Boycotts are not about punishing billionaires by depriving them of a few billion dollars. It’s about discrediting them as business leaders by making their brands investment-toxic. When investors look at guys who are willfully losing money, they invest elsewhere. Unlike us, investors vote on who becomes a billionaire. What they give, they also take away, when it serves their self-interests.
For example, Tesla’s stock price fell from its high of $475.90 to $302 in the first two months of Elon Musk’s involvement in DOGE. That equates to a $100 billion loss for the man, and it could go further to make him the biggest loser in US business history.
For us, the situation is grim. We are facing substantial economic decline. We are going to reduce our purchasing, one way or another. Boycotts allow us to share the pain in a way that speaks.
Silicon Valley elites have played a decisive role in the rise of fascism this century. Fortunately, they produce nothing of necessity. Rage-bait social media may be boycotted entirely; there are less toxic alternatives.
Boycott wisely. Boycott sustainably. Think of your needs first — but only your needs.
Shopping
How I Broke Up With Amazon: A Practical Guide
Madeometer: Discover in which country a product originates
News: Bottled water has a huge and growing toll on human and planetary health, experts warn
Europe
https://www.buy-european-made.eu
Bankrupt Trump: Find non-US alternatives
News: Danish grocery chain to distinguish European from US goods
Canada
Bankrupt Trump: Find non-US alternatives
Alternative products
Canadian Alternatives – Internet Services
News: Buy Canadian
Strikes
General Strike — US
A general strike will be announced when 11 M Americans have announced their intention to participate.
Internet
Social media migration
- resources for mastodon migration
- How to permanently delete a Facebook account
- How to migrate from X to Bluesky without losing your followers
- Spacebar is a free, opensource selfhostable discord-compatible chat, voice and video platform.
General
- De-google-ify the internet
- European alternatives for popular services
- Self-hosted software
- Privacy-conscious alternative
- Privacy tools
Platform Alternatives
GMail -> mailfence, proton, tuta
GSearch -> qwant, mojeek, startpage
GKeep -> standardnotes, joplin
Discord -> matrix, revolt, spacebar
Youtube -> pipepipe, peertube, odysee
GDrive -> mailfence, nextcloud
Twitch -> owncast
X -> mastodon
Instagram -> pixelfed
Facebook -> friendica
Spotify -> funkwhale
Reddit -> lemmy
Tinder -> alovoa
Slack -> mattermost
Substack -> Ghost, Buttondown, Beehive, WordPress,Medium
Map -> organic maps, here wego
Airdrop -> localsend
Vpn -> proton, mullvad
Sms -> signal
Software Alternatives
Docs/Office -> Libreoffice
Photoshop -> Gimp
Illustrator -> Inkscape
Chrome -> librewolf, waterfox
Android/iOS -> https://beebom.com/android-alternative
Win/mac -> linux
Flyers
“Your compatriots under occupation also strike back!
Talking Points
Ways to explain strikes/boycotts to acquaintances
Overwhelmed
Many people complain of being overwhelmed by the news. They talk about the importance of self-care. Fascists *want* their opponents to prioritise self-care. This is a goal of shock tactics.
The right response is resistance, to convert that anxious energy into action. Join groups, boycott billionaires, disconnect your life from the system in all practical ways, and learn to live with the inconvenience of being in the resistance.
Perfect Storm
US #billionaires are facing a perfect storm of their own making:
Add to that a few smart boycotts and there’ll be anxious whispering in many joyless yacht parties this spring.
We were going to give up nonessential luxuries one way or the other. Let’s do it now. Let’s do it smart.
