Y E SM E NT H E

B Y S H E Y E N N E R I V E R S

T H E Y E S M E N

The Yes Men is an identity correction group started by Igor Vamos and Jacques Servin over twelve years ago. It is a satirical way to protest and point out

he absurdity of corporations by simply being blunt about their beliefs and how they implement them.

Through many conferences and p resen ta t ions

the Yes Men have gotten lots of media attention for their causes. They have also spread the world to other activist and have created an army of jesters to help bring change

across the world.They have gone from just two guys wearing cheap thrift store suits to a wave of change, through e d u c a t i n g activists with o rgan i za t i ons such as Yes Lab.

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J a c q u e s S e r v i n

M E E T T H E M E N

I g o rV a m o s

A n d yB i c h l b a u m

M i k eB o n a n n o

With the Yes Men sometimes it can be difficult to tell when they’re being serious and when they’re in character. Their audiences, who are typically c o r p o r a t e p ro f e s s i o n a l s

F A C T O R F I C T I O N

who are attending some sort of c o n f e r e n c e , typically take them at face value and believe they are who they say they are. With the help of their friends and other

activists they have pushed the boundaries and

made people question the world we live in.

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In 1999 pre-Yes Men Mike and Andy started a website called GATT.org. This website was a parody site of the World Trade O rg a n i z a t i o n . It was soc o n v i n c i n g

W O R L D T R A D EO R G A N I Z AT I O N

“Criticizing those in powerwith a smile and a middle finger.”

thought, that people wrote

in questions and asked them to speak at c o n f e r e n c e s .

So they pulled their money

together and began appearing at conferences as WTO

representatives.

T h e i r p resen ta t ions ranged from auctioning off votes to re-p r i v a t i z i n g humans and so the Yes Men was born.

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Progress, is what happens when private c o r p o r a t i o n s try to solve the world’s p r o b l e m s .

The ingenious creation of the SurvivaBall, is

S U R V I V A B A L L B A L L S A C R O S S A M E R I C A

an all in one solution to climate change.

O r i g i n a l l y designed to protect corporate managers, it’s

now available to anyone who can afford it at

survivaball.com.

The SurvivaBall was first

presented at the C a t a s t r o p h i c Loss conference

at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, FL in 2006.Although the

Be safe, “No matter what Mother Nature throws your way!”

Compatible with Halliburton power units 10x + and 11x with PP45 adapter and TICC conversion software

Unit Z5-11Version 11.7

A Guide to the Basic Functionsand Properties of the

Model X7 SurvivaBall

Arctic melt has slowed the Gulf Stream by 30% in just the last decade, and if it stops it will bring constant frozen temperatures to Europe, owners of the SurvivaBall can rest easy k n o w i n g that it can withstand such temperatures . It can also hold up against t o r n a d o e s , d r o u g h t , h u r r i c a n e s ,

flooding, and even fire. Since were

not going to be lowering our carbon

emissions by 7-% anytime soon, the

S u r v i v a B a l l , really is quite a reasonable

s o l u t i o n .

“The devices - looking like huge inflatable orbs - will include s o p h i s t i c a t e d communicat ions systems, nutrient g a t h e r i n g capacities, on-board medical facilities, and a daunting defense i n f r a s t r u c t u r e to ensure that the corporate mission will not go unfulfilled even when most human life is rendered impossible by

catastrophes or the consequent epidemics and armed conflicts.”

The SurvivaBalls have been touring the country and began its tour live on CNN. A couple days

“The ONLY r a t i o n a l r e s p o n s e to abrupt c l i m a t e c h a n g e . ”

before the 350 say of action they made an appearance at the U.S. Capital steps where they rallied for the senate to come to a “binding agreement on climate change,” with intentions to not allow anyone to leave or enter the building.

Although they were rolled off the steps by law e n f o rc e m e n t , they did manage to make a s t a t e m e n t .

They also tried to make a splash at a UN conference, where they were going to bob upstream to where

world leaders were discussing climate change, but were stopped by several police boats and a helicopter

Another media g r a b b i n g stunt included S u r v i v a B a l l s chasing Sen. Arlen Specter.

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“Right: it's mostly faith.

The power of faith to transcend the most obvious logic is a well-established p h e n o m e n o n . When the C r u s a d e r s d i s c o v e r e d

H O W T H E YP I C K A TA R G E T

themselves in pitched battle against Christians they had travelled thousands of miles to save, they refused to amend their theory that these Christians needed their help. Faith!

Faith, likewise, spurred thirty-nine web developers to don Nikes and swallow poison, on the theory—not backed by much solid evidence—that they’d shortly meet up on the Hale-Bopp Comet. (The “Heaven’s

Gate” suicide was remarkable among mass suicides for its interface with observational astronomy.) And when Appalachian snake handlers insist on dancing with poisonous critters, despite not-so-rare deaths

and lost limbs, it is from faith in the theory that God is protecting them. (The basis for this often-contradicted theory is two Biblical verses: “They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them”—Mark 16:18—and “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions”—Luke 10:19.)

Similarly, our audience of lawyers

in Salzburg had a theory—that the free market could bring happiness to the world at large—and they had the deepest possible faith in it. We had imagined that if we pushed our proposals into the outer limits of

ugliness, we could horrify our audience into objecting. But the nature of their faith was such that so long as our proposals derived from the one true theory, there was no way they would ever see anything wrong with them.

We weren’t the first sloppy satirists to make the mistake. In 1703, a troublemaker named Daniel Defoe, seeking to show the absurdity of a bill forbidding non-Anglicans to hold public office, had suggested in a widely-published pamphlet that barring the scoundrels from office was a big waste of time, and that it would be much more efficient to simply execute them:

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It is cruelty to kill a snake or a toad in cold blood, but the poison of their nature makes it a charity to our neighbors, to destroy those creatures! Not for any personal injury received, but for prevention; not for the evil they have done, butthe evil they may do!.... How many millions of future souls, [shall] we save from infection and delusion, if the present race of Poisoned Spirits

were purged from the face of the land!... The light foolish handling of them by mulcts, fines, etc.; 'tis their glory and their advantage! If the

Gallows instead of the Counter, and the galleys instead

of the fine were the reward of going to [non-Anglican churches], there would not be so many... As Scipio said of Carthage, Delenda

est Carthago! ... Let Us Crucify The Thieves!

[Note: Defoe was no scholar: it was Cato who p r o n o u n c e d C a r t h a g ed e l e t a b l e —Scipio merely did the deleting.]Defoe, to his shock, found his histrionic, i n a c c u r a t e , and profoundly ridiculous words taken seriously. A large number of radical Anglicans,thinking one of them had authored the creed, came out loudly in favor of execution; this solution, after all,

was quite clearly consistent with the widely accepted theory that only Anglicans had any virtue, and that all others were “Poisoned Spirits” in the body politic.

We too discovered that once a premise is laid—whetherit be the toxicity of dissenters or the friendliness of free markets—there is no way to push the implications enough to shake off believers. Why should international

trade lawyers, presented with logical conclusions of a theory they deeply believe

and practice each day, be any different from

snake handlers, Crudaders, or radical Angelicans?

Since we hadn’t

read Defoe, we were condemned to repeat him. At

least we found ourselves just somewhat poorer, rather than, like Defoe, rotting

in jail awaiting the pillory....”

— theyesmen.org/faq 14

The Yes Lab is a way for the Yes Men to share with the world how fun and effective using creative media to educate people on important issues cane be. It is a network

Y E S L A B

of people and knowledge that the Yes Men have accumulated in their years of activism to help other groups carry out “media-getting creative actions” that work towards

their own goals. It has offices and workshop spaces at NYU’s H e m i s p h e r i c Institute in New York to help facilitate those needs.

An organization

will come to the Yes Lab with a target and a goal. Then the Yes Men will skype with them to work with the group on refining their goal. Then they do a bra ins torming

session in person to decide on what tactics will serve their goal best and then they train them on those tactics. The Yes Men will then check up on the group from time to time until they’ve reached their goal.

Each Lab is specific to the needs of the group but generally include a presentation

on effective techniques. The bra ins torming session. The training session, which teaches people how to improve their writing, video editing and whatever else the group will need to do to get their message across. And also tours of important areas pertaining to the project. They also consider: “using public

spectacle to affect the public debate.

Using humorto open minds, share ideas, and change the world. Figuring out what’s effective.

Figuring out what we, ourselves,

can do to changethe world, given our skills and abilities.”

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One project done with the help of the Yes Lab is SelfDeport.org.Which is a site dedicated to self deportation. They encourage patriots to look up their ancestry and find out if any

“A growing force within the Tea Party and beyond, Patriots for Self-Deportation believe that securing our

S E L F D E P O R T. O R GA Y E S L A B P R O D U C T I O N

of their ancestors came to America illegally and if so to self deport back to the “scene of the crime.”

The sites about page has the lovely

d e s c r i p t i o n below fallowed by a long list of comments.

borders is not enough. We must make sure that all residents and “citizens” have a true right to be in this great land. We believe our current laws must be changed to abolish anchor babies, whose children,

throughout history, should have never received automatic citizenship to this nation. If the Federal government will not take action NOW, then it is up to us, WE THE PEOPLE, to put an end to the invasion and internal decay that threatens to destroy the fabric of the USA. If you entered illegally or

stayed illegally, you are a CRIMINAL. We demand a purge for The Real America.

We hold FOUR CORE VALUES:

1)America belongs to REAL Americans.

2) Illegals and their anchor babies are here ILLEGALLY.

3) US citizenship is for those who can show PROOF their original ancestors were here legally.

4) All illegals and d e s c e n d a n t s of illegals are here ILLEGALLY and must be D E P O R T E D at once.

If you can’t prove you belong

here, you must R E P A T R I A T E .

Many of us have learned that we gained citizenship due to a criminal ancestor.If this is true for you too, do what’s right: Self-Deport!Until the 14th Amendment is changed, stopping illegal citizenship begins with US!”

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yeslab.org

selfdeport.org

theyesmen.org

survivaball.com

The Yes Men: Hard Work Is A WeaponBy Jocelyn K. Glei (the99percent.com)

R E F E R E N C E D M E D I A

ART IN THE GLOBAL CONTEXTMAINE COLLEGE OF ART

MAY 2012