phones, designer clothes (made in 
“sweatshops”), etc. of the “Progressives Against Progress” activists 
used while protesting against same. Delegates accepted piles of 
“Nominate Fidel” flyers and handed them on to people down their rows – 
some even liked the idea so much they offered to help distribute them. 
Numerous participants signed petitions against technology, while being 
filmed doing so by a plethora of high tech gadgets. The 
anti-globalization quizzes had numerous people scratching their heads, 
wondering how they might be able to carry on their lives without the 
evil products of globalization they rely upon day in and out.

Sadly, none of this seemed to cause any of the targets of this 
Bureaucrash spoof to rethink their assumptions, nor question their 
principles. Fortunately, this group of “misguided idealists” is tiny 
(one estimate has the entire participation, including media and other 
observers, at less than 1,000 people, perhaps less than 500) and not 
very influential. But their ideas are popular, and Bureaucrash believes 
they need to be questioned. The public may look forward to more creative 
“Crashes” by Bureaucrash activists in the future, highlighting nonsense 
masquerading as idealism wherever it crops up.
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