Today, Feb. 28, 2025, has been designated “Economic Blackout Day” , a day to avoid shopping in major corporate stores such as Target, Walmart, Best Buy, and the like. Ideally, don’t shop at all, but if you do, support small businesses that keep profits in the community rather than going to a bunch of anonymous, distant, usually wealthy shareholders. (The percentage of the population directly holding stock shares has dropped dramatically over the decades, even has retirement plans and mutual funds mean that many people are indirectly invested. See USA Facts article here.) Still, USAFacts points out that “[t]he top 10% of income earners own 10 times as much of the stock market as the bottom 60%.”
With the country almost deadlocked on the current administration, according to fivethirtyeight polls, many are concerned about the potential for a constitutional crisis and an authoritarian government. In an effort to demonstrate the concern, The People’s Union USA, a grassroots group started by John Schwarz, a 57-year-old dad originally from Queens, New York, has called for this day of economic blackout. The group is nonpartisan, looking for pragmatic solutions, and concerned about the use of hot-button issues to divide us while our rights are taken away bit by bit.
ECONOMIC BLACKOUT
FRIDAY FEB. 28. 2025 12AM-11:59PM
OUR FIRST OFFICIAL ACT:
TURN IT OFF
for one day we show them who really holds the power.
WHAT NOT TO DO:
– Do not make any purchases.
– Do not shop on-line, or in-store.
• No Amazon – No Walmart
• No Best Buy Nowhere!
• No McDonald’s
DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON FOOD:
– Fast Food – Gas • Major Retailers
• Do not use Credit or Debit Cards for nonessential spending.
WHAT YOU CAN DO IF NECESSARY:
– Only buy essentials of absolutely necessary items such as
(Food, Medicine, Emergency Supplies)
If you must spend, ONLY support small, iscal businesses.
SPREAD THE MESSAGE:
– Talk about it. – Post about it. Document your actions that day!
WHY THIS MATTERS:
– Corporations and banks only care about their bottom line.
• If we disrupt the economy for just ONE day, it sends a powerful message.
• If they don’t listen we make the next blackout longer.
This is our first action. – Our numbers are powerful.
• This is how we make history.
SHARE THIS MESSAGE
