New market for ‘action offsets’

BY GUNTER LEGHORN

AMSTERDAM – We know what happened. Massive nonviolent direct actions led to mass arrests, filling up the jails, raising mass consciousness about climate change and putting great pressure on Europe’s leaders. This forced a real agenda onto the Copenhagen talks, leading to the cooperative global solutions that are now being implemented.Yes, we’re all grateful to those who put their lives and livelihoods on the line in the streets, shutting down offices, power plants, docks, highways, etc. But humanity also owes a debt to an unsung group of people.
The people who didn’t get up off their couches.
The people who sat back and watched it all happen on their TVs.

The only finger they lifted was to push a button on their remote, or to click their mouse, yet they proved vital to the mass movement.

Thanks to the concept of “action offsets,” people who were unable or unwilling to risk arrest themselves were able to log on to websites like BeyondTalk.net and donate vital funds to the movement to make up for their own inaction. These donations provided money for food, transportation, shelter and bail money for those willing to participate more directly.

“It’s like ‘carbon offsets,’ where you pay to plant a tree to make up for flying on an airplane,” explained Christopher Timson, the inventor of action offsets. “Except in this case, it’s not bullshit. Your money actually does fund direct action in a clear and useful way. Maybe not everyone can get in the streets, I don’t know, but lots of people have a few extra bucks. Every successful movement has to meet people where they are, and accept support in whatever form people are able to give it.”

Indeed, thousands of “eco-couch potatoes” signed up to financially offset their inaction, and help the active, on BeyondTalk.net.

“I was thrilled to be able to participate,” said Meryl McIntyre, 47, an accountant in Fargo, North Dakota. “Since I’m the sole breadwinner, my husband didn’t want me to go raise a ruckus. But I could put a bit of that ‘bread’ into something I believe in.”

“Honestly, I just really hate the smell of tear gas,” said Bruno Schmidt, 24, a car salesman in Bonn. “I’m very sensitive to that, and I also have a neurotic fear of being dragged over asphalt by burly men. But I’ve had a good year, sold a lot of hybrids. And I knew it was time to give something back. I logged on to BeyondTalk.net, and for just a few hundred euros, I paid for the train tickets and food money for an entire affinity group of climate activists. They sent me a thank you email with photos of their arrest. It’s a warm feeling.”