A Fountain-Flush is a film, street theatre piece, or other work that links desirable behavior to attractive people and undesirable behavior to unattractive people. (Note: "attractiveness" does not necessarily refer to physical attractiveness; it is rather a mix of qualities, such as friendliness, likeability, etc.)

For example, suppose we were hired to make a 20-second public service video meant to encourage the use of seat belts. We might focus on two cars in a high school parking lot. One of them is a shiny convertible sports car - the other one a rusty junker. A group of attractive friends carrying books and joking with each other get into the sports car. They put on their seat belts and drive away laughing. Then a disheveled loner with a cigarette in his mouth fumbles his keys as he gets into the junky car. He coughs a few times, belches loudly, then angrily boasts "I ain't need no seat belt!" Then he tries to start the car but it won't start.

The above example can be called a "fountain-flush" because the behaviors of attractive people spray out like fountains and get copied by everybody around. Inversely, the behavior of repulsive people do not get copied. Instead their behavior gets sucked away from others and gets flushed down the drain.


The "Fountain-Flush" is only one of the three tools that "active pacifists" use to change society through nonviolence (as described in the story "Aren't We the Lucky Ones" by Secretary Michael). The other tools are the "Genocide Slide" and the "Incompat".