Stand Up/Resist and Show Consumer Power

 Last week began with the Trump Administrations latest efforts to destroy the basic operations of the government through abrupt mass firings handled with the precision and care of a blindfolded bear with a chainsaw. Still reeling from the slate of potentially illegal executive orders, the firing of probationary employees came in the early morning, with little warning, and mere hours to pack-up and close-out. Confusion, heartbreak, and dysfunction all came in the wake of this literal decimation of workers. Russel Vought is surely pleased.

The week continued with a slew of harmful activity, including cutting benefits from undocumented immigrants and migrant children, undermining Ukrainian sovereignty, and continuing bribing Eric Adams, mayor of NYC.

We wrote before about how important the response to Musk and Trump’s illegal power-grab would be. How the response to intimidation and illegal action must be bravery and non-compliance to prevent tyranny. The early response from our leaders has been less than inspiring.

While there have certainly been some profiles in courage on display at some agencies, it seems that many of our institutions are rotting from the head down, with leadership betraying their mission and community for a false hope of favor and security from those in power. The irony of course being that such spineless compliance only delays the inevitable.

At the National Science Foundation, for example, the director Paunch has expressed and demonstrated a policy of maximum compliance. Despite statutory mandates to pursue DEI initiatives, NSF “leadership” has bent over backwards to comply with the dubiously legal executive orders, willingly dimming the beacon of progress it once represented.

When formal institutions fail, it’s up to the people to demand change.

Thankfully, this last week also saw an uptick in people power. Videos of angry citizens demanding answers and actions from their representatives in ruby red to sapphire blue districts, went viral, even as thousands protested in the streets across the country. At the same time local organizers are seeing huge turn-outs for their meetings.

Perhaps most exciting to us at DSOT, is the public attention focused on the upcoming Economic Blackout on February 28th. The blackout has received significant coverage from news media and is calling for a total stoppage of economic activity for 24hrs in response to the Trump admin’s cruel attacks on “DEI.”

Now where have we heard something like that before?

In all seriousness, though, mainstreaming the idea of mass economic organizing is potentially a big step towards regaining our representative government if the energy can be sustained. As we talk about regularly at DSOT, the elites and corporations that run this country only speak the language of money, and we, the people need to do the same if we are to communicate effectively.

A single day economic protest, however, no matter the size won’t be enough. It will take regular and enduring action to break the hold of the donor class. The People's Union - the group behind the blackout - understands this, and so after the initial 24hr pause, the group wants to boycott a rotating list of individual companies each week. We at DSOT, have made it even simpler: Don’t Shop on Tuesday. No keeping track of which company required.

While the elites might try to use the differences between strategies to divide our economic power, we at DSOT are uniters. Organizing efforts and movement building are collaborative, not competitive efforts, the people don’t have to choose, they can do both!

We encourage everyone at DSOT to participate in solidarity in the Economic Blackout on Friday, February 28th. Together we are so much stronger!

To everyone getting involved in economic organizing for the first time through the Blackout, Welcome! You’ve just struck your first blow as a political stonecutter. You can strike your next one on Tuesday! Our leaders may be failing us, but together, in growing solidarity, we will make a country that represents and respects all of us!

Don't shop on Tuesday.

#DSOT