According to you, all it takes is one movie to convince people.
Nope. I never said this.
Did you say it? No, but you implied it.
No. Either I'm communicating really poorly, or you're leaping to really wild conclusions about what I "implied." I would never say -- or imply -- anything as ridiculous as "all it takes is one movie to convince people." Obviously the vast majority of people won't see the movie. Of those who do, some won't be convinced. Of those who are, some won't remember or won't act on their convictions for other reasons. One movie is simply one factor among many.
As for my statement that you quoted -- "Blood Diamond and other efforts to publicize the situation are out there -- people who aren't aware of them won't be affected, just like with any other political action" -- how on earth do you get "all it takes is one movie to convince people" out of that?
When was the last time you, as one person, attempted to convince the head(s) of a huge corporation to change corporate practices? Not very effective, generally.
No, I don't buy the 'heads of all big corporations' are heartless drones stereotype. They're people too.
Never said this, either.
See above. I'm not quoting you, I'm taking what you mean.
No you're not. Obviously you don't know what I mean. You're talking about what you THINK I mean, which as we have seen is something vastly different.
I never said corporation heads "are heartless drones." I said it's not effective for one person to try to convince a CEO to change the company's practices.
So why wouldn't executives at a large corporation similarly be affected? Aren't they people, too?
Yes, Del, executives are people -- many, in fact, are very kind-hearted and charitable. But they don't run corporations single-handedly. They are beholden to boards of directors, which are beholden to stockholders. With billions of dollars at stake, CEOs don't go around drastically changing business practices because one person (or even a movie!) says it would be a good idea.
But if you think it will work, you're welcome to give it a try. Call De Beers; I won't stand in your way. While you're at it, why don't you call the oil companies and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and whoever else makes decisions about where the U.S. will import its oil. In fact, why don't you call Chu and all the energy companies and tell them to switch from fossil fuels to alternative forms of energy right away.
