The fascist are hoping for protest so they can declare martial law. Give them silence and empty streets instead.

[Hotler]

Protest in the streets is good but, it can only do so much. Spending boycotts from the safety of home won't get you arrested, tear gassed, beat or shot. And the orange one won't be able to go on the news and bitch about evil Dem & Libs, BLM, etc. It's a small way to resist and not feel totally helpless. Plus the more that participate the larger the results.
If you're not spending, you're saving.
(This is not mandatory, it's just a suggestion)
Be well

Blue25
https://democraticunderground.com/10113602

[NoRethugFriends]

1. Worst idea ever

[gab13by13]

9. You beat me to it.

[Hotler]

21. And what are your ideas or concepts for resistance? nt

[NoRethugFriends]

33. Marching in the street, hassling Dem congresspeople to make a lot of noise, and engage the public

See all the stuff mentioned my other posters below.

Your idea seems like, oh, ignore it, it'll go away. Ignore the smoke coming over the wall.

[Ocelot II]

2. People have to buy some stuff. Just buying less than usual won't make a bit of difference

and will mostly hurt local businesses. IMO it's a lazy, ineffective, chickenshit way of "protesting" that doesn't expose you to any risk and saves a little money in the process. If you really want to make your voice heard get your ass out on the street or at least in print and fucking do something.

[debm55]

7. I absolutely agree with you Ocelot II. Let it begin.

[Hotler]

19. Let me know when and where you will protesting and I will join you. nt

[uponit7771]

20. Necessity purchases only *** DOES*** make a difference. Bus boycott shows both solidarity movements

... and well planned economy boycotts make HUGE difference.

Economic boycotts can be done daily

[Basso8vb]

3. Sounds like "obeying in advance" to me.

No thanks.

[durablend]

4. LOL "spending boycotts"

Some of you are delusional if you think the big companies are scared of that. Unless you're spending thousands of dollars a day you don't even exist on their radar.

[uponit7771]

23. Bus boycott disagrees, and so does UM income expectations.. people know what's coming

[NutmegYankee]

5. Silence is acceptance.

Make them declare martial law and shoot innocent people. Pull the mask off and let people see the monsters for what they truly are.

[Hotler]

24. Of course you're going to be leading the innocent people in the streets, correct? nt

[NutmegYankee]

27. In my current situation, I'm doomed anyhow.

[kentuck]

6. I think there is some caution warranted...

But, I do not doubt that he would like to activate the Insurrection Act and crack down on those that would protest his illegal actions.

[sop]

8. Yeah, no.

Getting really loud and angry, burning up the phone lines to elected leaders, writing letters to the editors of local papers, protesting peacefully at every opportunity, making a lot of noise and VOTING is the only way to make a difference. I refuse to go quietly.

[Hotler]

25. Geez, ... spending boycott is in addition to all the normal ways to make our voices heard. As you mentioned.

I didn't say give up all other ways to make noise. Votes can only be used every 2-4 years. Our consumer dollars can be a tool 24/7-365. The repugs got great results with their Bud Light and Harley Davidson boycotts. It worked because people participated. I doubt MAGA's bashed other MAGA's on how stupid a boycott would be. I bet they said hell ya, let's do it.
Spending boycotts are peaceful protest.

Be well.

[OneGrassRoot]

10. Hear me out...

This is about fascistic white (Christian, straight) male supremacy. Wealthy white male supremacy. Trump & Co. believe all white men except for the relatively few (in their eyes) Dems (insert slurs here) support what they're doing, even those they consider rubes because they're poor.

I thought about it and, while certainly white men have always had a presence in protests throughout the decades, most of the ones in recent memory have been led by women and POC.

I think it would actually be jarring to Trump to see mass protests of primarily white men. I'd like to see them joined by veterans, and the families of both military and LEO. But to have a showing of white men to step up like we've never seen before could shake up MAGA in general. Plus, if he does send in troops to arrest protesters, they'd be arresting their loved ones if the family idea is included.

Maybe that could be the start of some of the less cultist MAGA, the apathetic and other contingents to join us, and then the protests done in solidarity of everyone against fascism and the overt class war could happen more consistently and in earnest and carry more weight. And maybe, just maybe we could work toward that general strike that is effective in other countries.

[JustAnotherGen]

26. Good idea

Last edited Thu Jan 30, 2025, 03:04 PM - Edit history (1)

And collectively - Black Women aka the 92%- we are saying, "Get someone else to do it" for the precise reason you mentioned. We've done all of this free labor and taken all of the hits. It wasn't good enough to save our Democracy. The vision of a sea of white men would be jarring to the powers that be.

If we saw that - I think we could step up from behind and offer support.

She did it in a sundress and strappy sandals. Men - you can do it in a t-shirt and sneakers.

[OneGrassRoot]

32. Thank you. The white so-called progressive men I'm saying this to...

are coming up with every excuse in the book to say, nah, not us. "We need solidarity now, not more fracturing."

White men, obviously followed closely by white women (which I am), have given the benefit of the doubt to all the white supremacist fucking Nazis for decades. I've been screaming about it for decades.

The full on white supremacist Nazi bullshit Trump just spouted on TV should leave NO doubt that they plan to oppress and enslave, at best, anyone they don't deem a white supremacist loyalist without any perceived "defect."

My Black and Brown friends and family are terrified.

I hate Nazis and this fucking timeline so much and I'm so fucking sorry so many souls are terrified right now.

[Hugin]

11. If what you are saying is to spend strategically and with awareness...

That’s a good plan under any circumstances. It’s an aspect of life in a finite world.

[Autumn]

12. Sit and home and do nothing? That's always worked well.

[Hotler]

28. Please let us know when and where you'll be in the streets protesting. nt

[Autumn]

29. Been there done that. I don't need to answer to you to make you feel better.

But by all means tell me more about when sitting at home doing nothing has ever worked against tyrants.

[Hotler]

30. Your response does make me feel better.

[struggle4progress]

13. They can't shoot us all down; and they can't put us all in jail

And if they stupidly try, they'll bite off way more than they can chew

[DSandra]

14. The fascists are hoping for violence you mean

However, I'm sure they wouldn't even let that stop them, i.e. the Reichstag fire.

[Coventina]

15. Just like what the Germans did, you mean? n/t

[Klarkashton]

16. Protest as in a permitted parade march where the

Organizers have to pay the cops overtime and rent toilets?
Otherwise it's considered "unlawful" in this country.

[Timeflyer]

17. i MUST protest in the streets with my sisters and brothers while still able to stand. It's not the only way

that I protest, by far. But to publicly and peacefully gather with others who are willing to express our outrage, esp. as a woman to fight retain the rights our foremothers and fathers fought to bring us--I'll risk it.

[Oneironaut]

18. He'll do it anyway, tbh.

If there isn’t a real reason he can pick to justify it, he’ll just make one up.

[RJ-MacReady]

22. disagree

The threat of martial law is precisely why there needs to be massive protests.

[lees1975]

31. Nope.

That's giving in.

I predict that this authoritarianism will last for a shorter season than most people think. Things are going to start collapsing and falling apart faster than they did in 2016, and he won't be able to keep it down.

[Paladin]

35. No way, no how.

We need large-scale public protests---the sooner the better. Restricting ourselves to private spending boycotts allows trump and his idiot hordes to indulge in fantasies of overwhelming national approval that have no basis in reality. The longer those fantasies last, the worse-off we are. If trump's first few days indicate anything, it's that we need to hit the streets, make headlines, ASAP. Hope to see you there.