February 28, 2025 – Economic Blackout (Boycotting the Oligarchy)

Murasama2 Comments on February 28, 2025 – Economic Blackout (Boycotting the Oligarchy)

This is a one day economic blackout which is meant as a starting point to send a signal to these corporations (many of which are run by wealthy executives who have little in common with the working class).

It’s not only for American citizens either.  Folks around the globe can help by boycotting American companies as well (not just the ones on this graphic).  And while this is slated for one day, the actual objective for those who are able to, is to sustain this for the long term.  Corporate executives care mainly about that bottomline revenue growth metric (because Wall Street cares about that parameter).  The goal is make an impact on those numbers not just for a short time, but for a long period (that is within the power that consumers have; corporate executives need to be reminded of that often).

Companies that resumed advertising on Twitter/X should also be hit (because that is spending money with a company owned by Elon Musk where he is the key figure in this hostile takeover of the US government).  Apple and Disney both are in the consumer retail space.  Microsoft is in-between (a huge one is Xbox and Windows game passes).  IBM is more difficult since they are now primarily corporate (services) but you get the drift.  If you as a consumer are purchasing a product and/or service from a company that is actively advertising on Twitter/X, boycott them as well.

Anyone who cares about global democracy also shouldn’t be subscribing to Premium on Twitch/X.  There is an extension called “Eight Dollars” for Chromium based web browsers that easily highlights whether a verified badge is an actual legacy one or if it was paid for by Premium (the badge changes to the following with this extension).  While I don’t actively use the site, if there is something posted there and I happen to get redirected to it, I simply end up muting the account if I see this.

I know some justify Premium in order to not be de-prioritized in the algorithm, but that really isn’t an excuse now with more moving to Bluesky (close to 35 million users now).  These accounts on Twitter/X are literally just preaching to the choir and not reaching actual new engagements because the algorithm prioritizes the right-wing propaganda/bots.  Furthermore, we are past just typing on social media; actual in-person peaceful protests is what needs to be done.

I’ve already stopped (for several weeks now) discretionary spending.  Large corporations are the priority in terms of turning off that spending (I’m more conscious now of supporting the local businesses even if it means spending more).  In the US, that can be challenging because some corporations have their hands in so many different pots.  A perfect example is Proctor & Gamble (the number of different brands they now own is ridiculous).

As for Zuckerberg, I’m not a heavy user of Meta’s properties (but I made sure to check that my settings for their ads are changed to hurt them the most there), but will ensure that my Instagram account creates a drain on their resources (think video in terms of both storage and bandwidth) within the terms of use.  I mean there are small ways to hit companies like this where it hurts.

Companies that Jeff Bezo gains financially from like Amazon and every single one of its subsidiaries are top priority for me in this boycott.  As someone who resumed using Twitch (which was acquired by Amazon in 2014) last year, my Twitch wallet is almost spent down (most of my paid channel subscriptions are beginning to expire and I have no plans to renew most of them as part of this boycott; my remaining balance will probably be used to extend just one or two channels that I’m normally in).  

Generally speaking, the optics are also important when it comes to boycotts like this.  I realize being 100% completely off of these companies services and/or products is not possible; it’s more about as much as possible within reason where every bit helps to make an impact on their numbers (to remind these executives how strong the power of the purse can be).

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