"Not One Damn Dime"

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Has anyone seen this one?
http://www.notonedamndime.com/boycott/

Not One Damn Dime!
Boycott Bush's inauguration by not spending any money on inauguration day
---
NOT ONE DAMN DIME DAY

Since our leaders don't have the moral courage to speak out against the war in Iraq, Inauguration Day, Thursday, January 20th, 2005 is "Not One Damn Dime Day" in America.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day" those who oppose what is happening in our name in Iraq can speak up with a 24-hour national boycott of all forms of consumer spending.

During "Not One Damn Dime Day" please don't spend money, and don't use your credit card. Not one damn dime for gasoline. Not one damn dime for necessities or for impulse purchases. Nor toll/cab/bus or train ride money exchanges. Not one damn dime for anything for 24 hours.

On "Not One Damn Dime Day," please boycott Walmart, KMart and Target. Please don't go to the mall or the local convenience store. Please don't buy any fast food (or any groceries at all for that matter).

For 24 hours, please do what you can to shut the retail economy down. The object is simple. Remind the people in power that the war in Iraq is immoral and illegal; that they are responsible for starting it and that it is their responsibility to stop it.

"Not One Damn Dime Day" is to remind them, too, that they work for the people of the United States of America, not for the international corporations and K Street lobbyists who represent the corporations and funnel cash into American politics...

i have MASSIVE problems with doing this, mainly because it fucks over all your local businesses in a lazy ass attempt to send a message to people who aren't connected and can't do anything.

As the essay at Snopes puts it:

But the target of this boycott isn't an entity that has the power to bring about the desired resolution (i.e., the government) — those who will be economically harmed by it are innocent business operators and their employees. These people have no power to set U.S. foreign policy or recall troops from Iraq, but they're the ones who would have to pay the price for this form of protest, incurring all their usual overhead costs (e.g., lighting, heat, refrigeration) to keep their businesses open and paying employees' salaries, all the while taking in little or no income. (And no, it doesn't all even out in the end — restaurants, for example, aren't going to recoup their lost business through boycott participants' eating twice as much the next day.)

kingfish (Kingfish), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 18:24 (nineteen years ago) link

And, um, aren't these kinds of boycotts the LAZIEST form of protest known to myn?

Huk-L, Tuesday, 18 January 2005 18:26 (nineteen years ago) link

This is misguided.

A better idea would have been for everyone opposed to (whatever) to assemble at their statehouse/town hall/capital .. to demonstrate in numbers how many people are bothered. A boycott hurts the wrong people, and a day-long boycott is useless.

dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 18:27 (nineteen years ago) link

ah, that's what we're doing in st louis! everyone is going down to city hall. It's billed as a counter-inaugural ball, but it seems like the focus is more on networking and figuring out the next step. And dancing!

teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 18:38 (nineteen years ago) link

you St. Louisiannes are smart! And fun!

dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 18 January 2005 18:40 (nineteen years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.