I’m not buy-in’ it! Today’s 24 hour boycott

The Reverend Al Sharpton devised this as an action to protest the attack on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that we’re seeing swiftly erased from policies across the board and used as a cudgel by the regime to bring corporations to heel. What critics of DEI don’t seem to  understand is how necessary it is. They don’t seem to understand that the reason affirmative action policies and programs exist is to level the playing field, to open up opportunities for all Americans so that they cannot be discriminated against because of race, gender, disability, or age.

DEI is being used by the hardline conservatives as a term of derision or to use as an example of how much Democrats and liberals have rotted the fabric of America. The issue is that the fabric has been fraying for decades. Freed slaves were met with Jim Crow, immigrants were met with xenophobia in the form of legislation like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, homosexuality was a crime, and women couldn’t get a credit card without their husband’s approval unit the 1970s. The regime is seeing to it that we return to the antebellum era when class divides were more pronounced and when the wealthy lorded their economic superiority over the masses flagrantly. 

Of course, what eventually happened was the first of many upheavals in the United States; unions formed and this led to the forty-hour work week, elimination of child labor, higher wages (and therefore, stronger buying power; the very thing economists point to for a healthy economy - more consumers, more liquidity and more profitability, more competition to outmatch the competitor…you know, all that capitalist stuff), and safer work conditions. The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920 so women could vote (this still didn’t improve anything for women of color, and even though Black men could voted after the passage of 1870’s Fifteenth Amendment, we know the discriminatory practices that went into suppressing the Black voter; many of which were in effect until the Voting Rights Act of 1965).

Even with a century of “equality” on the books, it hasn’t really played out that well. With the arrival of Ronald Reagan in the presidency in 1980, a systematic process of sowing division between the white man and all others, began. I should add “straight” to that since the Reagan administration refused to acknowledge AIDs until cis-het men started dying from it. It was “the gay disease” and by god, that they got it was their own damn fault. 

In the early nineties, Newt Gingrich and his ilk began taking harder lines on liberal values by amplifying the fear-mongering that began in the 90s over rap lyrics, sex and violence in movies and TV, Satanism (seriously, the Satanic Panic was a thing), and the exaggerated need for Americans to be on guard against immigrants coming their job. Gingrich was a whiny bitch. He still is. He’s also a hypocrite, but to spend too time talking about him is to miss that he had opened the door for the Tea Party and their increasingly dangerous scions in the alt-right that have come into power.

The United States has always held some kind of promise that eventually, there might result a society of equality across the spectrum. I shouldn’t say “always”, that’s very much hyperbole. But at different times in the nation’s history, remarkable things have happened. The post World War II era bright with it a robust middle class, wages actually increased and inflation was low. The dollar gained in strength and became, effectively, the currency against which all others were measured. People will sometimes point to putting a man on the moon as a major win. I don’t. I’d rather you listen to Gil-Scott Heron’s “Whitey on the Moon” for perspective. But the passage of the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, the formation of the Environmental Protection Agency, and yes Roe v. Wade were all major historical events that, unfortunately, many Americans in succeeding generations have failed to care about or enough to protect.

That this is by design should by now, be obvious. Division is the name of the game and the Republican Party has played the long game  horrifyingly beautifully. When Reagan announced that “government isn’t thee solution, it’s the problem”, he paved the way for selling out American citizens to corporate interests. Possibly more than anything Richard Nixon had ever done, Ronald Reagan laid the groundwork for ensuring that “identity politics” would take greater hold of the American attention span than policy and legislation.

Some will say, but the Republicans have always been the party for Big Business and Small Government and basically, aren’t they right that this is how you keep the economy vital and growing? In that very statement lies the seeds of the republic’s demise.

Big Business doesn’t care about you, doesn’t care about your family, doesn’t care about the air you breathe. It cares about profit. It doesn’t care about livable wages or whether wages are stagnant or not, as long as the margins grow. Small Government means fewer regulations on businesses and with the precedent set in Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad in 1886, SCOTUS ruling established that corporations had some of the same rights as individuals under the Fourteenth Amendment. These were expanded with the win of Citizens United against the FEC in 2010. 

Small Government means fewer regulations to protect the consumer, the employee, the environment, and expand health, education and welfare. All of these, so Republicans say, should be left to the individual and not the government. We are now living through the result of that philosophy. 

So you’re an elderly white person, on Social Security and were getting your medication at reduced prices through Medicare or Medicaid. You receive your meds through the mail. Right now, the regime has begun to gut Medicare and Medicaid, with an eye to reducing staffing of the Social Security Administration, and have the USPS in their sites. The postmaster general the president Louis DeJoy, has been in that position since 2020 and began his tenure by eliminating overtime for employees, banning late or additional trips to deliver mail, decommissioned hundreds of high-speed mail sorting machines, and the removal of low-volume mail boxes. After being investigated, DeJoy suspended these changes during COVID. This was due, I need to emphasize here, to public outcry and pressure.(1)

Additionally, he purchased 90% gas-powered vehicles in 2022, but revised this after funds were acquired after the passage of the Biden’s administration Inflation Reduction Act and Postal Service Reform Act. These acts also require emphasizing as rebuttals to the idea that “government is the problem.”(2)

The point all this is coming down to is that the elimination of DEI policies feeds into the overarching structure of dismantling of federal government services put in place to protect us, the citizens of the United States. DEI doesn’t mean that if the choice between an engineer at a Fortune 500 company or a maintenance worker for a janitorial service are going to be passed over because they’re white; it ensures that a person of color, or differently abled, or senior person, will receive equal consideration. 

Representation matters, not out of tokenism, but because when increasingly larger populations of diverse ethnic populations aren’t represented in the workplace and in the professional world, it means something is wrong. The United States is seeing a rapid change from an all-white majority to more multiracial populations. Of course, this scares the hell out of racists; but it should be celebrated because of the richness such mingling brings to society. 

Immigrants are the bedrock of the U.S., we who are non-indigenous are all the descendants of immigrants. Do we have an “immigration problem”? Yes, but not necessarily in the way the conservatives frame it or in the way the regime broadcasts it. The issue doesn’t lie with the immigrants; it resides in the lack of manpower to successfully assist in on boarding new arrivals into adjusting to their new home. Most people who live. Their country do so for to escape oppression at home, poverty, warfare, or other unfavorable societal conditions and to find a better life for themselves and their families. 

The idea that many or worse, most immigrants are criminals or are some part of some grand “replacement” project is ludicrous. As it stands, U.S. immigration laws are among the most stringent in the world; I doubt if many American born citizens could make it through the process. Should those who arrive here. Illegally be deported? Sure, especially if they’re found guilty of a crime; but what if the case is a matter of sloppy paperwork or mis-identification? What are the extenuating circumstances? I’ve been in countries where my visa expired and didn’t know it but was allowed to stay after paying a fine. No one moved to throw my ass in prison or toss me out of the country.

However, on the face of it, DEI and immigration have little to do with each other, except for one major component, DEI exists to protect immigrants who are, in fact, law-abiding members of society. With the regime’s push to roll back birthright citizenship, this infers that DEI will not be around to protect the children of immigrants who are likely waiting for their own citizenship and could likely result in deportation of parents from children or if birthright citizenship goes away, entire families are deported.

Shaprton’s plan for today is simple. Boycott the economy. The full scope is laid out here in the following graphic.

As the graphic points out, this is the first step. Regardless of what the regime is saying, its policies are not popular with most voters. Indeed, it is becoming clear just how unpopular they are. 

I’ll have more to say about demonstrations, protests, and so on in the coming months, I’m sure, but I want to post this and the rationale for supporting this boycott day.

Lastly, will it have an effect? Let’s see. I only ten percent of the population put the breaks on the market movement, this would be significant. A ten percent halt in money moving for just one day across retail should be noticeable. Wash, rinse, repeat. A ten percent drop in corporate profits for one day is likely to be felt. Do it regularly and randomly, and it could lead to more significant disruption. 

Additionally, with the regime’s tariff’s going into effect on March 4, the concomitant rise in prices is going to be felt pretty quickly. Those tariffs will, of course, mean that consumer confidence is going to decline even further, and if you couple this with more people refusing to feed the monkey, the regime is going to have to adapt to the consumer, not the consumer to the regime. 

There may be other obstacles that the regime is going to place in our way, naturally. Rumors are floating about the imposition of martial law if the regime doesn’t get its way. The occupier has mentioned that he might declare a state of emergency and suspend the rule of law. When he says this kind of thing, believe him. Don’t let him walk it back by saying he was just joking. 

In the meantime, this is a small action to take; just don’t buy anything, particularly NOT from a multinational corporation. If you must, use cash; keep the fees of usage out of the banks for a day. If you must, buy local. Otherwise, enjoy cooking at home, going for a walk after work, don’t rent a movie on a streamer;  watch something broadcast or DVD, or better yet, read a book. Spend time with your family playing a boardgames or maybe even just talking. 

No need to buy anything; enjoy what you have and know that the road ahead lies in supporting everyone, especially those pushed to the margins. 

NOTES

1. Some will belittle any demonstration as "performative" or "meaningless". This is usually coming from a place of cynicism or defeatism. It's indicative of acceptance of the status quo due to a lack of understanding the present moment at its worst. It is also evidence of a lack of imagination. The point is that showing up is stepping up. Change isn't going to happen because people do nothing; it happens when people do somethng.

2. i have all sorts of issues with how poorly the Biden administration didn't promote its policies more often and better. Within a remarkably short period of time, the Biden administration was able to reverse the downward trend of the economy, build out the middle class, and yes, tackle inflation and infrastructure. I get that prices continued to rise, but this was less owing to inflation than arbitrary price-gouging from corporations. The excuses of balancing supply chain issues or that the price of components had risen precipitously is, well, bullshit. Taking Harris at her word, it seems likely that her administration was on track with legislation to address price fixing in various industries. 

Why didn't she win, then? Most pundits blame the campaign and/or her lack of popularity or that she is a mixed-race woman. I would also add that the corporate media has a huge share of the blame. 

i'd also be tempted to say that gerrymandering and increased difficulty in accessing polls in Republican-led states was probably a factor.

Lastly, researchers are pointing to anomalies in voting patterns and while I don't want to support unfounded conspiracy theories, evidence seems to be that there might have been tampering with election results.