Of all the writers and commentary people out there I have found that you have always educated and enlightening me the most...well maybe Heather Cox Richardson is up the on the same level. Lol. But seriously I can make sense out of craziness when I read your posts...the one on what has actually brought about the crisis in Gaza is a good example. I have said for a long time that our party system is broken and needs a total revamp. Keep up the good work
Thank you Charlotte, we are living in challenging times and never has it been more important to break down the complexity of the moment into easy to understand digestible pieces of information people are capable of standing a chance to retain.
We are being overwhelmed with nonsense for good reason and the legacy media is tragically but deliberately pretending to be asleep at the wheel, fearful of raising their voice for fear of retribution. I don’t suffer from that impediment.
Thank you for your service in research and truth seeking! I think many of us right now are searching for a “party” that has, grit, integrity, and honor! Much rebuilding will need to occur!
Your commitment is both humbling and inspiring Martin. In this crazy time we're living through, not just in the US but globally, too often it goes unsaid. So,I want to say it ... THANK YOU for the truth, for saying what people need to hear even if they dont want to hear it and, most of all, for caring for the future of this planet and her people. ❤️
Congratulations! I look forward to your new endeavor. I like the way you think and write! I agree that the Democrats need to change leadership and get behind the more progressive candidates. I was a Bernie & Elizabeth supporter so you know where I stand.
I am thrilled for you, and us, that you are expanding your reach and efforts. They are valiant, critical and complementary to several other Substack writers whom I follow and your research and knowledge is important to share.
Thank you...you give us a ray of hope and grit each day.
I’m very excited Karen. Beyond the podcast, I want to produce a high production value weekly political news magazine type program that has the same look and feel of corporate media, but with my style of approachable delivery.
Lots of work ahead and sleepless nights I’m sure, but I want to prove that you don’t have to sacrifice quality for budget in the new media world.
I am in much agreement with you. Especially about the DEM leadership.
The simplest thing for me was Bernie 2016. I donated regularly and towards the end several times weekly. In the voting booth, I wrote in Bernie Sanders.
Maybe trump would not have gotten in the first time if people like me voted Hillary. Maybe we would never have gotten trump if they put Bernie on the ballot.
Who knows.
I make this reply to many of the emails and texts I get every day asking for money and clicks. I don’t think anyone ever sees them. Although I have gotten responses from my two democratic senators and my republican congressman when I contacted them. You just can’t reply to their emails, you have to get their contact info from their website.
I took an eight year break from social media and news. Reuters and BBC were the last to go.
Got on Substack about a year ago when a friend asked me to follow his posts about uplifting literature that try’s to share spiritual truths.
Now I’m lost in the crazy world of politics.
About your thoughts on the power of an economic shutdown to bring change by hitting the pockets of the wealthy, I certainly support that idea and practice as much as possible.
I have concerns that there are many people who just don’t have enough. Who can’t buy less, because they already do not have enough.
Wife & I are on social security, which is not enough, but I am still able, at 78 to make enough doing construction work to get by and even add solar panels to bring down my electric bills.
Won’t last forever.
I went door to door for JFK and was hauled off from the pentagon for protesting the war in Vietnam. Served in a surgical hospital for two years.
I will be sure to read your thoughts going forward. It will be interesting to see how all these things turn out.
You are very welcome and thank you for taking the time to add to this important conversation, I really appreciate it.
These are indeed challenging times and I understand your concerns about those who can’t participate in boycotts because they have nothing to give etc. Let me say as I have said many times, boycotts only work with mass participation and my proposition if you read my earlier posts is about strategic economic disengagement.
You might if you haven’t already want to digest the earlier 3 pieces preceding this post. The danger of a blanket approach is that the working poor and the vulnerable become collateral damage in an ill thought through piece of performative politics.
To be very clear, this Substack has no expectation that anyone should become a paid subscriber if they can’t make ends meet and I think I make that pretty clear. This is about those that can contributing to a community to ensure Truth Matters remains free forever to everyone.
Research resources and access to commercial datasets are expensive and paid subscribers help to cover some of that cost and it is just some. Rest assured if I could cover all the cost I would. The abdication of responsibility by corporate media has left a huge deficit in reliable reporting and people like me are helping to fill the void, but we can’t do that without support.
Thank you for all your efforts over the decades to try and contribute to a better tomorrow, and thank you once again for taking the time to engage.
I have what I think is a really good idea that could outflank the Trumpettes and be a start at rebuilding our democracy, but I want to run it past people who know more than I and get some feedback. I just subscribed on a recommendation from someone in 50501, and she thought you'd be open to reviewing the idea. Might that be possible?
Hi Martin, have you alerted your followers on X and FB about the idea of an international boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games that are planned for US cities? Do you have any connections with decision makers in the world of soccer (football to you)?
I like your idea of creating your own website, where you can consolidate and archive all your writings. Will readers be able to reply to/comment on your articles within the platform? One complaint I have about SS is that it is difficult to go back and search for articles, posts, and replies of interest once they have dropped off the main page, especially if I don’t remember the author’s name.
Will you continue posting on your other social media accounts? If so, how will they interface with your new website?
Football or soccer as you guys prefer to call it is not an area unfortunately that I have any contacts in, but I will see if I can get the temperature of what’s going on.
One reason for creating the Truth Portal is to bring all my messaging and feeds together. I’ll reveal more as we get closer to launch. Very exciting times.
I was of age during the Vietnam/Nixon years. Targeted boycotts were a hot topic on the left. A vast majority failed because it was too complicated. Too many corporations to keep track of.
The Montgomery boycott worked because of its simplicity, but it took a year and those folks were highly motivated and had charismatic leadership. People now talk about Tesla and Target boycotts working, but they haven’t. Neither company has changed their behavior. Losing stock value is not success.
You are correct we are seeing a set of proposed boycotts that are absolutely well meaning and I praise any organization that seizes the initiative to act, it’s to be applauded.
Unfortunately we live in a world of instant gratification, but effective direct action is much more complex than a few Instagram and X posts, it’s about structured mass participation in a simple single act.
Unfortunately American society is not a society in which a general strike will ever take place in the modern era. Indeed in this climate it would in my opinion be an act of suicide. That could do far more damage than good.
General strike? God, no. You need a Jimmy Kimmel for focused outrage, or something complex to organize, like the one-off No Kings. But it is so much simpler to get sign-ups to a Coalition for the Good, by whatever name, that I keep screaming into the wind advocating for. All those No Kings participants would sign on, and then directives would get delivered, to boycott, to march, to whatever.
To give the coalition marching orders, either some band of beloved celebrities get together or there’s a process where one beloved volunteer starts it. I always thought Jane Goodall would have been perfect. She would have picked the second person, the two of them would have picked the third, and so on -- all beloved figures.
I hope I’m not a stranger to you, as I often post here, recognizing how wonderful you are. Fingers crossed there’s some tit for tat about that, where you track what I put out as the only person on Substack looking to shift the zeitgeist from us being self-serving and violent to where we become the altruistic, caring species we were designed to become.
Hurrah! A targeted boycott that worked. (Or did it? Some argue that Kimmel’s contract was the motivating factor.) A good first step. But if you start boycotting all the corporations that are enabling the fascist takeover of the country, soon you’re at a general spending strike, which is a good thing. Let’s do it!
We, the People, can’t easily or safely withhold our tax dollars that are allowing this corrupt government to function. Our tax dollars fund the fascist takeover.
But as consumers we can indirectly withhold our tax dollars. Consumer spending is about 70% of the economy. That spending ends up as tax dollars. Stop unnecessary spending and the money funding the fascist takeover will disappear.
Why targeted boycotts are ineffective:
Boycotts often fail because they require massive, sustained participation to create meaningful financial pressure, lack clear alternatives for consumers, generate insufficient negative media attention, and are easily weathered by companies waiting for the protest to fade. Additionally, the complex nature of modern capitalism and the proliferation of corporate conglomerates can make it difficult for boycotters to effectively target and impact a company's bottom line or reputation, especially when companies have multiple revenue streams, like real estate, that aren't affected by consumer boycotts.
In 2020, Goya Foods praised President Donald Trump on social media, which caused those in opposition to Trump to boycott their products. Trump loyalists simultaneously initated a counter-boycott, where consumers bought mass quantities of their products, in response. The boycott caused Goya profits to increase dramatically because Trump supporters started an opposing campaign.
We are trying to dislodge a fascist regime, an entire government. Targeted boycotts are used to change the behavior of a corporation or corporations. We must attack the entire economy.
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.
It will be up to the people to effect the economic pressure necessary to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of America.
Of all the writers and commentary people out there I have found that you have always educated and enlightening me the most...well maybe Heather Cox Richardson is up the on the same level. Lol. But seriously I can make sense out of craziness when I read your posts...the one on what has actually brought about the crisis in Gaza is a good example. I have said for a long time that our party system is broken and needs a total revamp. Keep up the good work
Thank you Charlotte, we are living in challenging times and never has it been more important to break down the complexity of the moment into easy to understand digestible pieces of information people are capable of standing a chance to retain.
We are being overwhelmed with nonsense for good reason and the legacy media is tragically but deliberately pretending to be asleep at the wheel, fearful of raising their voice for fear of retribution. I don’t suffer from that impediment.
Agreed. Thank you for your continuing commitment to the truth and the good fight, Martin.
Thank you for all you're doing, Martin. 🙏🏻
It’s my honor and my pleasure. It’s about finding a way to be my most effective.
Thank you for your service in research and truth seeking! I think many of us right now are searching for a “party” that has, grit, integrity, and honor! Much rebuilding will need to occur!
I’m honored to be playing a part Patricia
Your commitment is both humbling and inspiring Martin. In this crazy time we're living through, not just in the US but globally, too often it goes unsaid. So,I want to say it ... THANK YOU for the truth, for saying what people need to hear even if they dont want to hear it and, most of all, for caring for the future of this planet and her people. ❤️
Leslie, if it’s one thing I can’t tolerate it’s injustice, and the American people are drowning in it.
I think I have proved in my time here I am nothing if not relentless in my pursuit of the truth because it’s the very least people deserve.
So thank you for your support. We can only achieve liberation with collective voice an determination.
Martin
Thank you Martin , I am glad to have found your humble and patriotic writing
of truth. Humanity needs more people like you.
Thank you Dan I appreciate your support
Congratulations! I look forward to your new endeavor. I like the way you think and write! I agree that the Democrats need to change leadership and get behind the more progressive candidates. I was a Bernie & Elizabeth supporter so you know where I stand.
Thank you Judi, I just want to use my skill set to bring maximum benefit to the cause.
I am thrilled for you, and us, that you are expanding your reach and efforts. They are valiant, critical and complementary to several other Substack writers whom I follow and your research and knowledge is important to share.
Thank you...you give us a ray of hope and grit each day.
I’m very excited Karen. Beyond the podcast, I want to produce a high production value weekly political news magazine type program that has the same look and feel of corporate media, but with my style of approachable delivery.
Lots of work ahead and sleepless nights I’m sure, but I want to prove that you don’t have to sacrifice quality for budget in the new media world.
Thanks Martin.
I read your posts. Good work.
I am in much agreement with you. Especially about the DEM leadership.
The simplest thing for me was Bernie 2016. I donated regularly and towards the end several times weekly. In the voting booth, I wrote in Bernie Sanders.
Maybe trump would not have gotten in the first time if people like me voted Hillary. Maybe we would never have gotten trump if they put Bernie on the ballot.
Who knows.
I make this reply to many of the emails and texts I get every day asking for money and clicks. I don’t think anyone ever sees them. Although I have gotten responses from my two democratic senators and my republican congressman when I contacted them. You just can’t reply to their emails, you have to get their contact info from their website.
I took an eight year break from social media and news. Reuters and BBC were the last to go.
Got on Substack about a year ago when a friend asked me to follow his posts about uplifting literature that try’s to share spiritual truths.
Now I’m lost in the crazy world of politics.
About your thoughts on the power of an economic shutdown to bring change by hitting the pockets of the wealthy, I certainly support that idea and practice as much as possible.
I have concerns that there are many people who just don’t have enough. Who can’t buy less, because they already do not have enough.
Wife & I are on social security, which is not enough, but I am still able, at 78 to make enough doing construction work to get by and even add solar panels to bring down my electric bills.
Won’t last forever.
I went door to door for JFK and was hauled off from the pentagon for protesting the war in Vietnam. Served in a surgical hospital for two years.
I will be sure to read your thoughts going forward. It will be interesting to see how all these things turn out.
Best wishes
N P Cryer
Sierra Nevada foothills
You are very welcome and thank you for taking the time to add to this important conversation, I really appreciate it.
These are indeed challenging times and I understand your concerns about those who can’t participate in boycotts because they have nothing to give etc. Let me say as I have said many times, boycotts only work with mass participation and my proposition if you read my earlier posts is about strategic economic disengagement.
You might if you haven’t already want to digest the earlier 3 pieces preceding this post. The danger of a blanket approach is that the working poor and the vulnerable become collateral damage in an ill thought through piece of performative politics.
To be very clear, this Substack has no expectation that anyone should become a paid subscriber if they can’t make ends meet and I think I make that pretty clear. This is about those that can contributing to a community to ensure Truth Matters remains free forever to everyone.
Research resources and access to commercial datasets are expensive and paid subscribers help to cover some of that cost and it is just some. Rest assured if I could cover all the cost I would. The abdication of responsibility by corporate media has left a huge deficit in reliable reporting and people like me are helping to fill the void, but we can’t do that without support.
Thank you for all your efforts over the decades to try and contribute to a better tomorrow, and thank you once again for taking the time to engage.
I have what I think is a really good idea that could outflank the Trumpettes and be a start at rebuilding our democracy, but I want to run it past people who know more than I and get some feedback. I just subscribed on a recommendation from someone in 50501, and she thought you'd be open to reviewing the idea. Might that be possible?
Absolutely I’ll DM you shortly Greg
Congratulations on your success!
Hi Martin, have you alerted your followers on X and FB about the idea of an international boycott of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games that are planned for US cities? Do you have any connections with decision makers in the world of soccer (football to you)?
I like your idea of creating your own website, where you can consolidate and archive all your writings. Will readers be able to reply to/comment on your articles within the platform? One complaint I have about SS is that it is difficult to go back and search for articles, posts, and replies of interest once they have dropped off the main page, especially if I don’t remember the author’s name.
Will you continue posting on your other social media accounts? If so, how will they interface with your new website?
**Kristen M (aka A California Perspective)
Football or soccer as you guys prefer to call it is not an area unfortunately that I have any contacts in, but I will see if I can get the temperature of what’s going on.
One reason for creating the Truth Portal is to bring all my messaging and feeds together. I’ll reveal more as we get closer to launch. Very exciting times.
rest assured it will be fully searchable.
Martin
Yes yes and yes! I’m with you all the way.
This is so exciting! Can’t wait to see where this leads. Thanks for being a steady voice across the pond!
I was of age during the Vietnam/Nixon years. Targeted boycotts were a hot topic on the left. A vast majority failed because it was too complicated. Too many corporations to keep track of.
The Montgomery boycott worked because of its simplicity, but it took a year and those folks were highly motivated and had charismatic leadership. People now talk about Tesla and Target boycotts working, but they haven’t. Neither company has changed their behavior. Losing stock value is not success.
You are correct we are seeing a set of proposed boycotts that are absolutely well meaning and I praise any organization that seizes the initiative to act, it’s to be applauded.
Unfortunately we live in a world of instant gratification, but effective direct action is much more complex than a few Instagram and X posts, it’s about structured mass participation in a simple single act.
Unfortunately American society is not a society in which a general strike will ever take place in the modern era. Indeed in this climate it would in my opinion be an act of suicide. That could do far more damage than good.
I’m not talking about a general strike. I’m talking about a Spending Strike. A world of difference.
General strike? God, no. You need a Jimmy Kimmel for focused outrage, or something complex to organize, like the one-off No Kings. But it is so much simpler to get sign-ups to a Coalition for the Good, by whatever name, that I keep screaming into the wind advocating for. All those No Kings participants would sign on, and then directives would get delivered, to boycott, to march, to whatever.
To give the coalition marching orders, either some band of beloved celebrities get together or there’s a process where one beloved volunteer starts it. I always thought Jane Goodall would have been perfect. She would have picked the second person, the two of them would have picked the third, and so on -- all beloved figures.
What can I do to work with you? I can bring money to the table, as I've offered, but maybe you missed it. My condition is not turning over funds, but being involved as my project, too. For some weight from my end, I did a podcast --https://suespeakspodcast.com/-- until it was too labor-intensive for my small operation. And I've made documentaries: https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/what-on-earth-inside-the-crop-circle. (Watch "What on Earth?" free: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/129489848/117a0f0112. Anyone who watches, please don't post the free version.)
I hope I’m not a stranger to you, as I often post here, recognizing how wonderful you are. Fingers crossed there’s some tit for tat about that, where you track what I put out as the only person on Substack looking to shift the zeitgeist from us being self-serving and violent to where we become the altruistic, caring species we were designed to become.
Thank you for all your hard work. I appreciate your dedication to a true democracy.
Reservations about targeted boycotts
Boycott Disney
Hurrah! A targeted boycott that worked. (Or did it? Some argue that Kimmel’s contract was the motivating factor.) A good first step. But if you start boycotting all the corporations that are enabling the fascist takeover of the country, soon you’re at a general spending strike, which is a good thing. Let’s do it!
We, the People, can’t easily or safely withhold our tax dollars that are allowing this corrupt government to function. Our tax dollars fund the fascist takeover.
But as consumers we can indirectly withhold our tax dollars. Consumer spending is about 70% of the economy. That spending ends up as tax dollars. Stop unnecessary spending and the money funding the fascist takeover will disappear.
Why targeted boycotts are ineffective:
Boycotts often fail because they require massive, sustained participation to create meaningful financial pressure, lack clear alternatives for consumers, generate insufficient negative media attention, and are easily weathered by companies waiting for the protest to fade. Additionally, the complex nature of modern capitalism and the proliferation of corporate conglomerates can make it difficult for boycotters to effectively target and impact a company's bottom line or reputation, especially when companies have multiple revenue streams, like real estate, that aren't affected by consumer boycotts.
In 2020, Goya Foods praised President Donald Trump on social media, which caused those in opposition to Trump to boycott their products. Trump loyalists simultaneously initated a counter-boycott, where consumers bought mass quantities of their products, in response. The boycott caused Goya profits to increase dramatically because Trump supporters started an opposing campaign.
We are trying to dislodge a fascist regime, an entire government. Targeted boycotts are used to change the behavior of a corporation or corporations. We must attack the entire economy.
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.
It will be up to the people to effect the economic pressure necessary to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of America.
Thank you!