I'm sure this one day boycott will be just as effective as the others were.
If you want results you need to put in time and have a target. Conservatives didn't boycott beer, they boycotted Bud Light. They didn't do it for a day, they did it until Bud Light gave up. Say what you will about the "why" of it, but it was effective.
It's good people are doing something, but I can't help but feel it would be way more effective if it was a sustained boycott of targeted businesses. Not buying anything for a year is impossible, but not buying anything from one particular store for a year is possible.
Could you imagine the dread corporate would feel if they saw Banana Republic get boycotted for 2025 and looked at the boycott schedule and their name was listed under 2026?
Open letter to everyone who pooh-poohs this:
Participation is never useless. If you're looking at this through the lens of "will this fix everything," well of course it won't. That's because small efforts by themselves are not impactful.
But lots of small efforts, cumulative, over time, can be, and you have to start somewhere. Everyone who resists does so by taking on some amount of personal risk. Yes, this boycott is a very small personal risk. That's fine. It will get people involved who were previously not involved. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
We need those people. We need their support, in whatever ways they are able to offer it. If your message is "don't bother, it won't work," you are telling people not to be involved. If your aims are, for example, "armed revolution," and you're only considering the people who have the weapons and use them, you are completely ignoring all other aspects of conflict. In war, the people who pull the triggers are a minority of the opposing forces.
You have to produce equipment, food, clothing, shelter. You have to deliver those things where they are needed. You have to know where those things are needed. You need to plan and organize and communicate. You need to provide medical services.
And you have to do all those things not only for the "front line troops," but for everyone.
Today's boycotter can become tomorrow's marcher, next week's smuggler, next month's partisan. Or medic. Or kitchen. Or driver.
All efforts, great and small. !Resist@fedia.io
If anyone is interested this was apparently started by a group called The People's Union. I get that 1 day isn't that impactful in the grand scheme of things, cuz it's not. But it's about organization. It's about coordination.
Donating to non-profits is still cool though.
Like, i didn't buy anything today not because of protest, just because i didn't need too... Stuff like this will not be noticed
Hey, did you know that half of all day to day retail spending is done by the economically top 10% of the US population.
These are people who for the most part don't care about economic hardships of the lower classes and have closer to 65% of the liquid assets.They already under spend for their wealth and likely also won't care about this. And will spend or not and make no impact.
Not to be negative, but to be realistic.
This is pointless.
Like literally without a point or purpose but to "show those business we mean business" and that isn't an actual point and they don't care about a 1 day shopping freeze.The reach on this with it already being the day of the protest is already a major hinderance to any progress hoped to be achieved and then we still don't have a point.
Honestly we need to be deciding what change we actually want to have occur and start steering the ship that way little action at a time as possible but instead let's just keep trying to make 1 day events a thing with the shock the wealthy see of us standing together enough to make them see the light of God and turn around and change for us. I'm sure that will eventually work even though it never has.
I wasn't going to buy anything today anyway, easiest boycott I ever saw.
Organising is now just posting the day of
I think doing a "Whiteout" would be better, where people only shop at pro-humanity or mom n' pop stores. Costco, Winco, ect. People must spend money for their necessities and to enjoy life, but if that spending can always be directed into the pockets of decent people rather than Bezos, that would be far more impactful than a day of blackout.
In that vein, I think incentive programs to switch people would be ideal. Something like CostCo giving a free membership if you buy an amount of goods equal in value, and a free pizza/rotisserie/hot dog(s) for buying $15 of stuff.
Lots of naysayers trying to convince everyone not to participate, or to fragment efforts with competing ideas.
So much of our consumer culture is buying shit we don't need like impulse buys and stupid movies and fast food. That's profitable stuff, and skipping that for one day doesn't mean you'll just buy it the next day.
Without any replacements, this boycott isn't going to last. We should be promoting alternatives with the blackout too. Costco isn't available everywhere.
I work at a Costco in Western Canada. Today (28th) was a little slower than slower than normal, but well inside the normal ups and downs we see. All of us are curious to see if the 1st is busier to make up for it.
My wife told her family and all of them are very enthusiastic to join (20 ish people). Unfortunately I still have trouble convincing my family that Trump shouldn't be allowed to do illegal things
IMHO we should have it every Friday or Every 28th or something like that.
Do et, Yankies. STICK IT TO THE MAN
Everybody will just buy more shit tomorrow. Are you people afraid of going into the streets?
I found out about this yesterday. I don’t know what happened to the messaging, but lucky i saw it in time on blue sky.
Let me know how that turns out.
This can have an effect in exactly two ways:
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retailers lose a bit of profit because they cannot optimize their staffing for this one day. They might be a little less profitable because they have one person at work who is not needed, for example. They might also get mad customers the next day when everybody goes back shopping and they haven't prepared for it. Similarly, they might have to throw away a few fresh products and not have them in stock later.
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if (and only if) people buy the stuff they need somewhere else instead. If this is about grocery shopping, well, you need groceries at some point. Doesn't matter much for the retailer when you buy it (apart from 1), as long as you buy it consistently at their place.
I support the protest, but if you want to make an impact, use that day to find alternative places to do your shopping in the future.
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Forgot about this, but luckily I never really buy shit other than food.
What are you guys trying to achieve?
Mindless consumption will happen for the entirety of human civilisation. Übercorps will continue to enshitttify to no end, and people will eat the slop until it runs dry.
Why? Because deep down consumerism is a key pillar in people's minds. The idea of buying and consuming is an act that must be compleeted, like it's part of the Ten Commandments or the ending to a Fitr prayer. You see so much of this anti-consumerism rhetoric on social media but I guarantee that everyone in this thread bought something before, after or even on February 28, including the author of this poster.
The reality is, you have no power. People will continue to keep the slop mill running. Unless you want to start a mass brainwashing campaign and completely destroy the world's economy, useless consumption will remain as a pillar of our society for centuries. This blackout achieved nothing, and further protests and blackouts will not do anything to change the system.
What's the alternative? We live off the land? We completely stop trade? We live in a solarpunk fantasy that will never be achieved? Sometimes I think of alternatives to combat capitalism, but they always turn out to be 10 times worse.
You can make an impact on yourself, change what you do and consume, but 99% of the population will continue to praise Übercorps and be their personal shitter, making food for flies.
Shit, I wasn't on here. Tell you what, make another Devil's Panties Blackout in six months. We encourage people to stock up on canned foods that can be eaten later, and bathroom items, soaps, whatever. Friend groups are established for the blackout just in case somebody loses something. It might last more than a week, maybe even a month. We should post this in streamers' chats to encourage people to spread the word; this will be on fun streams where it will not be intrusive. Make sure to target people who can remember to do things, or use it as an opportunity to help people to remember schedules. People will stay with each other to get along.
In other news, do not use patreon, see if kofi is better for your interests.
Yeah sorry but I gotta go buy grape jelly today.
I appreciate the effort and am participating, but if we aren't willing to be uncomfortable, this doesn't really accomplish anything. We squeeze, they squeeze back, we buckle.. What have we gained? Do it for a month and let's see them sweat...
It only Bugs them if enough people stoppen getting specific stuff alltogether. Like no Nestlé, Selling the car and stop the need for Gas (if possible of course).
One day off is just another days top. Doesnt hurt them at all.
you don’t have all the cards!
I'm doing my part on accident by working from home... oh wait I bought something on Amazon this morning sorry :(
Hahaha this boycott was Dead on arrival
