Fighting fascism — Day Twenty-Four — fighting through your pocketbook

Sorry I missed a blog date. I am currently on the road, having decided to visit some friends in West Africa for about a week. It will be interesting to see what they might have to say about what is going on in the US right now. I’ll report back soon.

Today’s blog is about fighting fascism through economic means. One way to express one’s disgust/disagreement/outrage regarding the current political trends is to stop consuming so much, stop consuming certain products, or stop buying from certain suppliers. I suggest three ways that you could express your resistance to the current slide towards fascism in our consumer society.

First, as we know, the administration has called government agencies and the private sector to end Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives. The cynicism and downright meanness of this move is only surpassed by the willingness of many private companies to (quite quickly) close or weaken their relevant programs and policies. Doing this during Black History Month only adds insult to injury. You can respond by staying away from certain companies and also demonstrate that you appreciate those that have held firm despite pressure from the administration. Below are a list of companies that fit into each category.

Companies that have pared back or ended their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs include Google, Amazon, Meta, McDonald’s, Target, Walmart, Ford, John Deere, Craftsman, Harley Davidson, Coors, Lowes, Toyota, Caterpillar, Jack Daniels, Nissan, GM, Intel, Paypal, Chipotle, and Comcast.

Companies that have maintained their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives include Microsoft, Apple, Costco, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Salesforce, Pinterest, NASDAQ, E.L.F. Beauty, Logitech, Visa, Coca Cola, and Wegmans.

I may have some mistakes: please let me know and I will revise. My sources for the above are Forbes, Yahoo News, NPR, Google, and Reddit.

The second action is to go specifically after the elephants in the room: Amazon; Meta; and X (there are others so please share suggestions). Each is associated with billionaires who have taken the craven attitude of aligning themselves with the administration in very vocal and active ways. If it is possible to obtain products from other sources than Amazon, I suggest that you should try very hard. Closing Facebook accounts is a tricky move, but I know people have done so. Many are concerned with the implications of becoming isolated. Personally, I have not yet because I still this idea that we can subvert it to our ends – but I might be rationalizing. WhatsApp may be replaced by Signal and X by Bluesky (I’ve done both). I’m not sure what to do about Google, since I have had the same gmail address for a couple of decades now and it would be hard for me to change email accounts, but I’ll consider it. These are tough choices and what happens when there are monopolies.

The last is to participate in an event that I found out about from Democrats Abroad: An economic “blackout” that is supposed to take place on February 28. The following sections describe this action in some detail (copied from Democrats Abroad). I have to do more research on this idea.

The 24 HOUR ECONOMIC BLACKOUT

“As our first initial act, we turn it off. For one day we show them who really holds the power.

WHEN: Friday February 28th from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM

WHAT NOT TO DO:

• Do not make any purchases
• Do not shop online, or in-store
• No Amazon, No Walmart, No Best Buy
• Nowhere!
• Do not spend money on:
  • Fast Food
  • Gas
  • Major Retailers
  • Do not use Credit or Debit Cards for non essential spending

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

• Only buy essentials that are absolutely necessary (Food, Medicine, Emergency Supplies)
• If you must spend, ONLY support small, local businesses.

SPREAD THE MESSAGE

Talk about it, post about it, and 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 (they won’t) we make the next blackout longer (We will)

This is our first action. This is how we make history.

The meme for this event is here.”

As a final point, last night, Democratics Abroad brought Malcolm Nance to talk to Americans living outside the US. Malcolm is a former military and intelligence officer with tremendous experience all around the world. He is also an analyst, contributor to major media outlets and a writer. He has about a dozen books on the subjects of terrorism, ideology, democracy. He was quite eloquent and believes that there is a national resistance movement that is forming. He had messages in line with what has been proposed in these blog (“Do something for America every day”). One of the more inspiring points he made was that we should adopt a “resistance posture”.  Taking actions such as the ones discussed above are manifestations of that. For those living abroad, he also suggested that we should be the ambassadors of the True America, the one that continues to be dedicated to democracy, the rule of law, freedom of speech and thought, and equality.

There is a national resistance movement that is forming.