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23-457: The book is, in the style of the counterculture, mainly focused on ways to fight against the government and against corporations in any way possible. The book is written in the form of a guide to the youth. Hoffman, a political and social activist himself, used many of his own activities as the inspiration for some of his advice in Steal This Book . The main author of the book, Abbie Hoffman,

46-428: A "necessary" work "of warning and practical knowledge" that had been written with "gentleness and affection." He wrote that the book had received no reviews and that only one paper had permitted an advertisement, though the book had sold 100,000 copies. Rader felt that the "remarkable" suppression of the book constituted a form of "fearsome censorship." Hoffman was quoted saying, "It's embarrassing when you try to overthrow

69-594: A forum for some of the industry's best writers and artists. Many of Forçade's publications' writers went on to be published in premiere papers and magazines in North America. He was born in Phoenix, Arizona . His father, engineer and hot rod enthusiast Kenneth Goodson, died in a car crash when Forçade was a child. Forçade graduated from the University of Utah in 1967 with a degree in business administration. He went into

92-528: A network of countercultural newspapers and magazines that he helped found. The name was changed to the Alternative Press Syndicate in 1973. In 1970, Forçade was the first documented activist to use pieing as a form of protest, hitting Chairman Otto Larsen during the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography . In summer 1974, he founded High Times , and contributed funding to

115-405: Is also an introduction and appendix that lists "approved" organizations and other books worth stealing. "Survive!" gives information and methods for obtaining goods and services for free or at discounted rates. It covers a broad range of items, including food, clothing, furniture, transportation, land, livestock, housing, education, medical care, communication, entertainment, money, and drugs. There

138-807: Is further advice on slug coins , panhandling, welfare , shoplifting , growing cannabis , and establishing a commune . "Fight!" includes chapters on starting an underground press , broadcasting through guerrilla radio or guerrilla television , non-violent demonstrations and how to protect oneself if they become violent, how to make an assortment of home-made bombs, first aid for street fighters, legal advice, how to seek political asylum, guerrilla warfare, gun laws, and identification papers. The final section, "Liberate!", contains information particular to four major cities: New York City , Chicago , Los Angeles , and San Francisco . Hoffman has an idiosyncratic writing style, and incorporates slang specific to his subculture—e.g., referring to his country as " Amerika ." In

161-545: The United States Air Force but was discharged after a few months. He used the skills he learned, however, to fly across the border for several years, trafficking drugs from Mexico and Colombia. He used the proceeds to form a hippie commune and underground magazine called Orpheus . After this, he moved to New York City , where he first took over management of the Underground Press Syndicate ,

184-524: The Yippie newspaper, Yipster Times , while also bankrolling the ailing Punk magazine. High Times ran articles calling marijuana a "medical wonder drug" and ridiculing the US Drug Enforcement Administration . It became a huge success, with a circulation of more than 500,000 copies a month and revenues approaching $ 10 million by 1977, and was embraced by the young adult market as

207-701: The WTO meetings in Seattle , which disrupted and ended the meetings. Participants communicated their strategies through emails, websites, and other platforms. Some new anti-globalization networks have emerged. In the United States, anti-corporate globalization movements reemerged after less attention was given to the war in Iraq, resulting in an increase in mass mobilizations. Tom Forcade Thomas King Forçade (September 11, 1945 – November 17, 1978), also known as Gary Goodson ,

230-443: The actions of corporations and that lawbreaking companies and executives are routinely caught and punished, usually in the form of monetary fines . Anti-corporate activists often ally with other activists, such as environmental activists or animal-rights activists , in condemning the business practices of organizations such as McDonald's Corporation ( McLibel ) and forestry company Gunns Limited ( Gunns 20 ). In recent years,

253-479: The band's management and record company to let him document the tour. Forçade committed suicide by gunshot to the head in November 1978 in his Greenwich Village apartment after the death of his best friend, Jack Coombs. Forçade had attempted suicide before and bequeathed trusts to benefit High Times and NORML . High Times ' former associate publisher, Rick Cusick, claims that, at Forçade's memorial — held on

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276-565: The bible of the alternative life culture. By 1977 High Times was selling as many copies an issue as Rolling Stone and National Lampoon . According to the 1990 nonfiction book 12 Days on the Road: The Sex Pistols and America , by Noel E. Monk, Forçade and his film crew followed the Sex Pistols through their chaotic January 1978 concerts of the U.S. South and West, using high-pressure tactics in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade

299-453: The book, Hoffman calls America the "Pig Empire" and contends that it is not immoral to steal from it—in fact, Hoffman wrote, it is immoral not to do so. The term was picked up by the Yippies , and was widely used by what became known as the " Woodstock Nation ." Some of the information in the book has since become obsolete for technological or regulatory reasons, but the book iconically reflects

322-492: The government and you wind up on the Best Seller's List." Subsequent to publication, two contributors to the book, Tom Forcade and Izak Haber, had a dispute with Hoffman. Forcade accused him of failing to pay sufficient royalties, contravening the contract Hoffman had made. Hoffman responded that Forcade had done an "inadequate job" of editing the book. Haber threatened to sue Hoffman for breaking his contract; he claimed that he

345-519: The government. Some editors feared a negative reaction from booksellers, to the title as well as the content. This fear proved to be well-founded; in the United States, many regional distributors and bookstores were unwilling to carry the book. In Canada, it was banned by the government. Once it got into print, Steal This Book had many readers and became a bestseller mainly through word of mouth. Dotson Rader in The New York Times described it as

368-400: The hippie zeitgeist . Steal This Book was rejected by at least 30 publishers before it was able to get into print, and Hoffman was eventually forced to make a publishing company of his own, Pirate Editions, to publish the book at his own expense, with Grove Press as the distributor. Some of the publishers rejected the book out of moral opposition to its content, while others were afraid of

391-410: The number of books (Naomi Klein's 2000 No Logo being a well-known example) and films on the subject has increased, such as The Corporation , which has to a certain extent supported anti-corporate politics. An artist critical of sociopolitical agendas in business is conceptualist Hans Haacke . In June 2008, Condé Nast Publications released an article entitled "The Secret Seven", which listed

414-733: The power and autonomy of corporations have grown. Opponents of corporate globalization believe that governments need greater powers to control the market, limit or reduce corporate power, and eliminate rising income inequality. Usually on the political left , anti-corporate globalization activists rail against corporate power and advocate for reduced income gaps and improved economic equity . Anti-corporate activists believe that large multinational corporations gained too much influence by hiring lobbyists to advance their political and economic agendas worldwide and to increase corporate profits. The defenders of corporations, such as Ron Arnold , highlight that governments legislate in ways that restrict

437-521: The top seven anti-corporate web sites. These included: WikiLeaks , Mini-Microsoft , Wal-Mart Watch , HomeOwners for Better Building , Brenda Priddy and Company (automotive spy photos), AppleInsider and MacRumors . In 2020, a group called "Save our Elders from Corporate Abuse" was formed on Facebook . The page tried to report and expose businesses that trap senior citizens into predatory loans, perpetual billing for products, or other schemes. On November 30, 1999, nearly fifty thousand people protested

460-568: Was an American underground journalist and cannabis rights activist in the 1970s. He was the founder of High Times magazine and for many years ran the Underground Press Syndicate (later called the Alternative Press Syndicate) Forçade published several other publications, such as Stoned , National Weed , Dealer and others, that, veiled as counterculture entertainment magazines, were laced with humor and savvy coverage of politics and popular culture, and served as

483-558: Was due 22 percent of the royalties for having compiled and written the book, but received only $ 1,000. Anti-corporate activism Anti-corporate activism is activism directed against the private sector, particularly larger corporations . It is based on the belief that the activities and impacts of big business are detrimental to the public good and the democratic process . International trade and financial deregulation facilitated corporate globalization . As more economies have embraced free markets and deregulation ,

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506-416: Was one of the most influential and recognizable North American activists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, gaining fame with his leadership in anti-Vietnam War protests. In the introduction, Hoffman writes that 50 people were involved in the creation of Steal This Book . Izak Haber and Bert Cohen are credited on the title page as "co-conspirator" and "accessory after the fact", respectively. Steal This Book

529-445: Was written in the climate of the counterculture , in which opposition to tradition and government was rampant, and experimentation with new forms of living was encouraged. When the book was published, it took hold among the new left , especially among students on college campuses, such as Brandeis University , where Hoffman had been a student. Steal This Book is divided into three sections, "Survive!", "Fight!" and "Liberate!". There

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