So I have an idea that I do not have the means to make reality, so I want to share it with you all. I suspect if this is a genuinely good idea (and I don’t know if it is) that places like Reddit will remove it.

There’s an early episode of The Simpsons (the B-Sharps Barbershop Quartet ep) that begins with the family at a swap meet or flea market or something, and Ned Flanders is selling a bunch of trading cards based on people from the Bible. They’re basically designed to look like baseball cards. “Who ever thought that learning about religion could be fun?”, Ned quips.

And then I thought

What if someone printed a set of collector’s cards or trading cards that were designed a bit like baseball cards but they were of billionaire CEOs, including people like Z-ck and M-sk but especially those that the general population has never heard of, such as Darr-n Woods of Exxon-Mobile or Brian Armstr-ng of Coinbase. Stats would include what they do, where they live, what they’re worth, and their crimes against humanity, plus anything else you can think of that would be relevant and would fit on a card. I’d also include people like Kevin R-berts of the H-ritage Foundation and that psycho C-rtis Y-rvin, as well as anyone else with a great deal of political and social influence, especially everyone who isn’t a celebrity.

Such a project would largely include research and design of the cards, finding photos, and of course printing the cards. If they are physical, and a bunch of copies are printed and disseminated worldwide, it would be very difficult for any authority to get rid of them entirely. Plus, then people could scan and photograph them and post them online, and I’d also suggest finding of means of spreading whatever digital file the designs are on so others around the world could download them and print and distribute their own.

Then, rather than selling them as little random stacks like baseball cards, just sell the whole stack as a complete collection. You could also print them as stickers so they could be applied to public spaces where they would also, hopefully, be photographed and shared.

I feel like a big problem right now is that save for the super famous guys like M-sk, most people don’t know who the most powerful people in the world, which means there’s a lot of people out there who are basically fucking things up without the knowledge of most of the general public. Spreading that knowledge means that more people know who they are and exactly how evil they are.

Now, I’ll be honest, I don’t know how good this idea is, but I do not wish to receive any credit for it. This would need to be treated as a meme, with an anonymous author(s). If you think this is a good idea, feel free to straight-up steal it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s public domain. You don’t need my permission because you’ve already got it (and I’m not sure you actually need it). Feel free to just straight-up copy and paste what I’ve written here if you feel like it. I don’t think this is an idea that can really be monetized and even if it could be, I don’t want the fuckin’ money. This information could be too important to be hidden behind paywalls or copyrights. If there ends up being several different card designs because a bunch of people decide to make it happen, GREAT. If it somehow miraculously takes off, I’ll know it was my idea and that is literally all I need.

If you post this idea, please do not mention that you found it on Lemmy, but if you do decide to post it elsewhere, include it in as many online spaces as you feel safe to.

Thanks for reading.

  • FastEddieB@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
    7·
    14 days ago

    OP here again.

    I also recall this exact strategy was used during the Iraq War, where US soldiers were given trading cards of Iraq officials and high-value targets to help soldiers learn to identify them. Knowledge is power.

    Another sort of tangential thought: Are there any DIY woodworking / metalshop people out there know how to make an old-fashioned printing press? Like, the ones with a hand crank? If you have the means and the desire to do this, bringing back the Gutenberg style press would mean a means of printing information that can’t be traced to any specific printer or computer tech, and heat sensors wouldn’t be able to pick it up from outside as they could with electronic devices. Bringing back old school tech could be very helpful to create and distribute information anonymously, plus by creating it in physical form it can easily be photographed and posted online.

      • FastEddieB@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
        5·
        14 days ago

        Yeah, lol, I wrote all that out and immediately after pressing post that exact thought popped into my mind. I guess I’m not the only one who remembered that.

      • FastEddieB@lemmy.dbzer0.comOP
        4·
        14 days ago

        To be clear, I do not personally have to means to do this. Let’s just say that if this entire thing is left up to me, there’s no way it’ll ever get completed. I have some health problems that would almost certainly delay things indefinitely, and anything that would cost money or require someone to know their local community is completely outside of my means.

        That said, thanks for sharing the idea. I’d also say that you can sometimes find old lino blocks at antique stores and those sorts of places are usually more than happy to accept cash.