The growing international movement against corporate globalization and capitalism has spawned a backlash from the capitalists. In many ways, this backlash is so tiny that it isn't worth mentioning, but the corporations are spending millions of dollars to defeat the global movement for justice and a world free of bosses. On this page we will track their backlash, which include an interesting tactic: astroturf campaigns. An astroturf campaign is a fake grassroots organization, coalition, or event, created by corporations directly, or through their PR firms. These efforts frequently involve the writing of letters from the fake grassroots to politicians, the posting of fake DIY websites, and the creation of shell organizations with no real members.

The List: Astroturf Websites

Truth About Trade

Guestchoice.com

Heartland Institute

The List: Astroturf Organizations

Further Reading

Chemicals 101: Selling Anti-Environmentalism to Kids

PR Firms

Astroturf Stunts that Backfired

Contributions Watch
The next time someone with a name like "Tom Trouble" shows up at the door of the State Affairs Company, the owners will probably think twice before they hire him. His real name was Tom Wheeler, and at first he felt lucky to land the job. "I was not hired in a typical or conventional way," he recalls. "In the fall of 1995, I was working for a temp agency that assigned me to work with State Affairs for a couple of weeks. Apparently they liked my work, and they asked me to leave my telephone number because they were interested in using me in the future. In January of 1996, I got a call from Warren Miller asking if I would be interested in working on a 'project' for them. That's how I was hired. There was no interview process, and they never saw a copy of my resume. They based it solely on my previous work for them a few months earlier. Frankly, I was somewhat amazed. Everybody else who worked there had college degrees. Heck, I barely made it out of high school alive. The fact that they hired me was simply dumb luck. There is no other explanation for it."