Boycotts

Boycotts are largely about the people protesting, not the company/organization being boycotted. With few exceptions (Like the boycotts Martin Luther King organized) they are generally done the same way a child does a tantrum. You can stomp your feet, hold your breath till you pass out, jump up and down, and the organization you are boycotting will, nine times out of ten, shrug their shoulders and keep on ticking.

Disney comes to mind. In their movie "Beauty and the Beast" they had a gay character. Some members of the extreme right threatened a boycott and it worked so well that the movie grossed over 300 million dollars. When the left boycotts the products that Rush Limbaugh advertises, his program yawns-if they drop sponsorship someone else will jump at the opportunity to reach his countless listeners.

Boycotts are usually organized by those who grossly over estimate their own worth. They also want to feel moral and self righteous. Eric Hoffer wrote a wonderful book called "The True Believer". It's a book that should be read by everyone-his originality and brilliance is much needed in this world. The book is about the psychology of people who join all sorts of mass movements, like boycotts and revolutions. He was a prophet but like all prophets religious or not, they get basically ignored in their own time.