(no subject)

[olivermoss]

* I need a new hoodie, but I am going to do this amazing things where instead of buying it today, I am going to buy it tomorrow and that solidarity is going to fix everything! No change is spending or behavior patterns, no need to like actually sully your karma by voting, but boy howdy me waiting a day is going to show the billionaires for reasons!

Some very left-leaning small businesses here in PDX were posting against the general strike, asking what the demands were and how they could be satisfied even if we had them, asking who organized this and what the message even is. Then they later posted they were closing today, because people are so in love with the idea that this is going to send a message. One bookstore is now asking for donations because of how closing on a Friday and what they'll need to cancel will effect them. Small businesses are going to feel the pinch more than Amazon. Why the fuck are they included in this? And don't get me started on the 'don't go to school' part of this.

Anyway, the best and most cost effective place to get said hoodie and some other stuff I need is Target, but I haven't touched them since their bullshit and still wont.

Comments

[oracne]

Local small business where a friend works is open today, but they also hosted the writing of letters and postcards to electeds.

[olivermoss]

Gathering people together to take useful actions, much better than forcing small businesses to take a hit in this economy

[oracne]

Agreed!

[kay_brooke]

I was confused when this general strike was supposed to be. A used bookstore I follow on Facebook closed Friday but opened back up over the weekend, but other small businesses seemed to close Saturday instead? And that's also when the protest was in my city, to coincide with the strike.

This stuff needs to be advertised better. I follow so many organizations on social media but I somehow miss everything.

[olivermoss]

Who organized it? What are the goals? What was the message? Yeah, local stores were were asking that before they gave in and closed down and cancelled stuff.

People just clung to the idea that doing nothing was going to fix something because reasons.

[mistressofmuses]

Lots of our local schools closed due to staff callouts, and a bunch of small businesses did close. Others posted about how they couldn't afford to do it to themselves or their hourly-wage employees, but some made donations to local immigration organizations...

I don't MIND the idea of general strikes, but this sort of action feels so often misdirected. Yeah, way to stick it to the small businesses that actually ARE part of the communities that we're supposedly supporting!

[olivermoss]

Things are falling apart, everyone stay home rather than gathering at local businesses!

But hey, we did a solidarity. A solidarity for what? Who knows!

Actually, I went to the movies that day but I'd already pre-bought my ticket. I could say that I walked the 2.4 miles there and back, but I was going to do that anyway.

[mistressofmuses]

Right!

SOLIDARITY! In... not supporting our community! Fuck 'em!
(I understand a boycott of Amazon or Walmart or whatever... but frankly, one day is a blip to them, particularly when it just means people buy extra the day before or after. Refusing to support small businesses for a day is going to hurt them a lot more immediately, and far more than it's going to hurt like... credit card processors, or "show the government how powerful we are.")
But hearing "we should look at our spending habits in a long-term way and make the most ethical choices we can as often as possible, even when it creates inconvenience in our lives" isn't nearly as flashy or appealing.

I admit to going and getting coffee at a local, independent shop that day. I'm a bad leftist!

[olivermoss]

Anything but actually changing habits! People felt the need to feel like they did something, without actually doing anything. If this 'one day' stuff worked... it would have worked by now. There were tons of 'don't buy gas on this one day, the disruption will hurt them because reasons' mass movements in the '00s. Never accomplished a thing, and also fuel is something people need set amounts of. Carpooling programs would have done something, but that is effort and people maybe needing to talk to each other?

[mistressofmuses]

Right? The one-day stuff I guess gets you that "I participated!" feeling, and that in and of itself may have *some* value, but really only if it can then be turned to something that actually has an impact. It sucks that long-term change isn't nearly as sexy as the promise of just doing something once and then getting to pat yourself on the back for saving democracy.
But exactly. One-day boycotts mean almost nothing, especially when it's for necessities like gas or food, which simply need to be made up for on a different day. At most it's a blip on a spreadsheet, but has no real impact.
But yeah, no one wants to figure out the way to do any sort of sustained action. Carpooling, so that less gas is needed! Buying from small businesses even when it's a little inconvenient and means you don't get two-day shipping! Coordinating with family/friends/neighbors to share resources! But ew... that all does take effort and time and communication, and who wants to do that??

[olivermoss]

That 'I Participated' feeling but it's from things people do solo? Maybe it does something, but I am skeptical it doesn't anything but make feel like 'well, I did my part'. Community connections, getting people offline, having discourse when some billionaire isn't picking which voices are heard, etc.

Not everyone can gather in person, but that just makes it more important that those who can do. Online spaces are healthier if more people have an online/offline balance than just everyone being on the socials. If 90% of us are having the reality check of verbal conversations that helps keep things balanced for everyone.

[mistressofmuses]

It could be a decent baby step, but only if it actually leads to real steps. Feeling like your solo action was part of a bigger action *might* make you feel excited about the prospect of doing more... but I'm afraid you're right - it's more likely that they just feel like they can check it off the list, and say they did their part.

Also really true. It's sometimes painfully obvious when people are capable of being extremely loud about something online, yet you can tell they haven't talked to anyone "irl" in... a long time. "Touch grass" may be a cliche and dismissive phrase to throw around, but people really DO need an offline life. The people who truly can't do so will still benefit from the overall healthier tone and perspective of online spaces if they aren't made up SOLELY of people who can't/won't/haven't spoken to anyone in-person in years.

[olivermoss]

Communities are eco-systems that need balance. Also, there is a huge difference between can't go outside and wont go outside. The mindset, the outlook on people, yeah, it's not the same.

[mistressofmuses]

Balance is absolutely necessary, and too many communities seem to fracture in ways that get more and more UNbalanced.

That gap between "can't" and "won't" is a very vast one, even when some people try to pretend they're the same. They really, really aren't.