I have protested weekly for months. Sadly, I don't see growth in the numbers who turn out, and I agree that any large protests will have agitators and draw troops in to "keep the peace." So I am totally ready for an economic strike. I want to have clear messaging of the goals. What are we asking for? And I want major organizations to take your recommendations and add to them so we have some clear guidelines of what to stop buying or postpone buying. This is a perfect form of protest that puts no one at risk and can be easily managed within your own household. I'll hold my own sign about stopping spending until this gets off the ground, and I like the idea that we could tie this into October 18 No Kings Day. "No buying until the king abdicates" and many other such signs come to mind.
I’m convinced it’s the only way forward. Laurie. I’ve looked at all the angles too. It appears to me there is no political solution. I know that might not win me friends, but it’s what I believe.
There is no political solution because we have no power and the system is corrupted and doesn't work. That is true even before I blame Democrats for not having a clear message. So yes, it has to be a grassroots solution. Power of the purse!
I just posted the following to Martin. I thought I would reply to you as well. I wasn't sure that when I replied to Martin it would also go to the others who commented. Hopefully, we can get the word out by sharing.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. They are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
Ate age 74 all the fear is pretty much burned out of me. Getting tuned up in the August '68 Chicago police riot was what embarked me on activism. If I have to bookend that career similarly, so be it.
This is a personal choice, and pondering how that violence impacted me, I understand perfectly why folk would choose to avoid that possibility But I've decided as long as things are this bad, nothing will keep me out of the streets.
And I, for my part, amply share your concerns. I count us fortunate that we haven't experienced more violence to date, but fear that won't last. Trump's increasingly deranged statements and actions are only fanning the flames.
I never have, and never would, seek violent confrontation. (I was granted a 1-0 draft status in 1968, for those who recall such things.) But if I have to face it, I no longer have sufficient reason to back away from it.
“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.
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!
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.
Even as a non-American, I am following your very, very precarious situation very closely and with a great deal of empathy. Where will your country end up? How will you all fare? Like others, I have friends and relatives in your country, and I am very concerned about their safety.
The idea of curbing consumption, as repeatedly described by Martin, seems to me to be the only promising and safe course of action in the current situation. Martin is not the only author to propose this idea, but I am unable to cite where else I have read about it.
What has been emphasized by various authors on this topic, among other aspects, is that there is absolutely no time to waste! The extreme right is going full throttle, and I don't even want to imagine in detail how quickly a large social structure can break down and, above all, what this could mean for individual citizens. Yet despite the urgency, there is no one in sight to take the reins and activate this consumer brake.
How should an individual approach this if they no longer want to wait, but decide to take action themselves and initiate a collective that would get things rolling together? To expect this from you, Martin, in addition to the enormous amount of work you obviously put into writing this Substack, would simply be indecent and, above all, impossible for you to fulfill.
So once again: how do we get from step 1 (reading about the idea of curbing consumption) and step 2 (nodding in agreement and posting affirmative comments) to the decisive step 3 (voilà, a finished list of implementation steps, publication channels, contacts, dates, people, etc.)?
It's not acceptable for us comment writers to leave bits and pieces here that will never form a whole. And it's certainly not acceptable given the urgency of the matter. Looking at it the other way around, there are people here who share a certain commonality in their view of the situation. And among them, there should be enough with the ability to develop a promising approach on a given platform. Unfortunately, I myself am not very good at organizing and would probably quickly get myself and others tangled up in a mess.
Among us comment writers: does anyone have their own Substack and is willing to make room for it?
What do you all think, and what is your opinion, Martin?
You are of course correct and I wasn’t suggesting they were I don’t think. It is about making a personal risk assessment. My only concern is that people don’t think Trump would not defend people being shot. His position seems very clear to me.
Martin – How about what I’m proposing, very cognizant that, as you say, the good guys “often each do their own thing, and there is no centralised pipeline for efficient message distribution.” The call I make for a nonpolitical Coalition for the Good, that would get millions of people already prepared to act together on things like boycotts and marches.
You and I are rare in saying “that action can’t wait until 2026, let alone 2028...this has to be an apolitical response.”
And, although telling us “it’s your consumption that is driving the bus,” and, “this means that you hold all the cards,” it’s a hard sell to get so many individuals riled up as much as Jimmy Kimmel did, where if we had that coalition it would be a piece of cake. Yes, “The key is targeted economic disengagement,” but let’s get ourselves united for doing that.
I wish you were American, where you’d be the perfect person to rescue us from Trump, but where are our high-placed Americans to rally us? Maybe the universe wants us to be more revolted by what’s going on so we go to a deeper place than surface realities to deal with who we are as divine beings in a sacred universe, where we come out of being rugged individualists, where the greatest successes at capitalism will kill us all unless they stop serving themselves and turn to doing the best for humanity.
How about recommending me to your subscribers so I can get more people cooperating to save ourselves? Marianne Williamson just did that, and new subscribers and followers are flooding into the only Substack looking for what we can do now to make a radical change. I’ve even come up with a new way to advance the action using the internet as we don’t use it now:
It’s good to be sharing with each other. My advocacy is to create a coalition where you would have a boycott delivery system. I don’t believe it will work as a broad appeal like NO KINGS, where participating was a very small comparative ante, and in fact got good juices flowing. People need more than rational arguments to shake them loose from the status quo. Who knows, it could be a new Jesus. But not a rational argument.
I just posted the following to Martin. I thought I would reply to you as well. I wasn't sure that when I replied to Martin it would also go to the others who commented. Hopefully, we can get the word out by sharing.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. They are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
The was a black-out of spending done 9/16-9/20 and it was world wide. The report I read stated that there was a decrease of consumer spending of several billion dollars. Another one is planned for the weekend after Thanksgiving to include Black Friday & cyber Monday. I am planning to do it again.
This needs to be a sustained U.S. focussed and targeted spending strike. It’s about digging in, because you hold all the cards, it’s just whether people are prepared to use them.
If organizers would take the lead on the “we hold the purse strings” movement, it would be very effective if there was a call for nationwide boycott of spending on a specific site or a call for dropping a cable service for a specific month, for two examples. People gave up many luxuries and staples during WWII, and this is a war to save democracy.
I just posted the following to Martin. I thought I would reply to you as well. I wasn't sure that when I replied to Martin it would also go to the others who commented. Hopefully, we can get the word out by sharing.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. They are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
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. 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.
Why a Spending Strike is the Best Option
TINA: There Is No Alternative. There is no peaceful alternative.
Other peaceful options:
Soft Secession
Federal funds make up 35% of California’s state budget, with $173 billion in federal grants awarded in Fiscal Year 2021 alone, making up a significant portion of state and local budgets for programs like health, education, and infrastructure.
Are they really going to pissoff HRH to the extent that he cuts off their federal funding?
Soft secession? Only to the point when HRH feels threatened.
He will move in with all his resources and stop it.
This soft secession idea is a political ploy by state officials to get their constituents to believe the officials are doing something to stop the takeover.
It’s also another distraction to the resistance in that it keeps us from organizing and uniting around what must be done and what will work. It’s another example of hoping for an easy fix, one that will not take any sacrifice.
In addition, soft secession is divisive, pitting blue states against red states, playing into the narrative of the Rat, who wants to start a civil war. MAGA not only wants to “own the libs”, they’d like to kill as many as possible, to eliminate the opposition.
Targeted boycotts
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.
The midterm election
Will it be free and fair? It won’t be. Will it occur at all? HRH has already said that if we’re at war there’ll be no election. Guess what? If it’s looking bad for him, we’ll be at war to stop the election. The election is important to him because having the majority in the legislature gives the fascist regime the look of legitimacy.
People are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. They may have a beneficial psychologic effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything HRH has done or pass new legislation because of his veto power.
SCOTUS members Roberts and Barrett may have an epiphany and save the country from civil war, but it’s doubtful. It’s going to be up to us to stop this.
Time is running out for a Peaceful Solution. Please spread the word.
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.
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!
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.
I just posted the following to Martin. I thought I would reply to you as well. I wasn't sure if when I replied to Martin it would also go to the others who commented. Hopefully, we can get the word out by sharing.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. They are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
I applaud every effort at economic warfare but I prefer my proposal because of its simplicity and speed of implementation. Time is of the essence in this battle against fascism. If you have any questions or comments, please DM me.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. The are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
I would recommend that you consider a few things. First, a spending strike for Americans is never going to happen. Full stop. Continuing to advocate for that takes away from any serious solution. Second, Bernie and Aoc are not the answers. They will just usher in a new era of hatred and division. Socialism solves fascism then ends up just as bad. Third, radical moderation is what we need and that is what the democrats should be pushing with their non socialist stars. Fourth, and most important, this country has been so dysfunctional for so long that we need a bankruptcy and reset. So we might as well have Trump do his worst and then there will be a reaction and hopefully a cleansing and reset. Stay safe.
I fear we will have to agree to disagree. Republican lite is not a fix for this existential crisis. However, I’m sure Hakeem Jeffries would agree with your just wait for Trump to face plant idea.
The Cold War is over there really is no red scare anymore. Why are you obsessed with calling anything to the left of Mussolini socialist? It’s very puzzling.
If people think they can bury their heads in the sand until Trump sets himself on fire, they need medical help. Trump is just the useful idiot. They are rewiring the whole system.
Nothing in my comment would suggest that i am obsessed. Just being practical. Nothing in my comment suggested that anything to the left of Mussolini was socialism. I believe in the 5th estate. The citizenry. I shared some stuff with you in the past which you did not comment on. Now i know why - it doesn’t fit your narrative. Feel free to howl at the moon with that consumer strike though and consider being a bit more polite to your soon to be former subscribers.
It would be totally irresponsible for me not to point out the dangers. This is a very real threat, Trump is unlike any previous American leader. He is prepare. To accept dead protesters on the street.
Ultimately it’s a personal decision, but I would certainly not take children. Just my opinion.
Stand up by closing your pocket book. Street protests are worse than worthless, they’re counterproductive. You alienate more people than you attract, and play into the Royal Heinous narrative. He’s trying to provoke violence so that his military and militias can kill as many of the opposition as possible.
This is not stopping people to do whatever they want but right now, it is really dangerous because Trump formed a “private militia” with masked people acting as police arresting protesters and beating them just for being there. They seek violence, they will provoke violence to justify their presence. At this moment they want blood and to blame the “far left terrorists” for it.
We have much better ways to protest, general strike! Cut the money, no spending on big corporations chains, no cable TV, nothing that would profit the government and their shareholders billionaires. Money is a more efficient weapon than walking!
I have protested weekly for months. Sadly, I don't see growth in the numbers who turn out, and I agree that any large protests will have agitators and draw troops in to "keep the peace." So I am totally ready for an economic strike. I want to have clear messaging of the goals. What are we asking for? And I want major organizations to take your recommendations and add to them so we have some clear guidelines of what to stop buying or postpone buying. This is a perfect form of protest that puts no one at risk and can be easily managed within your own household. I'll hold my own sign about stopping spending until this gets off the ground, and I like the idea that we could tie this into October 18 No Kings Day. "No buying until the king abdicates" and many other such signs come to mind.
I’m convinced it’s the only way forward. Laurie. I’ve looked at all the angles too. It appears to me there is no political solution. I know that might not win me friends, but it’s what I believe.
There is no political solution because we have no power and the system is corrupted and doesn't work. That is true even before I blame Democrats for not having a clear message. So yes, it has to be a grassroots solution. Power of the purse!
I just posted the following to Martin. I thought I would reply to you as well. I wasn't sure that when I replied to Martin it would also go to the others who commented. Hopefully, we can get the word out by sharing.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. They are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
Join the movement:
Discord community: https://discord.com/channels/1428512509635072134/1428541990273814548
Learn more from founder Alex Wicke: https://www.facebook.com/people/Total-Hypocrisy-Educator/61581185555813/
See the movement in action: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1548095086605725
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
Fantastic report. Facts are Facts! Thank you, I appreciate all your work.
Thank you
Ate age 74 all the fear is pretty much burned out of me. Getting tuned up in the August '68 Chicago police riot was what embarked me on activism. If I have to bookend that career similarly, so be it.
This is a personal choice, and pondering how that violence impacted me, I understand perfectly why folk would choose to avoid that possibility But I've decided as long as things are this bad, nothing will keep me out of the streets.
I completely understand and I did say it will have to be a personal choice. I absolutely respect your position, my aim is simply to share my thoughts
And I, for my part, amply share your concerns. I count us fortunate that we haven't experienced more violence to date, but fear that won't last. Trump's increasingly deranged statements and actions are only fanning the flames.
I never have, and never would, seek violent confrontation. (I was granted a 1-0 draft status in 1968, for those who recall such things.) But if I have to face it, I no longer have sufficient reason to back away from it.
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.
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!
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.
Even as a non-American, I am following your very, very precarious situation very closely and with a great deal of empathy. Where will your country end up? How will you all fare? Like others, I have friends and relatives in your country, and I am very concerned about their safety.
The idea of curbing consumption, as repeatedly described by Martin, seems to me to be the only promising and safe course of action in the current situation. Martin is not the only author to propose this idea, but I am unable to cite where else I have read about it.
What has been emphasized by various authors on this topic, among other aspects, is that there is absolutely no time to waste! The extreme right is going full throttle, and I don't even want to imagine in detail how quickly a large social structure can break down and, above all, what this could mean for individual citizens. Yet despite the urgency, there is no one in sight to take the reins and activate this consumer brake.
How should an individual approach this if they no longer want to wait, but decide to take action themselves and initiate a collective that would get things rolling together? To expect this from you, Martin, in addition to the enormous amount of work you obviously put into writing this Substack, would simply be indecent and, above all, impossible for you to fulfill.
So once again: how do we get from step 1 (reading about the idea of curbing consumption) and step 2 (nodding in agreement and posting affirmative comments) to the decisive step 3 (voilà, a finished list of implementation steps, publication channels, contacts, dates, people, etc.)?
It's not acceptable for us comment writers to leave bits and pieces here that will never form a whole. And it's certainly not acceptable given the urgency of the matter. Looking at it the other way around, there are people here who share a certain commonality in their view of the situation. And among them, there should be enough with the ability to develop a promising approach on a given platform. Unfortunately, I myself am not very good at organizing and would probably quickly get myself and others tangled up in a mess.
Among us comment writers: does anyone have their own Substack and is willing to make room for it?
What do you all think, and what is your opinion, Martin?
Massive protests like No Kings and withholding spending are not mutually exclusive.
You are of course correct and I wasn’t suggesting they were I don’t think. It is about making a personal risk assessment. My only concern is that people don’t think Trump would not defend people being shot. His position seems very clear to me.
Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. Onward to defeat fascism in America!
Martin – How about what I’m proposing, very cognizant that, as you say, the good guys “often each do their own thing, and there is no centralised pipeline for efficient message distribution.” The call I make for a nonpolitical Coalition for the Good, that would get millions of people already prepared to act together on things like boycotts and marches.
You and I are rare in saying “that action can’t wait until 2026, let alone 2028...this has to be an apolitical response.”
And, although telling us “it’s your consumption that is driving the bus,” and, “this means that you hold all the cards,” it’s a hard sell to get so many individuals riled up as much as Jimmy Kimmel did, where if we had that coalition it would be a piece of cake. Yes, “The key is targeted economic disengagement,” but let’s get ourselves united for doing that.
I wish you were American, where you’d be the perfect person to rescue us from Trump, but where are our high-placed Americans to rally us? Maybe the universe wants us to be more revolted by what’s going on so we go to a deeper place than surface realities to deal with who we are as divine beings in a sacred universe, where we come out of being rugged individualists, where the greatest successes at capitalism will kill us all unless they stop serving themselves and turn to doing the best for humanity.
How about recommending me to your subscribers so I can get more people cooperating to save ourselves? Marianne Williamson just did that, and new subscribers and followers are flooding into the only Substack looking for what we can do now to make a radical change. I’ve even come up with a new way to advance the action using the internet as we don’t use it now:
Problem dire. Letting humanity know.
Working up an internet new way
https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/problem-dire-letting-humanity-know
It’s good to be sharing with each other. My advocacy is to create a coalition where you would have a boycott delivery system. I don’t believe it will work as a broad appeal like NO KINGS, where participating was a very small comparative ante, and in fact got good juices flowing. People need more than rational arguments to shake them loose from the status quo. Who knows, it could be a new Jesus. But not a rational argument.
I just posted the following to Martin. I thought I would reply to you as well. I wasn't sure that when I replied to Martin it would also go to the others who commented. Hopefully, we can get the word out by sharing.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. They are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
Join the movement:
Discord community: https://discord.com/channels/1428512509635072134/1428541990273814548
Learn more from founder Alex Wicke: https://www.facebook.com/people/Total-Hypocrisy-Educator/61581185555813/
See the movement in action: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1548095086605725
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
The was a black-out of spending done 9/16-9/20 and it was world wide. The report I read stated that there was a decrease of consumer spending of several billion dollars. Another one is planned for the weekend after Thanksgiving to include Black Friday & cyber Monday. I am planning to do it again.
This needs to be a sustained U.S. focussed and targeted spending strike. It’s about digging in, because you hold all the cards, it’s just whether people are prepared to use them.
I agree, but I think more leadership and publicity is needed to get widespread results.
If organizers would take the lead on the “we hold the purse strings” movement, it would be very effective if there was a call for nationwide boycott of spending on a specific site or a call for dropping a cable service for a specific month, for two examples. People gave up many luxuries and staples during WWII, and this is a war to save democracy.
I concur Laurie
I just posted the following to Martin. I thought I would reply to you as well. I wasn't sure that when I replied to Martin it would also go to the others who commented. Hopefully, we can get the word out by sharing.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. They are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
Join the movement:
Discord community: https://discord.com/channels/1428512509635072134/1428541990273814548
Learn more from founder Alex Wicke: https://www.facebook.com/people/Total-Hypocrisy-Educator/61581185555813/
See the movement in action: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1548095086605725
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
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. 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.
Why a Spending Strike is the Best Option
TINA: There Is No Alternative. There is no peaceful alternative.
Other peaceful options:
Soft Secession
Federal funds make up 35% of California’s state budget, with $173 billion in federal grants awarded in Fiscal Year 2021 alone, making up a significant portion of state and local budgets for programs like health, education, and infrastructure.
Are they really going to pissoff HRH to the extent that he cuts off their federal funding?
Soft secession? Only to the point when HRH feels threatened.
He will move in with all his resources and stop it.
This soft secession idea is a political ploy by state officials to get their constituents to believe the officials are doing something to stop the takeover.
It’s also another distraction to the resistance in that it keeps us from organizing and uniting around what must be done and what will work. It’s another example of hoping for an easy fix, one that will not take any sacrifice.
In addition, soft secession is divisive, pitting blue states against red states, playing into the narrative of the Rat, who wants to start a civil war. MAGA not only wants to “own the libs”, they’d like to kill as many as possible, to eliminate the opposition.
Targeted boycotts
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.
The midterm election
Will it be free and fair? It won’t be. Will it occur at all? HRH has already said that if we’re at war there’ll be no election. Guess what? If it’s looking bad for him, we’ll be at war to stop the election. The election is important to him because having the majority in the legislature gives the fascist regime the look of legitimacy.
People are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. They may have a beneficial psychologic effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything HRH has done or pass new legislation because of his veto power.
SCOTUS members Roberts and Barrett may have an epiphany and save the country from civil war, but it’s doubtful. It’s going to be up to us to stop this.
Time is running out for a Peaceful Solution. Please spread the word.
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.
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!
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.
I just posted the following to Martin. I thought I would reply to you as well. I wasn't sure if when I replied to Martin it would also go to the others who commented. Hopefully, we can get the word out by sharing.
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. They are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
Join the movement:
Discord community: https://discord.com/channels/1428512509635072134/1428541990273814548
Learn more from founder Alex Wicke: https://www.facebook.com/people/Total-Hypocrisy-Educator/61581185555813/
See the movement in action: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1548095086605725
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
I applaud every effort at economic warfare but I prefer my proposal because of its simplicity and speed of implementation. Time is of the essence in this battle against fascism. If you have any questions or comments, please DM me.
Martin,
I have finally discovered, and recently joined, a movement that directly aligns with the liberation work you write about—and I believe your expertise could be invaluable to their success. They plan to go live on November 1st.
The Big Beautiful Boycott, founded by Alex Wicke (Total Hypocrisy Educator), is organizing a strategic economic resistance movement against companies funding authoritarianism. The are building something methodical and powerful through four phases:
Phase 1: Awareness—Exposing the money trails between corporations and authoritarian power
Phase 2: Collective Action—Coordinating boycotts where every dollar withdrawn becomes a vote for freedom
Phase 3: Economic Pressure—Scaling up to make silence expensive for those profiting from oppression
Phase 4: Reinforcement & Renewal—Building democratic alternatives: cooperatives, ethical businesses, and resilient local networks that can't be bought or silenced
They are not just resisting—they are replacing authoritarian power structures with democratic strength.
The movement is in its formation stage, actively building teams and identifying targets. This is exactly the kind of coordinated, strategic approach to liberation that could benefit from your insights on organizing and resistance.
Join the movement:
Discord community: https://discord.com/channels/1428512509635072134/1428541990273814548
Learn more from founder Alex Wicke: https://www.facebook.com/people/Total-Hypocrisy-Educator/61581185555813/
See the movement in action: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1548095086605725
As they say, "This will get harder—that's by design. Each phase demands more courage, coordination, and clarity. But with every step, our collective power grows—and democracy fights back."
Let's amplify this. The more people who join now, while they are organizing, the stronger the foundation for real economic resistance.
Thank you for your insights and support, as demonstrated here by your labor of love.
Take care,
:)
I would recommend that you consider a few things. First, a spending strike for Americans is never going to happen. Full stop. Continuing to advocate for that takes away from any serious solution. Second, Bernie and Aoc are not the answers. They will just usher in a new era of hatred and division. Socialism solves fascism then ends up just as bad. Third, radical moderation is what we need and that is what the democrats should be pushing with their non socialist stars. Fourth, and most important, this country has been so dysfunctional for so long that we need a bankruptcy and reset. So we might as well have Trump do his worst and then there will be a reaction and hopefully a cleansing and reset. Stay safe.
I fear we will have to agree to disagree. Republican lite is not a fix for this existential crisis. However, I’m sure Hakeem Jeffries would agree with your just wait for Trump to face plant idea.
The Cold War is over there really is no red scare anymore. Why are you obsessed with calling anything to the left of Mussolini socialist? It’s very puzzling.
If people think they can bury their heads in the sand until Trump sets himself on fire, they need medical help. Trump is just the useful idiot. They are rewiring the whole system.
Nothing in my comment would suggest that i am obsessed. Just being practical. Nothing in my comment suggested that anything to the left of Mussolini was socialism. I believe in the 5th estate. The citizenry. I shared some stuff with you in the past which you did not comment on. Now i know why - it doesn’t fit your narrative. Feel free to howl at the moon with that consumer strike though and consider being a bit more polite to your soon to be former subscribers.
Is that your plan? If you ever come up with one, I’m sure we’d all be glad to hear it.
I appreciate your commitment to the cause Helene. Safety must be paramount. Often we see children on these large protests.
It would be totally irresponsible for me not to point out the dangers. This is a very real threat, Trump is unlike any previous American leader. He is prepare. To accept dead protesters on the street.
Ultimately it’s a personal decision, but I would certainly not take children. Just my opinion.
Stand up by closing your pocket book. Street protests are worse than worthless, they’re counterproductive. You alienate more people than you attract, and play into the Royal Heinous narrative. He’s trying to provoke violence so that his military and militias can kill as many of the opposition as possible.
Sadly, it seems nobody is listening to this argument.
This is not stopping people to do whatever they want but right now, it is really dangerous because Trump formed a “private militia” with masked people acting as police arresting protesters and beating them just for being there. They seek violence, they will provoke violence to justify their presence. At this moment they want blood and to blame the “far left terrorists” for it.
We have much better ways to protest, general strike! Cut the money, no spending on big corporations chains, no cable TV, nothing that would profit the government and their shareholders billionaires. Money is a more efficient weapon than walking!
Say it again!