Ask Lemmy

The main problem with these things is people buying stuff before, so they can boycott the next day. Makes absolutely no difference.

Obviously, what you're describing is different.

Im already trying my best to move off any services tied to any oligarch at Trumps inauguration.

I just bought a kindle but planning on donating it and moving to Kobo.

Side hobby to learn to pirate safely. Im now using any alternate website to Amazon.

We have the power of voice with our wallets.

The Day the World Stops Shoppong examined this and found that it doesn’t take a whole lot of concerted action to tank the consumption economy.

Buy nothing days are good but less good if you return to regular habits and redouble your consumption after the boycott is over.

I already have. Long before the threat of tariffs. I shop thrift stores, yard sales, and social media markets. I go to electronics recyclers and find perfectly good laptops that just need an OS installed.

I’ve had the same phone since 2017, and the same car for 10+ years, neither of which were new when I got them.

I've already planned with my wider family that for the next 4 years we aren't doing jack shit for holidays. No black friday (tbh we never did anyway), no cyber Monday. No gifts for Christmas.

If y'all aren't already aware the first test date for Consumer Power is on Feb 28th. Don't buy ANYTHING on that date. Yeah, it's brief, it will probably be a blip, but this is like a test of the emergency broadcast system. If we can get say 2% of people to do that, then watch closely for reactions, it will help us spread the word for the 2nd test. Then the 3rd. It's only through this grassroots organization that we can accomplish anything.

I had a friend tell me that they'd already seen organizations trying to make it their idea and honestly, I'm not at all concerned about who is putting their brand on it. The POINT here is that we need to start exercising our muscles to make this a real tool for change. Stop focusing on that message and start embracing the larger goal here. Spread the word. RESIST.

I already barely buy shit. I've always said "if the economy hinged on my purchasing habit, the country would go bankrupt". People in general should start living within their means without any protest. It's good for everyone and also will make corporations slow down on killing this planet.

that would probably be impossible and wouldn't have a lot of effect cuz demand is an elastic band or something

It certainly would, but I would be worried about the people at the bottoms whose salary depend on this. Rich people can afford not getting revenue for a month, but people with precarious work contracts often can't.
What about mass boycott targeted at the companies undeniably supporting this government?
It could impact bottom people less.

"Culture Is Not Consumption"

Write that on a tee shirt you already own.

Anything that $peaks their language will work better than protests IMO

If even a relatively small number — say 10-20% — just refused to buy anything other than the bare essentials (like food, energy, utils) until action was taken, you'd probably see more action than if those people got out in the streets and protested.

They'll just buy the things they didn't buy before hand, or afterwards, washing it all out in the average.

If you got a substantial amount of people to it, like 40-50% of the population it would probably collapse the economy via domino effect. So much is underpinned on people spending money on any given day

But, I don't see it happening in reality, just getting 20% to actually do it would be a massive undertaking and 20% would probably be painful, but not cause a cool cascade of collapse

I'm sure this will be an unpopular opinion, but any publicly traded company no longer needs to post a profit. Boomers are retiring and 401ks ensure that these companies will make money purely from "value potential". Maybe in 20 or so years as the demographics change this will be different, but this is how I see it going down today.

If all of America collectively decided not to purchase from publicly traded companies, and instead only bought from small local companies for just one month. I doubt it would even register on a YTD stock price chart. It would need to be a true philosophical change in how we consume products, and it would have to last for longer than a month to be effective. On top of that, only privileged households will realistically be able to "choose" not to buy consumer goods.

I think we should all buy less and be more mindful of where our money goes. I think we should buy locally and promote businesses that you agree with on levels beyond the value of the good or services they offer as often as possible. However, I don't think we can effectively protest this way unless it was a true lifestyle change for a large portion of the country.

Won't happen but it's a great idea. The environment loves recession. The only years in recent history when the climate indicators briefly stopped moving in the wrong direction were 2009 and 2020.

Both. Definitely both. Every person has a unique capacity for resistance, so however you’re able is good and important. Talking about it, protesting, boycotting (even in tiny amounts) is something! Being nice to yourself and others in non-consumerist ways is also resistance; like hand-write a note instead of buying a card; your loved one will still appreciate it.

The point is to be a dandelion - they try to pave over us, and we pop back up through the cracks, even in our own little unassuming ways. We may be ants to them but insects outnumber vertebrate life forms by orders of magnitude.

Lots of metaphors as I get sidetracked but case in point: if you can do it, do it!

ETA: Decentralized forms of resistance may be our best bet. Big coordinated efforts are good. Making them play whack-a-mole is also good. If they don’t know where to look next even better.