You may have seen messages on social media asking people not to buy anything on Friday, February 28, as part of a protest. This is not just your friends who feed on prices and corporations; It is a current organized movement. Customers are required not to spend money, online or otherwise, for 24 hours, the entirety of February 28.
Boycott organizer John Schwarz told USA Today this week that he thinks people are coveted with corporate greed. He spoke more in length about the issue in a video on February 18 on Instagram.
“For all our lives, they have told us that we have no choice … That is the way things are, we have to accept these crazy prices, corporate greed, billionaire tax breaks, all while we just fight to get,” Schwarz said in the video. “February 28, 24-hour economic interruption: not Amazon, without Walmart, without fast food, no gas, not a single unnecessary dollar spent.”
Schwarz launched an organization called the USA Union, which has expanded the protest to include boycotts of specific companies and on certain dates. It includes an Amazon boycott on March 7-14, Nestle on March 21-28, Walmart on April 7-14 and a second one-day economic interruption on April 18.
The popular USA union presents itself as non -politically connected. Its website says, “We are not a democrat, a republican, independent or any other party. We overcome political labels. We fight for justice, economic justice and a real systemic change, something that has given no priority.”
Schwarz did not immediately respond to a comment request.
The best -selling author Stephen King posted about the boycott in Bluesky, linking it to President Donald Trump,
“Voted for Trump, now do you have the buyer’s repentance?” King wrote. “The Trump philosophy seems to be his version of Fafo [f— around and find out]. Don’t buy anything at 28 if you need absolutely. “
King is not the only one that has a link between the boycott and the president. But the website of the People’s Union USA FAQ says the group is not against Trump, Elon Musk, or others: “This move has nothing to do with one person. It is about the system as a whole. Both political and current leaders.”
Actress Bette Midler also posted support for the boycott in Bluesky.
“Raise your expenses on February 28 …. don’t buy!” Midler wrote. “And if you should. Please run into a small local business!”
Could they do something like this?
I spoke to Zachary Crockett, the podcast host of the economy of the Things Things, who noted that collective action can lead to change, especially when pressuring economic interests.
But can it make a 24-hour protest really a difference?
“Historically, a boycott has been more effective when its actions and requirements are clearly defined, and when participation is unified and stable,” Crockett says. In addition to being stable, he says, helps a boycott to strategically aim for the main points in the corporate supply chain or sales channels.
Crockett notes that not buying for a day can harm protesters more than corporations and that boycotts become less effective as wealth becomes more concentrated. In the US, he says, a small percentage of individuals own “a startling part of America’s wealth and assets”, and those people can better absorb economic pain.
“Boycots come at a cost even for its participants,” he says, “and consumers generally have fewer track than corporations when it comes to making sustainable economic sacrifices.”
Crockett says that for him, most days are already days without purchase.
“I’m not a lover of spending money in general,” he said. “I’m pretty spared, maybe for a fault, regardless of what is happening in the economy or political landscape. So for me, every day is a kind of economic interruption.”