February 28th, 2025 was the first of many economic blackouts. The organizer of the event John Schwarz founded The People’s Union USA because he believes the American people deserve better. Schwarz is on a mission to remind the American people we hold the power not the elite corporations. The People’s Union USA mission statement speaks for itself – “We are not a political party. We are not a protest. We are a movement of people, unionizing to take back control of our economy, government and future of our country. ”
The first economic blackout was focused on an entire scorched earth no-spend day. The obvious caveats being health and safety i.e. medications, gas, good, shelter needs. But, Americans were encouraged to prepare for this day ahead of time and participate fully. This was a bold strategy versus targeting one specific brand. This one day boycott will not alter the economy as a whole in one day. The intention is to connect with one another as a nation to express how we feel about the imbalance of corporate greed in the White House.
Although measuring the success of a one day event like this is difficult, the importance of this first step was to spread awareness to the movement. By that measurement, it was a success. The event received coverage from social, legacy, and print media all day. For this movement to succeed it will take all of us to keep showing up and doing the work.
What Now?
Now is the time to get involved, make a plan, and stay grounded. This was the catalyst for a peoples movement led by the people, for the people. We can all band together to demand change. Money talks and where we spend our money matters. With great sacrifice we can join together as one united front – as Americans. It is important to stay grounded throughout this process and find time to quiet the noise. We can adjust from the comforts of our modern life while also spending more time ‘unplugging’ to keep our sanity.
Get Involved
Make A Plan
Find the events from above you can participate in and get them on the calendar. Share the events online and IRL. Brands like Nestlé and General Mills have a monopoly on most items you will find in the middle aisle at your grocery store. If its not fresh food, check the label for General Mills or Nestlé. Here are two resources to find all the brands owned by these conglomerates.
Shaking up our routine is uncomfortable. Thinking twice about the products we add to our carts, practicing no-spend days, and spreading the word is doable. These minor inconveniences don’t pale in comparison to sacrifices made by Americans for decades before us. This practice will be foreign to a lot of us. Take advantage of this think twice before buying mentality. Turn those no-spend days into a positive for your personal finances. It is a great time to start budgeting if you don’t already. Here is a free google sheets template you can get started with today.
Stay Grounded
If you are reading this you likely have had your share of doom scrolling on Bluesky. Staying up to date on the daily chaos waiting for a call to action from your leaders is frustrating. Participating in the economic blackouts gives us a sense of control in a time of uncertainty. It is important to stay empowered. Know for every nay-sayer spouting garbage like, “That is unAmerican, you just want the economy to fail” there are thousands of people behind you participating in the movement. The most American thing we can do in this moment is lock arms and refuse to accept Elon Musk calling the shots for our future from the White House. When the noise gets to be too loud, I encourage you to take a break. March 28th and April 18th are the next 24 hour blackout days. This is a great opportunity to #turntheTVoff. Two days in the next two months to go tech-free while you are not spending money to visit your local library, go for a walk, pack a picnic – unplug.
p.s. shoutout to Don Lemon for challenging his audience to “get uncomfortable.” This blog post is my version of getting uncomfortable. If you haven’t connected with Don on Youtube he brings the news to his audience without stoking fear and brings levity during a chaotic time in our nation’s history. Every Friday at 5p.m. Eastern he brings a comedian on and the audience votes on the most sour lemon of the week – its a great time.