General Discussion

Several times you've said here people "are giving up nothing," they'll just buy stuff on Thursday or Saturday.

Was there a poll taken about this? Personal experience? An assumption you're making?

If anecdotes count, I know several people who are making a conscious effort to step back from the consumer economy, myself included. At least one person I know decided to do this because of tomorrow's boycott--it's what gave him the idea, or added impetus. I suspect there are others as well. I imagine there are also people doing as you say, who see tomorrow not as a blow to consumerism, but as a sort of one day general strike--a nonviolent way to show their outrage. The goal isn't to have an immediate economic impact, it's to show the potential to do so as time goes on and the outrages continue.

Of course I'd prefer more be done, and hopefully this will be a small step in that direction. Personally, I think it's too bad the use of the general strike has never taken hold in the US, as it has in other countries. Then again, I suppose your same argument would be made against "only" doing a one day general strike. Though it's worked pretty well as a demonstration of people power in places as diverse as India and France.

We'll see if anything comes of this. I'm not sure what good it does though to denigrate the idea even before it's tried.

And I have to ask: what do you plan to do tomorrow instead? What action will you be taking that will be so much more effective in dealing with the shitstorm coming our way?