Suggested Soundtrack:
"People Have The Power" (Patti Smith)/
"Wait For The Blackout" (The Damned)
Nothing better sums up our current malaise than this Rolling Stone headline that recently caught my attention: "The Oligarchs Are Done Pretending To Care." Well, guess what? So am I, and should you, which Friday's request from People's Union USA is all about.
For the relevant nitty-gritty, go right to the bottom. Short, sweet, and straightforward, like all direct action should be, right? Don't spend any money for 24 hours, but if you must, make sure that it only goes to small local businesses. Above all else, don't use credit or debit cards. The next chapter comes with a one-week boycott of Amazon (March 7-14), which will kick off a series of others. We'll feature those details here, once they become available.
As the collateral damage of Trump's restoration continues laying waste to our government and our constitutional heritage, it's encouraging to see The Resistance, however we define it, taking on a more concrete shape. Presumably, People's Union USA recognizes what observers have pointed out from the beginning -- namely, that lawsuits and "pressers" (press conferences) will only accomplish so much.
Nonviolent direct action, on the other hand, can accomplish even more, because it doesn't require permission from any political establishment to proceed. A guiding principle is that the people lead the movement, not the other way around. Every time I hear Democratic mastodons like James Carville, who hasn't worked a domestic election in decades, advise us to "play possum," "wait for Trump to punch himself out," "wait for the MAGA Republicans to implode," I just want to upchuck! Trump and his trusted hatchet man, Elon Musk, didn't wait for us to react, so why should we return the favor? That makes no sense!
But there are no shortage of other reasons to launch the Blackout. As Newsweek's commentary points out, occupying buildings is risky, and hard to sustain for long, while overt acts of violent resistance can backfire, resulting in severe blowback that can stop a movement dead in its tracks. Street demonstrations can work wonders, if enough people show up to support them, if the media covers them, and if the powers that be heed them -- until they don't. What then?
That leaves the power of the purse -- our power. Stripping Trump and Musk of their aura of invulnerability is the key to slowing, then stopping, their so-called "shock and awe" campaign. The more we interrupt its momentum, the less likely it is to succeed. Once it stops doing either of those things, shock and awe has no relevance anymore.
Starving their businesses of revenue is the most practical ways to show our disapproval of their traitorous power grabs, and pursuit of real and imagined enemies. Consider it a reverse tax, if you like, on the enormous wealth that our so-called political system allowed them to accumulate at such a rapid pace. Of course, the same scarlet letter applies to all the oligarchs who bent their knees to King Donald -- like Amazon's resident Dr. Evil, Jeff Bezos, who thinks nothing of killing political cartoons that might anger his new master, yet happily forks over $40 million on a proposed documentary about the First Lady. Need we say more?
Succeeding with a nationwide campaign like the 24-Hour Blackout sill also give the lie to the mass media's repeated attempts to bury the Resistance, as their star anchors and higher-ups strive hard to demonstrate how obedient they are, in advance. And, frankly, we can find no shortage of independent causes and organizations that could put our hard-earned dollars to so much better use.
Most relevantly of all, pulling off the Blackout also puts these businesses jockeying for Trump's favor on notice, that we can take our dollars elsewhere, even if it means sticking them in the safety of our pockets for 24 hours. If they heed disapproval, then find a different sort of customer who doesn't care, or doesn't mind. Either way, it's not our issue.
Withholding our dollars -- and our consent -- also lets these corporate entities know that it's time to change how they treat us. Too many of them have grown too imperial-minded for their own good, as they continue to cut back employees, options, and services, always with an eye toward fattening up their bottom line.
You see it in the grocery stores, when they herd customers into one or two endless serpentine lines, even as they claim, "Nobody wants to work." You see it on retail shelves, all over, as business methodically eliminate smaller priced items in favor of more wallet-straining alternatives. You see it in the tech space, where its overdogs want you bundled, defaulted, and layered into infinity, which works well for them, but not so much for us.
One of the lasting legacies of punk rock, and the DIY indie movement that it birthed, is the simple notion that who you support matters as much as what you support, and why. As bitterly as people denounce the '90s-era major label signing gold rush, there wouldn't have been bands to scoop up -- without the Dead Kennedys, Black Flags and Circle Jerks that made it possible in the first place.
The longer we can hang onto that cusp, the better off we are, and the more empowered we become. With that in mind, let your heart be your guide, and let your dollar speak your mind. See you Friday. -- The Reckoner
The 24 Hour Economic Blackout
As our first initial act, we turn it off.
For one day, we show them who really holds the power
WHEN:
Thursday, February 27th,
From Midnight Till
Friday, The 28th, Midnight
(A full 24 hours of the 28th):
12:00 AM To 12:00 AM
WHAT NOT TO DO:
Do not make any purchases
Do not shop, online or in-store
No Amazon, No Walmart, No Best Buy
Nowhere!
Do not spend money on:
Fast Food
Gas
Major Retailers
Do not use Credit or Debit Cards
For non-essential spending
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Only buy essentials, if absolutely necessary
(Food, Medicine, Emergency Supplies)
If you MUST spend:
ONLY support small local businesses.
SPREAD THE MESSAGE!
Talk about it, post about it,
and document your actions that day!
WHY THIS MATTERS!
~ Corporations and banks only care
about their bottom line.
~ If we disrupt the economy for just ONE day,
it sends a powerful message.
~ If they don't listen (they won't)
we make the next blackout longer (We will)
This is our first action.
This is how we make history.
February 28th
The 24 Hour Economic Black Out Begins.
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