Let’s talk about the economic blackout planned for tomorrow (February 28th, 2025).
What is the economic blackout?
In two days, millions of Americans are participating in a mass economic blackout – not spending any money for 24 hours to protest our government and corporations rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
(It’s important to write out diversity, equity, and inclusion. “Which part of DEI don’t you like – the diversity? The equity? Or the inclusion?” is more impactful than just calling it DEI).
The idea of the blackout was spread by the founder of the People’s Union, John Schwartz, who wanted to give everyday consumers a way to use their money to make a difference. You can go here to learn how to participate in the blackout – and it’s fairly simple: don’t spend money unless you have to, and if you do, try to buy local instead of big business.
Why does the economic blackout matter?
Money is power. At Bolder, our whole damn thing is using money for what matters to you, so aligning your money with the change you want to see in the world (by either supporting businesses doing good, or boycotting businesses who aren’t) is right up our alley.
To be honest, we want you to go way further than a temporary change. We want you to build the habit of being intentional about every purchasing and spending decision, reflecting on whether it’s truly aligned with your goals and what you want to support with your money.
Will the economic blackout make an impact?
Based on political and social research, there are a few factors to consider:
Who is participating?
According to the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at Northwestern, the makeup of the consumers boycotting matters. IPR associate Brayden King gives this example:
“Think of PETA activists who are boycotting KFC,” King explained. “That’s a boycott that’s not going to have much of an impact on sales revenue."
If people were already not doing a lot (or any) shopping at a certain corporation participate in a boycott, that’s not going to have much of an impact on revenue for that business.
But if people who were frequent shoppers suddenly stop, that’s going to make some noise.
Since The People’s Union’s is calling for a mass stop of all economic activity, it should catch a broad group of shoppers, especially those who wouldn’t typically participate in a boycott of their favorite store.
How widespread does the movement get?
Erica Chenoweth, political scientist at Harvard, has studied civil resistance and social movements for decades. Her research finds that widespread, nonviolent resistance has the best chance of making an impact:
“Once around 3.5% of the whole population has begun toparticipate actively, success appears to be inevitable.”
3.5% might not seem like a big number, but it is – with 346 million U.S. citizens, that would mean 12 million participating in a social movement to create change.
However, we’re already seeing a significant percentage of Americans changing the way they shop.
According to a Harris Poll first reported on by the Guardian, a quarter of Americans have stopped spending altogether at stores that don’t align with their beliefs, and 40% have shifted spending to align with their views.
What is the plan beyond the one-time event to create change?
This is a big one. Many corporations choose to ‘wait out’ boycotts, knowing that consumers typically go back to old habits after the heat of a moment has died down. We're creatures of habit, and we like big action that feels amazing.
This is where what we teach at Bolder really comes into play: lifestyle changes to be intentional about spending can take time to build and are all about habits that lead to success (or in this case, impact).
To really make an impact, we must think long-term: how are the choices I make on a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual basis supporting or hindering the impact I want to make on the world?
Tomorrow is a great day to block out some time and review all of your spending, reflecting on how it aligns with not only the life you want, and the goals you want to achieve, but also your political views and beliefs.
Research shows you can make a difference, and it starts with intentional spending.
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