: : The principal wrong is the use of violence. Violent measures have rarely achieved anything lasting, whereas non-violent means often have lasting effects. The work of Gandhi, Martin Luther King and others have had effects which have shaped our generations and will continue to last into the future. : I agree that non-violence is the way to go but I wonder who you're respnding to. It's not McSpotlight, because they certainly don't advocate violence against McDonalds or anyone else.
Some of the posters in this forum, albeit a minority, do express suggestions which could incite violence against McDonalds. How often has violence occurred at supposedly 'peaceful' demonstrations and protests. Some of the campaigns that are published on this forum from time to time will surely cause some degree of conflict between the protesters/leafleters and the McDonalds customers and staff.
It is obvious that some people hate McDonalds so much they do resort to violence against them. Yesterday I walked past the McDonalds in Liverpool, Sydney, Australia which had been gutted by fire (arson during the middle of the night) last month. I heard of another McDonalds near where I live suffering the same fate a year or so ago, and a couple of failed attempts elsewhere.
While the blackened shell of the restaurant, with the famous golden arches on the wall cracked and missing a few of the letters makes a very bold statement of this person's hatred of the company - what does it _really_ achieve? There are four other McDonalds' in the same suburb - two of which are within five or ten minutes walk - I doubt their business will suffer too greatly, (although I probably would have had lunch there - I did not realise this was the store which had been torched - and went to the KFC a hundred metres away insted) and the building was well insured. The net result is McDonalds gets a brand shining new store, paid for by everyone (not just their customers), without too much cost to them!
In conclusion, many of the participants in this forum seem very emotional about these issues, and it is important to realise these can lead to violence - in the extreme like the example above. I'm positive other companies do not so frequently become a target - I haven't heard of one case of a KFC or Pizza Hut burning down due to arson - I expect for the simple reason that McDonalds is the tallest poppy - the most successful, singled out so much by the media and sites like this.
