By PAUL NATINSKY
A series of one-week boycotts of products and services owned and operated by American and international plutocrats isn’t going to make a difference politically or practically. The richest man in the world was willing to absorb a 50 percent decrease in his flagship company’s stock, reducing Tesla’s value by $800 billion and Elon Musk’s personal net worth by $100 billion, to become a central figure in government of the rich, for the rich. Forbes, among others, reported the numbers.
But Musk and his role in indiscriminately slashing government programs and capriciously firing thousands of non-partisan civil servants is only the point of the spear. The well-known cabal of tech barons that includes Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon chief Jeff Bezos quickly transformed into Trump acolytes as he assumed America’s top job.
Beyond the people we see on social media and television, there is a deep roster of billionaire sycophants sprinkled across the Trump’s cabinet. Reporting by investigative reporters at Mother Jones magazine and others details the appointee’s backgrounds and net worth.
It quickly becomes clear that the very rich see an opportunity to—wait for it—get richer. And they are willing to play the long game.
Boycotts and sign-waving protests are great release valves for those who clearly see the injustices and hardships ahead.
Court rulings and successful lawsuits add teeth to the equation and seem to promise a halt to some of the most egregious moves perpetrated by the nascent plutocracy. But private-sector Donald Trump routinely ignored the courts and President Trump seems likely to carry forward the practice. With the quickly expanding and consolidating executive branch in charge of enforcing the rule of law, what happens when the Administration decides to defy the courts, as has been the case with the disassembly of USAID?
The short answers are, Who knows?
FREE CHOICE IS NOT DEAD
But maybe all of this symbolic protesting and traditional thinking by moderates and progressives is moving in the wrong direction. As individuals we still have free choice, regardless of developments at the government level.
We don’t have to buy anything from Amazon. We can buy from companies directly. The majority of consumer goods sellers have easy to access social media accounts and websites, complete with discounts and, in many cases competent and responsive customer service programs—all things Amazon and its toss-it-on-a-truck approach lacks.
We certainly don’t have to read the Washington Post, with its cowardly neutrality in November’s election and its newly declared devotion to the two pillars of neo-robber baronhood, “the free market and personal liberties.”
We don’t have to use Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta social media outlets, which include Facebook and Instagram. There are plenty of alternatives. My children seem to come across new platforms daily.
We are certainly not trapped in Musk’s “X” platform, which abandoned content standards and has become to principle means for Musk and Trump to spread disinformation. Bluesky has emerged as very viable alternative.
Even Tik Tok has rivals. The soon-to-come Neptune is one such independently owned alternative.
It drives me absolutely crazy that the Trump-targeted Associated Press includes a link to their reporters’ “X” pages with their short bios at the end of each story on the AP app. The venerated news organization could easily lead the charge to Bluesky, which would almost certainly boost the platform’s popularity and credibility.
CHANGE FROM OUTSIDE THE BELTWAY AND BOARD ROOM
While moving away from plutocrat politburo’s businesses is a start that doesn’t take much effort, joining groups that have well-defined missions and lending talent or just another set of hands to their efforts is definitely next level. But it works. Sometimes. Anti-smoking laws were not driven home by vested corporate interests or government bureaucrats. Same for bottle return laws, which were opposed by just about everyone involved in creating and selling fizzy bottled drinks. Tough penalties for drunk drivers didn’t emerge from the alcoholic beverage industry, and it wasn’t the public health community that pushed those laws past the goal line.
All of the out of work talent and out of power Democrats now have the time on their hands to keep progressive initiatives (and existing programs) fueled.
For me, it seems analogous to the old concept in newspaper culture. When newspapers were closed amid a labor dispute involving one or more unions engaged in publishing newspaper, The staff, who possessed all of the expertise needed, would come together and print a newspaper. This preserved the value of a free press and the role of independent journalists. The resultant publication was called a “strike paper.”
Maybe it’s time to roll up our sleeves, put our shoulders to the wheel, and get to work on the things that mean something to us.
Maybe I’ll see you around the breakroom.