I’m a longtime reader, but just joined today having never posted. I joined Kos to comment on survivor7812’s call to action diary, ‘I call for a General Strike. Now!’ (Feb.2, 2025). I decided to write a diary instead.
It seems that most institutional solutions require actions from people who I am not (Congress; military, etc.), and hoping the folks with all the authority will begin, at some point, to fight for me and mine. I am looking for things I can realistically do.
Yes, a large enough labor strike would be powerful, but it seems too difficult to execute due to the facts of life and making a living. Then there’s that other thing blocking democratic messaging, our distinct lack of a megaphone. I know the MSM isn’t going to help.
Then there’s the possibility that social media frequented by sane people will be shut down, or worse. So how can we start now to get something rolling that can keep growing even if they cut our line of communication to one another? How about a plan so decentralized and truly un-organized that it grows by word of mouth and can’t really be stopped?
I would call for a regular and recurring Boycott Day of the week. Every week.
How it would work:
We pick a day of the week like Wednesday, every Wednesday and we refuse to buy anything on that day.
Why it should work:
1. No one has to choose between having a job and protesting. Get up, go to work, do everything else you’d normally do, just don’t buy anything. You don’t have to never buy things, just not on Boycott Day. Plan buying gas, groceries coffee, lunch, etc. the days before and after. How we spend our money is really the only vote our society pays any attention to. Let’s use it before they destroy our currency.
2. The danger of gathering in open spaces with certain of our neighbors and fellow citizens dreaming of using their weapons of war is completely bypassed, and none of us will have to risk life and limb.
3. By recurring on a regular day it is doable because everyone can plan on it. I’m always learning about some one time action that I wished I could’ve participated in after the fact, but this could grow over time. Of course, it has to reach a certain level before it has any impact, but eventually it could even be reported on by the MSM and advertise it, even if they’d rather not.
Little things add up. There are apocryphal tales of American military paymasters paying a certain portion of soldiers’ pay in $2 bills when townspeople decided the soldiers were an economic or, some other perceived problem. The appearance of $2 bills in the tills and bank deposits of local businesses revealed the truth. The soldiers were an economic boon to the local economy. I think such a recurring boycott action could grow in time without endangering anyone, but it would be fighting back nonetheless.
I’m sure better organized and smarter folk than I could add to this. It seems we should be trying for something we can do, starting now.
