Boycott Clearwire

[Gary]

Hi Todd,

I actually agree with most of the sentiments and politics expressed in 
this thread. However, I also recognize my place in the local and global 
economies that I participate in as an individual and as a member of the 
company I work for (we make font mgmt. software that's sometimes sold to 
companies that I don't necessarily agree with like Hearst, Random House, 
etc.). I live two miles from my office, ride the bus, bike or walk to work 
during the week, then drive my car on evenings and weekends when I'm doing 
things with my family that would be difficult but not impossible to do via 
mass transit. I know parents with small children that commit themselves to 
never driving a gas powered vehicle and I applaud them. However, not 
everyone can put up solar panels in the city (esp. those of us that rent), 
get Internet service that's completely free of corporate money, etc. 
Somewhere along the line you're funding someone's political beliefs that 
are opposite if your own. So you might boycott ABC for airing a docudrama 
you disagree with, or you might boycott Starbucks for buying coffee beans 
through non fair trade methods (or for just being an eyesore on every 
other corner of most urban sprawls), and you might only invest in mutual 
funds that are very picky about who they invest in, etc. But I'll bet that 
the flat panel LCD you bought was probably built buy someone that was only 
paid three dollars a day in Taiwan. And that shirt you're wearing may have 
come from Goodwill or a local consignment store but it could have been 
sewn in a sweatshop staffed by non-citizen immigrants in Los Angeles. So 
until you move without your current possesions to a completely 
self-reliant commune on a remote island whose government and all its 
citizens never spend a single penny that can be traced back to the U.S., 
please don't try to tell me that I'm personally funding the war in Iraq if 
I choose to buy service from an up and coming WISP that is headed by some 
bored rich guy in the suburbs that founded several tech companies and 
spends his free time glad-handing Republicans.

-Gary