Debate : 17911


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Subject:	LEGO being used in politics! (help me in my dilemma)
Newsgroups:	lugnet.off-topic.debate
Date:	Sun, 29 Sep 2002 21:11:43 GMT
Viewed:	311 times

Hi all, I think the subject line sums it all up, but here goes the story, plus introduction: One year ago, if I were to buy a house in Portugal, I might ask for a loan with bonified interest (partially paid by the state), because I'm not yet 25 and haven't got my own house. And that was cool. Recently, and in face of the economic downturn + political changes (Socialist party defeated in elections by center-right Social Democrats), new policies were implemented; among these, the end of this kind of subsidy for housing. And, let's face it, it may have been the adequate thing to do (1). And now comes the LEGO part, which I just saw on the news: the Socialist Youth has decided to build a giant LEGO house in protest against this measure. And when I say "giant", I kind of mean just that... from the footage, it seemed rather big (I'm looking for an on-line photo). So, here come my questions: how legitimate is it to use a toy as a means for political expression? Can TLC be upset with this? What about LEGO fans which are not Socialist? Can TLC take legal action if they find that this action is "bad publicity" (2)? Or is it all OK? If so, should I try to participate in the assembly of this house as an AFOL (3)? Or is that just too political and not "playful" enough? Please give me some feedback about this. I really don't know what to think, either supporting the iniciative or condemning it. Or ignoring it, but that's just too hard knowing there are LEGO bricks involved... :-( Pedro (1) There were many scams in the process. But also many people got a house thanks to it, so it's not easy judgement. I refuse to take sides in this. (2) If there is such a thing. (3) Unless it's in Lisbon - there is no way I'm driving 2x300 Km for this!

Message has 3 Replies:

		Re: LEGO being used in politics! (help me in my dilemma)
(...) In my opinion, bricks are long enough in the tooth to be considered more of a "medium of expression" rather than just a toy. A mere brick is pretty dull in and of itself. When you break it down, a single brick is not much of anything -- it's (...) (22 years ago, 29-Sep-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

		Re: LEGO being used in politics! (help me in my dilemma)
(...) Cool! I think it's a neat political message. The only problem is that lumber and cement are so much cheaper that I'd expect them to be able to actually build several houses for the poor with the money they'll be spending on LEGO. (...) (...) (22 years ago, 30-Sep-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

		Re: LEGO being used in politics! (help me in my dilemma)
I think that this political group can use LEGO(tm) to express their ideas without restriction as long as they follow the same rules that AFOL's do. They must avoid the LEGO brand name and trademarks. They should be careful to state that there is no (...) (22 years ago, 30-Sep-02, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)

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