Action Items: Economic Boycotts

The first one is this Friday. Mark your calendars!

There are a lot of boycotts. These are things that are really easy to do, and will have impacts if enough people do them.

The first is the Economic Blackout #1 this Friday 28 February, called by The People’s Union USA¹. It’s easy - don’t buy anything for 24 hours. Here’s their promo:

People have asked me questions, so here are the answers:

• NO - buying lunch at work is NOT essential, you can bring lunch from home that day.

• NO - just because you normally put gas in your car on Fridays does not make it essential, you can fill your car on Thursday or Saturday.

• NO - because it’s on “one day super sale” does NOT make it essential.

• YES - if you have a medical emergency, go to the ER or the Urgent Care.

• YES - if you get paid on Fridays, and there is no food in your house, feed your kids, but buy from a local shop or Farmer’s Market. No fast food, no chain stores.

Think about all the ways this matters: it shows corporations that WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT ACTION. It decreases tax payments, showing government at all levels that we are serious. It hurts the banks since there will be no transaction fees.

There is NO GOOD REASON to break the boycott (aside from emergencies).

Make sure you tell everyone you know that you’ll be participating, and that they should, too.

Here are the upcoming boycotts, you might want to print out this post, so you have all the dates!

• March 7-14: Amazon Blackout – No Amazon purchases, no Whole Foods, no Prime orders.

• March 21-28: Nestlé Blackout – Boycotting Nestlé-owned brands due to water exploitation, child labor, and corporate greed.

• March 28: 24-Hour Economic Blackout #2 - No spending for one full day.

• April 7-13: Walmart Blackout – Shutting down spending at one of the biggest price-gouging, worker-exploiting corporations.

• April 18: Economic Blackout #3 - Another full 24-hour halt to the economy.

• April 21-27: General Mills Blackout - Exposing food industry corruption and the poisoning of our families.

A few notes. While Amazon launched in 1994, that was just books (and let’s think about what happened to all the local bookstores. SIGH.) Expansion to third-party vendors and the explosion of all sorts of “stuff” began in the early 2000’s. For many of us, we remember a time before Amazon. Think about what it means if you cannot give up Amazon for a week.

And yes, I’m an Amazon user. I could blame cancer, because I was completely housebound, and Amazon was able to deliver necessary medical supplies quicker than the local pharmacy or even finding someone to go TO the pharmacy to get what I needed. It made me lazy, because whatever I needed, I could go onto Amazon, click, and within 24 hours, my “thing” arrived. Now that I am able to leave my house (only masked!) I am re-learning where I need to go to procure things I want and need. Because I don’t want Jeff Bezos getting even richer because I won’t drive a couple miles.

I’ll have more details on Nestlé-branded products when we get closer - for now, just search for “Nestlé baby formula scandals” and you’ll know the why.

It’s hard to know where to start when talking about Walmart. From their proven exploitation of workers, through their policies toward their vendors, the cadmium in their Ol’ Roy dog food, the list of why you should NEVER shop there is very long. But if you do, skip it for one week. Just ONE WEEK².

And finally, General Mills. While they have reiterated their commitment to their DEI program, I’m not sure that overcomes the lead they put in Cocoa Puffs.

There will be more economic blackouts than the two listed.

PLEASE participate! It is so easy to do a little pre-planning and then NOT buy.

PLEASE share with everyone you know so that we can get as many people to participate as possible. (Use the pink “Share” button below.)

And please restack this to Substack:

1. If you go read their site, you’ll understand what they are trying to do, and why, and you certainly will want to participate.

2. I am aware that grocery prices at Walmart are cheaper than elsewhere, and for many people (FAR TOO MANY PEOPLE) how much something costs is the deciding factor. For one week, please consider Lidl or Trader Joe’s which are also lower priced. Use the local food bank if you need to.

In the interest of full disclosure, I haven’t been in a Walmart since 2006, when I heard some of the testimony in Braun v. Walmart. What stuck with me was the woman who was 8 months pregnant and wasn’t allowed a bathroom break for HOURS. She finally just shut her register and went to the bathroom and was then fired. If you have ever been 8 months pregnant, you know how cruel and awful this is. Info on the case and its appeal is here. TLDR: almost $188 MILLION judgement against Walmart.