# Rage Against the Machine closed the NYSE ?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 6, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981 "2000-10-06T17:04:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 18
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MadHatter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadHatter)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/1 "2000-10-06T17:04:05Z")
Or is that stuff in their film clip just made up?
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/2 "2000-10-06T17:20:57Z")
A link from [MTV](http://www.mtv.com/sendme.tin?page=/news/gallery/r/rage000126.html)
[Michael Moore](http://www.michaelmoore.com/rage.html) says this.
That’s about a minute’s worth of searching on Google; hope it’s sufficient for your needs!
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### Author:  [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/3 "2000-10-06T17:21:34Z")
Due to the general nature of the band, I would say that it’s faked footage.
Just my WAG, though.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/4 "2000-10-06T17:23:47Z")
Is RATM really saying anything Midnight Oil didn’t already say years ago?
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### Author:  [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/5 "2000-10-06T17:29:53Z")
RickJay,
RATM is YELLING it, not saying it. That makes it much more important. 😉
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### Author:  [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/6 "2000-10-06T17:48:24Z")
If they’re still saying it, maybe it still needs to be said.
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### Author:  [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/7 "2000-10-06T22:54:03Z")
Hey, I am a rebel and I like the band, but how am I supposed to understand what they are saying? Perhaps they could enunciate a bit more so folks could understand the message. But then they might not sell records. A conundrum.
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### Author:  [@dietrologia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dietrologia)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/8 "2000-10-06T22:56:02Z")
If you yell, it shows you’re serious about your subject matter.
Doing a track with Snoop Doggy-Dog doesn’t help your credibility, though.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/9 "2000-10-06T23:02:04Z")
My .02 rubles:
Rage Against the Machine is yet another band of hypocrites. Yeah, they all quote from the Proper Texts and the Proper Speakers, but you’ll never see them actually _doing_ anything. They are a rich band preaching a change they would stop before it affected them and their limos. I’ll stop before this gets shipped to the Pit COD.
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### Author:  [@omni-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omni-not)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/10 "2000-10-06T23:27:48Z")
Given the present exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar, .02 of a ruble is a sure sign of low self-esteem. Come on! I’m sure your opinion is worth more than that…
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### Author:  [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)
#### Post date: [October 6, 2000, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/11 "2000-10-06T23:40:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Derleth \*
> \*\*My .02 rubles:
> Rage Against the Machine is yet another band of hypocrites. Yeah, they all quote from the Proper Texts and the Proper Speakers, but you’ll never see them actually _doing_ anything. They are a rich band preaching a change they would stop before it affected them and their limos. I’ll stop before this gets shipped to the Pit COD. \*\*
Right on. Not that they don’t do good work, but they don’t even take the “Revolution from within” copout. Which isn’t to say that they’re a _total_ charicature… they can serve a useful purpose, eg, my introduction to radical politics came from Ice-T, of all fuckin people. While I completely agree with most of the criticism leveled against them, I don’t think jumping on Zach for wearing a Los Crudos t-shirt, as some have done, is very useful. Screaming “sellout!” doesn’t do much to educate anybody about The Cause.
Musically, I think they suck, anyway.
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### Author:  [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2000, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/12 "2000-10-07T03:16:00Z")
**omni-not** :
You’re right, but I wanted to give my post a certain feel. The failed Communism of Russia was that feel.
**black445** :
Thanks for the agreement, but furthering The Cause is not my intent. I’m anti-Communist, you know, but I’m also anti-hypocrite.
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### Author:  [@BrothaTJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrothaTJ)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2000, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/13 "2000-10-07T07:53:27Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lissa \*
> \*\*Due to the general nature of the band, I would say that it’s faked footage.
>
> Just my WAG, though. \*\*
Where the hell do you get off saying that? What do you really know about the band?
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Derleth \*
> \*\*
> My .02 rubles:
> Rage Against the Machine is yet another band of hypocrites. Yeah, they all quote from the Proper Texts and the Proper Speakers, but you’ll never see them actually doing anything. They are a rich band preaching a change they would stop before it affected them and their limos. I’ll stop before this gets shipped to the Pit COD. \*\*
Bullshit. The lead singer has personally gone down to southern mexico to work with indigenous tribes who are fighting for their basic human rights, and the lead guitarist has been arrested for participating in an anti-sweatshop protest against the Guess? jeans company. Not to mention the fact that they have organized and/or participated in benefit concerts for their causes and give public speeches on the issues.
Why don’t you guys take your own advice and do a little research before you post.
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### Author:  [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2000, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/14 "2000-10-07T18:08:50Z")
I can’t speak to RATM’s activism or non-activism, but this bit from the Michael Moore site was classic:
> [@](#):
>
> They made it through the building’s first set of doors before Exchange security hit a button, bringing down metal bars and closing the financial capitol of the world at 3:15 PM.
>
> “We decided to shoot this video in the belly of the beast,” said Michael Moore. “And for a few minutes, Rage Against the Machine was able to essentially shut down American capitalism, an act that I am sure tens of thousands of downsized citizens would cheer.”
What a pimple. “Belly of the beast?” There’re tourists at Federal Hall 24/7. People take pictures of themselves at the front doors on New Street at all hours.
“Essentially shut down American capitalism?” Puhleeze. I once set off a metal detector at Laguardia. Does that mean that I can claim that “for a few minutes, I essentially shut down American aviation?”
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### Author:  [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2000, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/15 "2000-10-07T18:27:39Z")
manny:
Though Moore is probably a great guy, I can’t forget that letter I got from him before the last election essentially pimping for the Democratic party.
Brotha:
So are we supposed to put Sally Struthers on some sort of revolutionary pedestal cuz of her work with Save the Children? Ed Asner, cuz he wants to Free Mumia? Come on… Rage may not be treading water in the corporate bullshit, but they’re at least wading in it.
Who, ultimately, paid the production costs for that video where they shut down the NYSE? Their label: well, I forget which one they’re on, but it’s one of the Big Six.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2000, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/16 "2000-10-08T02:14:47Z")
I lost all respect for RATM when they gave me a “Free Mumia” flyer at their concert. Not to mention they played that night with blown speakers and sounded like shit…
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### Author:  [@BrothaTJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrothaTJ)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2000, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/17 "2000-10-08T06:27:08Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by black455 \*
> \*\* Rage may not be treading water in the corporate bullshit, but they’re at least wading in it.
> \*\*
I’ll give ya that. It’s a catch-22: They want to get their message out, but in order to do so they have to participate in the very market they speak against. What irked me was seeing people say they merely talk a big game without acting on their beliefs. Yes, they’re selling records and merchandise (moderately inexpensive merchandise…but i digress), but that’s the best way for them to get their message out to as many people as possible. They wouldn’t reach a hell of a lot of people preaching from LA street corners.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2000, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rage-against-the-machine-closed-the-nyse/35981/18 "2000-10-08T06:38:47Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by dietrologia \*
> If you yell, it shows you’re serious about your subject matter.
Yes, Dr. King and Mandela were forever screaming unintelligibly into the nearest mike. 🙂
The lesson, really, is that you can say pretty much anything and most people will think you’re an asshole, but if you say it and you’re a ROCK STAR - instant legitimacy!
We live in a world where some people honestly believe the Spice Girls have a serious message of female liberation and sexual equality.