Tra-la, tra-la... It's a Buy Nothing Day! in the USA.
I love this Economic Blackout for a lot of reasons.
Let us liberate ourselves from whatever is hurting us!
That's a tall order, eh?
But why not?
Let those chains drop like underpants whose elastic is shot.
["Elastic was truly was terrible in the 1940's because of war demands for rubber. Ladies had exit strategies for panties that just decided to fall off."]
You could knit your own. How baggy would those be in a minute?
Below: 1940's WW2 Service Panties and Bloomers Knitting Pattern (digital repro on Etsy)
It shows up how materialistic we are as a culture, if the very idea of going a measly 24 hours without buying something has power.
Like for me until 4 months ago, going 24 hours without sugar felt almost impossible.
One day is easy.
But also, Why not sacrifice a little?
Are we so fragile? Without inner resources?
So enslaved to ease?
Let us not quietly go as grist to the Mump Mill.
(Musk + Trump = Mump)
If you want to participate and do need to (or just want to) buy something today, spend $ cash at small, local businesses.
Say, your local thrift store!
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Often enough, we are the ones holding the chain that binds us.
For instance, I hear people say they don't give up Facebook even though they hate Mump because they like to keep in touch with x, y, z.. [cousins in Texas, reading group members, whatever].
Well, duh. OF COURSE. That's what ties you to it.
If you give it up, you make a sacrifice.
Like, we only do things that are easy and pleasant?
And I hear people say, "Oh, I only check it once a day".
How do they not know this:
social media is like the metaphoric ants that the physical therapist said are working all the time to repair my injured ligament.
No matter what we are doing for 5 minutes a day,
THEY are working all 1,440 minutes, 24/7.
(Also--there's still the post office.)
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I was surprised that Tabitha Brown, a Black business-owner, said people shouldn't boycott Target because they carry her products, and those of other Black businesses, and it would hurt them.
Justice should require no sacrifice?
Wouldn't that be nice.
During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Black Americans walked, carpooled, rode bikes for the entire year of 1956 rather than ride the bus.
But also, Ms Brown, do you really think Target is your friend, and that if you call people off them, they will be loyal to you?
Let us identify the inconsistencies in this argument.
How has loyalty to Master worked out for people in history?
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The point is LIBERATION.
There must be fifty ways to get yourself free.
Some of them, UPCOMING:
Today's boycott is organized by a new organization, The People's Union USA.
More on them here, in Time magazine.
After the single-day spending pause, People’s Union plans week-long boycotts against specific retailers, including...
Amazon, March 7-14
Nestlé,
March 21-28
Walmart, April 7-13.
Unrelated to P.U. and irregardless of Ms Brown, some Black faith leaders are calling for a
40-day “fast” or boycott of Target to protest the corporation dropping it DEI
initiatives.
The fast will start on Ash Wednesday, Mar. 5 and run the 40 days of Lent.
[via Forbes]
"Fasting is not just about what we abstain from—it is about what we embrace."
Supporters of Black and ally-owned brands sold at Target can buy directly from those businesses.
From the papers of Floyd McKissick, a Black attorney who worked with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Durham, North Carolina in the early 1960s.
--Via.
