In spite of your unfortunately unrealistic inquiry, I'd love to see it inspire some technically motivated readers to perhaps develop a simple search tool designed to specifically locate vendors who undercut the prices on the amazon/walmart /target nexus.
Ok. But for the 65+% of the country who live paycheck to paycheck, we'll be unable to pay the rent, or eat, or keep the heat/a-c on. In Europe people on general strike retain their housing, food, medical care, childcare, and etc. We do not have any of that, and by design. We're going to have to be very creative. Yesterday I contributed what I could to a fund in Milwaukee to help pay the rent for families torn apart and in hiding because they've been targeted.
Agreed. Scott Galloway is proposing that we cancel all streaming services for one month. It’s based on how to hit them hardest with least pain from us.
Striking can be done in whatever way will work for you. Many need to work so they don’t go out to eat, don’t order from Amazon, don’t shop at Walmart, find small businesses that carry what they want. Books…go to a local indie store. Before they are all gone.
FYI, bookstore dot com is one-stop shopping at national independent bookstores, and you can choose which shop to buy from. They also have given millions of dollars to independents, and you can specify which shop in their network you want your portion to go to. The service is wonderful and they are still giving a bit of a discount off list price. Many of us no longer have any real bookstores anywhere nearby. This is the convenience of shopping online but directly supporting independents.
Timothy Snyder (On Tyrrany) says we all need to so something, anything even if it’s just staying connected on social media but use the time for a purpose.
Yes creative. Get a bigger house and split the bills w friends. Save enough $ to last u atleast 6 myhs. We cld do this if we were all on the same page. Or we will nvr have anything like Europe.
“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the Greedy Bastards will pay attention.
HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.
Our best chance of success lies in obtaining high profile, national leadership and spokespersons. Fragmented, unknown groups leading the charge might work but would take much longer, and time is of the essence. Since the Disney boycott there have been more “bigger” names taking up the cause.
There will have to be a great amount of grassroot support before a national “leader” will take up the cause. Most of our supposed leaders are really followers of movements. They’ll get out front after it’s shown to have popular support. So, we recruit more foot soldiers, like ourselves, and spread the word on various Substacks and other social media platforms.
After mustering much grassroots support we can then approach some Substack writers who have many subscribers and appeal to them to take up the cause and spread the word. Writers like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul Krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroots support will have to be demonstrated.
We will need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Possibly coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea, or coordinated posts to their Substacks.
Then, hopefully, one or more national leaders will take up the cause. Possibly a steering committee composed of left, center and right individuals, but not current office holders. It should be seen as non partisan.
This will be a tough sell. Americans are addicted to buying. We are brainwashed from the cradle by advertising, popular culture, peer pressure, to consume. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you must have this or that product. To overcome this, our fellow citizens must be convinced that this is the only viable peaceful solution to stop and reverse the fascist takeover. And it is.
If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.
So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.
Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue?
Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!, far, wide, and quickly, before the fascists takedown our means of communication.
For the life of me I cannot understand why people aren’t liking this by the hundreds and putting the proposal into action straight away, like I did. Are Americans really so irreversibly addicted to shopping? We know Americans have little concern about climate change which is why the trash vortex continues to grow and pollute the Pacific Ocean; isn’t it the case that shopping addiction = increased waste = trash everywhere = environmental degradation? Well, now we can add: shopping = fascism.
It's already happening. Target may never recover. Disney. But as the OP is saying, word needs to get out. People in our country are brainwashed to believe how they spend doesn't matter, by design. Those of us who grew up in families supporting the farmworkers' lettuce and grape strikes have always known. Educating that under capitalism, how a person spends (or doesnt spend). their money is their real power.
Wise words, Victoria, thank you. I’ve read about Target & Disney and have every respect for Jessica Craven’s activism.
I like this additional idea though because it isn’t company specific. I’m not in the USA (I’m English) so cannot affect (say) Target. However I can still unilaterally stop non-essential spending and spread the word in my country and thereby feel I’m being of some use to American people. Many of us here feel powerless and want to help, and this idea is within reach.
I appreciate the foreign support for what protestors are trying to organize and enact to fight back against dictator, oligarchs, fascists. Whatever help We the People in USA can get is welcome. I'm ashamed of our country because enough people voted for this POS and evil abusers of our delegated powers in state and federal governments. We will survive, resist, try forever, die to restore the hope of a "more perfect Union." Many changes will have to be enacted so that USA never reaches this type of 3 Branch coalition to destroy our democratic law/order, republic and to capture, oppress our people and endanger the peace, balance of power in the World. USA values alliances with other democratic countries because we are all under pressures from foreign abusers of power. Love to you.
I agree about Target. I went into Target to finish moving my prescriptions out of CVS. The store was empty and the usual 6-8 person line at the pharmacy was 1 person.
Yes yes yes! Shop less , want less. It is easier than you think. If you really want to see the absolute power of boycotts look to Canada. All you need to do is ask how tourism is doing in Florida, Disney, Arizona and other sunbelt areas. How is Kentucky bourbon doing now that its largest sales market walked away? When Gavin Newson begs Canadians to come back we know it’s working.
Canada has been at the “elbows up” game for a year now and it’s impacting in a thousand ways. Yes there are still Canadians who aren’t boycotting, but the vast majority is and anyone along the border can tell you how devastating it has been to their economy.
Really folks -serious players need to step up the boycott process until the appeasers step down.
(Strategic shopping or just plain refusing- Better for your budget too!)
Yes, but what has happened is the purchasing segment of the 1-10% equals 50% of that stat. It used to be that ordinary people spent 70% of that stat. What we spend on healthcare probably makes up for the loss of purchasing power of many ordinary people and I don'tknow if that stat is figured in.
Not sure what stat you mean. It's not the 1% who stopped spending at Target, nor Disney. If it didn't matter to the 1% how we spent our money, they wouldn't spend billions on advertising to brainwash people against the knowledge of the power of their dollar.
Sorry, I'm inside my brain. I'm not clear on the stat I'm referring to with regards of 1-10% equaling 50% of the USA GDP which is a gauge of our economic strength. It used to be that spending by ordinary people was 70% of our GDP or at least that is what I last read and do believe because disposible income for ordinary people is lower now than in recent pasts. Houses, new cars, big ticket items are out of reach for so many today. These are a big part of GDP. Thanks for the catch.
I posted Part 1 as a comment on a Paul Krugman post two days ago and it’s received 350 likes, so there is interest in this concept. It seems to be gaining traction.
Great stuff! It’s the best idea I’ve read. All a person needs is an open mind to recognise its validity. Then, it can be put into place immediately. And guess what, we all save money! Change begins with a single person, right? Well that’s you ❤️
We need to get the message out to other organizations that want Trump and his cronies to fail. I agree if we limit our spending even by a couple dollars a week we could impact the economy!
At last, more people are realizing that the 1-10% who are insulated by wealth, connections, power have to feel real pain in their profits. And you are right it has to happen now before We lose the ability to communicate, organize, have money to boycott with. I have advocated this method since 2017! I think the Kimmel boycott showed the power of the consumers' purse. Let's GO! It's easier than you think!
I agree! I have advocated Boycotts and spending freezes for everything except essentials since 2017 when I saw and remarked that Orwell's "1984" was coming into my consciousness so very often. I read "1984" perhaps once or twice decades ago in school. It stuck firmly in my brain/subconscious. I seldom thought about it consciously until 2017. Now, "1984" and the Orwellian dystopia are referred to often by talking heads in the media. I also was affected by the movie "Gandhi" and the power of individuals when the join each other in protest for freedoms, independence, democratic rule, political power. Indian March to the sea for salt, boycott of British textiles and other actions showed British rulers their determination, sacrifices Indian would peacefully exert financial, humanitarian force to make Britain grant Indian independence. Unfortunately, money has enormous power to change our morals, our humanity, fairness for good or evil. If a few hold most of the money, they usually become more unaccountable and divorced from what is right and wrong if people and the World were valued as much as the richest ones value themselves.
How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?
Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).
A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.
We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.
Greedy Bastards own most of the politicians of both major parties. GBs start losing money, tell politicians to change course and do what We, the People want.
We are running out of peaceful options. The legislature and Supreme Court are controlled by HRH. He controls the executive branch, including the Military, Justice Department, FBI, ICE, the IRS. He controls all levers of power.
We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. When all else fails we can go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.
Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike (Quiet Quitting). Go to work, do as little as possible. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports the HRH.
Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. All of us. Hobble the economy and the stock market. Mahatma Gandhi drove the British from India by peaceful civil disobedience and economic disruption. We can stop the fascist takeover in the same way.
We can keep rehashing past and present atrocities until our access to the internet is taken away by the regime, or we can DO something!
I no longer watch any network corporate television. I searched out the best and brightest, independent journalist as far as Jeff Bezos is concerned he can kiss my pearly white ass. I don’t buy a goddamn thing off of Amazon anymore unless I’m dying. If it’s not on Netflix BritBox PBS or AMC I don’t watch it. Thank you might as touch keep up the good work. We love you. Everybody be careful how you spend every penny you have because it’s every penny they’ll take.
As an Afghan veteran who was abandoned by the U.S. government, I stand against all forms of racial discrimination and racism. No law in the United States should ever justify hatred, exclusion, or injustice
I unsubscribed from the Post (second time) yesterday.
The real, tough job remains: How do we get these self-entitled billionaires off our backs? They only care about themselves and adding more zeroes to their already astronomical wealth. What it does to ordinary people, society, and the nation is of no concern to them. We need to rein them in. I don't mind that they are rich, I mind that income inequality has never been higher, that they put profits before people, and that their money gives them excessive power that they do not use for good. Capitalism is fine, but America's version needs a major overhaul.
Don't subscribe to a single thing unless you align with their mission, eg independent stuff or user edited/friendly stuff (aka wiki). Cancel your yt, tt, ig, x, deactivate fb, never use the googs unless your stuck with it as like your only maps option cause you want to keep downloads to a minimum/not invite more spyware onto your device, change browsers/search engines, etc. AI is only making money due to fb marketing. Without it AI investing would fall into an abyss. They count on your time spent on their app to make them money. Stop giving them money. Make them waste it like they did on Mel's film. 😅 They will be mad abiut throwing money away.
I've been boycotting since Bezos gave Trump money for his inauguration. I don't miss it much. I'm disabled and almost never leave home so I miss it a little, but I'm not compromising on my values for that fascist oligarch
"Bozos" is more concerned with getting $$$ to fund his space venture. This is what happens when oligarchs are in charge. I would help pay for a space journey for all these out-sized egomaniacs, with the requirement that they never set foot on planet Earth again.
P.S. - If this type of content resonates with you, please consider subscribing to our “Never Trump Poetry Substack” free of charge. Subscribers receive email notifications of my twice-daily pro-democracy poems, together with audio narrations and insightful commentary from my editor, Michael Broder. Thank you.
Love this !!!! Thank you. I worked so hard to build my followers on TikTok and it’s over now.I need to move my followers over to Substack getting used to the application. I love it here. Great post!👏👏
Thank you! Please consider subscribing to my Never Trump Poetry Substack. My editor and I are trying hard to build a base of like-minded folks who see poetry as an effective means of participating in the growing pro-democracy movement.
Afraid it would be hard to find a billionairewho doesn't fit that description. They climb by the exploitation of fellow humans and our planets precious resources. Our system allows them to control our government and financial services. We see this presently enabling the exponential growth of their wealth and power.
Amazon is my number one to boycott. I live in a rural area where Amazon makes sense as there are few shopping options. Just one person but it starts with one to make changes.
Jeff B is A complicit fascist billionaire!! Exactly! Corporate media is now state media!!
What would it take to do a hostile takeover of WAPO? Amazon?
In spite of your unfortunately unrealistic inquiry, I'd love to see it inspire some technically motivated readers to perhaps develop a simple search tool designed to specifically locate vendors who undercut the prices on the amazon/walmart /target nexus.
Wishful thinking? Or thishful winking?
Never back down, never surrender! We need a month long general strike!
Ok. But for the 65+% of the country who live paycheck to paycheck, we'll be unable to pay the rent, or eat, or keep the heat/a-c on. In Europe people on general strike retain their housing, food, medical care, childcare, and etc. We do not have any of that, and by design. We're going to have to be very creative. Yesterday I contributed what I could to a fund in Milwaukee to help pay the rent for families torn apart and in hiding because they've been targeted.
Agreed. Scott Galloway is proposing that we cancel all streaming services for one month. It’s based on how to hit them hardest with least pain from us.
Striking can be done in whatever way will work for you. Many need to work so they don’t go out to eat, don’t order from Amazon, don’t shop at Walmart, find small businesses that carry what they want. Books…go to a local indie store. Before they are all gone.
FYI, bookstore dot com is one-stop shopping at national independent bookstores, and you can choose which shop to buy from. They also have given millions of dollars to independents, and you can specify which shop in their network you want your portion to go to. The service is wonderful and they are still giving a bit of a discount off list price. Many of us no longer have any real bookstores anywhere nearby. This is the convenience of shopping online but directly supporting independents.
Timothy Snyder (On Tyrrany) says we all need to so something, anything even if it’s just staying connected on social media but use the time for a purpose.
I wont support the racists that are ruining our country. Dont buy anything that is not necessity.
Yes creative. Get a bigger house and split the bills w friends. Save enough $ to last u atleast 6 myhs. We cld do this if we were all on the same page. Or we will nvr have anything like Europe.
Mths
What fund in Milwaukee? I’m in the area
Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation
Excellent idea. I am with you
Fascists do not care about truth or accuracy. Bezos is just a weak wealthy Fascist
The Peaceful Solution-Part 3
How to accomplish a Spending Strike
“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the Greedy Bastards will pay attention.
HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.
Our best chance of success lies in obtaining high profile, national leadership and spokespersons. Fragmented, unknown groups leading the charge might work but would take much longer, and time is of the essence. Since the Disney boycott there have been more “bigger” names taking up the cause.
There will have to be a great amount of grassroot support before a national “leader” will take up the cause. Most of our supposed leaders are really followers of movements. They’ll get out front after it’s shown to have popular support. So, we recruit more foot soldiers, like ourselves, and spread the word on various Substacks and other social media platforms.
After mustering much grassroots support we can then approach some Substack writers who have many subscribers and appeal to them to take up the cause and spread the word. Writers like Jen Rubin, Steve Schmidt, Robert Reich, Heather Richardson, Paul Krugman. Again, a good amount of grassroots support will have to be demonstrated.
We will need an organized effort to encourage those writers to concentrate on this method of opposition. Possibly coordinated mass emails to them promoting the idea, or coordinated posts to their Substacks.
Then, hopefully, one or more national leaders will take up the cause. Possibly a steering committee composed of left, center and right individuals, but not current office holders. It should be seen as non partisan.
This will be a tough sell. Americans are addicted to buying. We are brainwashed from the cradle by advertising, popular culture, peer pressure, to consume. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you must have this or that product. To overcome this, our fellow citizens must be convinced that this is the only viable peaceful solution to stop and reverse the fascist takeover. And it is.
If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.
So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.
Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue?
Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!, far, wide, and quickly, before the fascists takedown our means of communication.
For the life of me I cannot understand why people aren’t liking this by the hundreds and putting the proposal into action straight away, like I did. Are Americans really so irreversibly addicted to shopping? We know Americans have little concern about climate change which is why the trash vortex continues to grow and pollute the Pacific Ocean; isn’t it the case that shopping addiction = increased waste = trash everywhere = environmental degradation? Well, now we can add: shopping = fascism.
It's already happening. Target may never recover. Disney. But as the OP is saying, word needs to get out. People in our country are brainwashed to believe how they spend doesn't matter, by design. Those of us who grew up in families supporting the farmworkers' lettuce and grape strikes have always known. Educating that under capitalism, how a person spends (or doesnt spend). their money is their real power.
Wise words, Victoria, thank you. I’ve read about Target & Disney and have every respect for Jessica Craven’s activism.
I like this additional idea though because it isn’t company specific. I’m not in the USA (I’m English) so cannot affect (say) Target. However I can still unilaterally stop non-essential spending and spread the word in my country and thereby feel I’m being of some use to American people. Many of us here feel powerless and want to help, and this idea is within reach.
Folks should boycott American goods and corporations, like the Canadians are.
Exactly
I appreciate the foreign support for what protestors are trying to organize and enact to fight back against dictator, oligarchs, fascists. Whatever help We the People in USA can get is welcome. I'm ashamed of our country because enough people voted for this POS and evil abusers of our delegated powers in state and federal governments. We will survive, resist, try forever, die to restore the hope of a "more perfect Union." Many changes will have to be enacted so that USA never reaches this type of 3 Branch coalition to destroy our democratic law/order, republic and to capture, oppress our people and endanger the peace, balance of power in the World. USA values alliances with other democratic countries because we are all under pressures from foreign abusers of power. Love to you.
I agree about Target. I went into Target to finish moving my prescriptions out of CVS. The store was empty and the usual 6-8 person line at the pharmacy was 1 person.
Yes yes yes! Shop less , want less. It is easier than you think. If you really want to see the absolute power of boycotts look to Canada. All you need to do is ask how tourism is doing in Florida, Disney, Arizona and other sunbelt areas. How is Kentucky bourbon doing now that its largest sales market walked away? When Gavin Newson begs Canadians to come back we know it’s working.
Canada has been at the “elbows up” game for a year now and it’s impacting in a thousand ways. Yes there are still Canadians who aren’t boycotting, but the vast majority is and anyone along the border can tell you how devastating it has been to their economy.
Really folks -serious players need to step up the boycott process until the appeasers step down.
(Strategic shopping or just plain refusing- Better for your budget too!)
Yes, but what has happened is the purchasing segment of the 1-10% equals 50% of that stat. It used to be that ordinary people spent 70% of that stat. What we spend on healthcare probably makes up for the loss of purchasing power of many ordinary people and I don'tknow if that stat is figured in.
Not sure what stat you mean. It's not the 1% who stopped spending at Target, nor Disney. If it didn't matter to the 1% how we spent our money, they wouldn't spend billions on advertising to brainwash people against the knowledge of the power of their dollar.
Sorry, I'm inside my brain. I'm not clear on the stat I'm referring to with regards of 1-10% equaling 50% of the USA GDP which is a gauge of our economic strength. It used to be that spending by ordinary people was 70% of our GDP or at least that is what I last read and do believe because disposible income for ordinary people is lower now than in recent pasts. Houses, new cars, big ticket items are out of reach for so many today. These are a big part of GDP. Thanks for the catch.
I posted Part 1 as a comment on a Paul Krugman post two days ago and it’s received 350 likes, so there is interest in this concept. It seems to be gaining traction.
Great stuff! It’s the best idea I’ve read. All a person needs is an open mind to recognise its validity. Then, it can be put into place immediately. And guess what, we all save money! Change begins with a single person, right? Well that’s you ❤️
Thanks for the kind words. Makes it easier to tolerate the rare harsh criticism.
If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.
So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.
Yes and yes.
We need to get the message out to other organizations that want Trump and his cronies to fail. I agree if we limit our spending even by a couple dollars a week we could impact the economy!
It has already made a difference. Ask Target and Walmart.
Spread the Word! Key to accomplishing a grass roots movement.
At last, more people are realizing that the 1-10% who are insulated by wealth, connections, power have to feel real pain in their profits. And you are right it has to happen now before We lose the ability to communicate, organize, have money to boycott with. I have advocated this method since 2017! I think the Kimmel boycott showed the power of the consumers' purse. Let's GO! It's easier than you think!
Canadians are boycotting in vast numbers and it killing tourism, whisky, produce, cross border tourism, wine sales.
Boycotts work. As much as we hate hurting the blue states, when Newsom tells Canadians we are missed, we know its working.
If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.
So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.
That’s 537 not 536 😉
Sorry. I copied it from a classmate’s paper.😁
Well said.
I agree! I have advocated Boycotts and spending freezes for everything except essentials since 2017 when I saw and remarked that Orwell's "1984" was coming into my consciousness so very often. I read "1984" perhaps once or twice decades ago in school. It stuck firmly in my brain/subconscious. I seldom thought about it consciously until 2017. Now, "1984" and the Orwellian dystopia are referred to often by talking heads in the media. I also was affected by the movie "Gandhi" and the power of individuals when the join each other in protest for freedoms, independence, democratic rule, political power. Indian March to the sea for salt, boycott of British textiles and other actions showed British rulers their determination, sacrifices Indian would peacefully exert financial, humanitarian force to make Britain grant Indian independence. Unfortunately, money has enormous power to change our morals, our humanity, fairness for good or evil. If a few hold most of the money, they usually become more unaccountable and divorced from what is right and wrong if people and the World were valued as much as the richest ones value themselves.
I tried reading 1984 again recently, but couldn’t, as we are living it.
Bravo, Meidas Touch Mighty! Keep on raging against the machine.
While they make millions from the machine.
We need Meidas touch to continue to inform the truth
And get paid handsomely for their efforts.
The Peaceful Solution-Part 1
How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?
Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).
A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.
We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.
Greedy Bastards own most of the politicians of both major parties. GBs start losing money, tell politicians to change course and do what We, the People want.
We are running out of peaceful options. The legislature and Supreme Court are controlled by HRH. He controls the executive branch, including the Military, Justice Department, FBI, ICE, the IRS. He controls all levers of power.
We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. When all else fails we can go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.
Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike (Quiet Quitting). Go to work, do as little as possible. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports the HRH.
Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. All of us. Hobble the economy and the stock market. Mahatma Gandhi drove the British from India by peaceful civil disobedience and economic disruption. We can stop the fascist takeover in the same way.
We can keep rehashing past and present atrocities until our access to the internet is taken away by the regime, or we can DO something!
Now is the time for this Peaceful Solution.
I no longer watch any network corporate television. I searched out the best and brightest, independent journalist as far as Jeff Bezos is concerned he can kiss my pearly white ass. I don’t buy a goddamn thing off of Amazon anymore unless I’m dying. If it’s not on Netflix BritBox PBS or AMC I don’t watch it. Thank you might as touch keep up the good work. We love you. Everybody be careful how you spend every penny you have because it’s every penny they’ll take.
As an Afghan veteran who was abandoned by the U.S. government, I stand against all forms of racial discrimination and racism. No law in the United States should ever justify hatred, exclusion, or injustice
I unsubscribed from the Post (second time) yesterday.
The real, tough job remains: How do we get these self-entitled billionaires off our backs? They only care about themselves and adding more zeroes to their already astronomical wealth. What it does to ordinary people, society, and the nation is of no concern to them. We need to rein them in. I don't mind that they are rich, I mind that income inequality has never been higher, that they put profits before people, and that their money gives them excessive power that they do not use for good. Capitalism is fine, but America's version needs a major overhaul.
Don't subscribe to a single thing unless you align with their mission, eg independent stuff or user edited/friendly stuff (aka wiki). Cancel your yt, tt, ig, x, deactivate fb, never use the googs unless your stuck with it as like your only maps option cause you want to keep downloads to a minimum/not invite more spyware onto your device, change browsers/search engines, etc. AI is only making money due to fb marketing. Without it AI investing would fall into an abyss. They count on your time spent on their app to make them money. Stop giving them money. Make them waste it like they did on Mel's film. 😅 They will be mad abiut throwing money away.
When does the general strike begin. When do all of us lay off Bezos, without so much as an email?
I've been boycotting since Bezos gave Trump money for his inauguration. I don't miss it much. I'm disabled and almost never leave home so I miss it a little, but I'm not compromising on my values for that fascist oligarch
Already started. Shop local or order directly from manufacturer. Cash is our talking point now. Hold on to it, spend it wisely. 💙
Your letter to Bezos impressed me. I became a paid subscriber.
Me too!
If he wanted to, Bezos could operate the Washington Post as a philanthropic venture. But, NO! He prefers to capitulate to Trump.
"Bozos" is more concerned with getting $$$ to fund his space venture. This is what happens when oligarchs are in charge. I would help pay for a space journey for all these out-sized egomaniacs, with the requirement that they never set foot on planet Earth again.
Democracy Dies In Darkness
Democracy dies in darkness
As Jeffrey Bezos knows
Pulling a crucial endorsement was
The first of several blows
Many subscribers were livid
They left the paper in droves
With nowhere Left but the New York Times
And the internet to go
Now massive layoffs are coming
As the darkness continues to grow
Soon all that was of the Washington Post
Will be dead and it will close
P.S. - If this type of content resonates with you, please consider subscribing to our “Never Trump Poetry Substack” free of charge. Subscribers receive email notifications of my twice-daily pro-democracy poems, together with audio narrations and insightful commentary from my editor, Michael Broder. Thank you.
Love this !!!! Thank you. I worked so hard to build my followers on TikTok and it’s over now.I need to move my followers over to Substack getting used to the application. I love it here. Great post!👏👏
Thank you! Please consider subscribing to my Never Trump Poetry Substack. My editor and I are trying hard to build a base of like-minded folks who see poetry as an effective means of participating in the growing pro-democracy movement.
I did subscribe🫶
Thank you so much!
Congratulations Gen, nothing but the truth here. Welcome to the Meidas Mighty!
Bezos and Company represent the disingenuous, dishonest, malicious sycophants that have populated our country. How very distressing.
Afraid it would be hard to find a billionairewho doesn't fit that description. They climb by the exploitation of fellow humans and our planets precious resources. Our system allows them to control our government and financial services. We see this presently enabling the exponential growth of their wealth and power.
Sad indeed
Amazon is my number one to boycott. I live in a rural area where Amazon makes sense as there are few shopping options. Just one person but it starts with one to make changes.
Thank you!