Are You Ready for Tomorrow’s Economic Blackout?

Have you heard about this? I hadn’t until this afternoon. A guy in Chicago named John Schwarz is organizing something like a general boycott for tomorrow. He’s calling it the economic blackout and he’s getting a lot of media coverage and some celebrity endorsements.

An effort to encourage U.S. consumers to participate in a day of protest by not spending money Friday has picked up momentum online, with thousands of people across social media saying they plan to take part in the “economic blackout.” 

Started roughly a month ago by John Schwarz, a Chicago-area medication and mindfulness educator, the idea has taken off on social media, where searches for the term surface hundreds of posts of people sharing screenshots of infographics and encouraging others to participate in the protest. Google’s search data shows queries for “economic blackout” have surged in recent days.

“Don’t buy stuff on February 28,” author Stephen King posted on Bluesky. “Money’s the only thing these d—- understand.”

Actors John Leguizamo and Bette Midler have shared similar sentiments in recent days to their social media accounts.

No surprise a bunch of wealthy celebrities are promoting an anti-capitalist boycott. Money is bad except for their millions.

Schwarz is being very careful not to describe this as a left-wing or right-wing effort but if you listen to what he’s saying it sounds a cross between Neo from the Matrix and Bernie Sanders. Here’s his description of his own moment of clarity about the world.

Eventually, I walked away from everything else and dedicated my life to meditation, mindfulness, and guiding others. I became certified in multiple disciplines and have spent years helping people awaken to something bigger than themselves.

And that’s when it all became clear.

Everything I had felt since I was a child, that this system is rigged, that we are being used, that human beings were not born to be industrial slaves, was true. And it didn’t matter what religion, spiritual belief, or political affiliation someone had. The system is designed to keep all of us trapped.

That is why I started this organization. Because I believe we deserve better. Because I believe it is possible to break free from a system built to exploit us. Because I know that if we stand together, we don’t just demand change, we create it.

The “system” in this story is obviously capitalism and he’s using the language of Marxism to criticize it, i.e. it is that thing which exploits the workers and makes them into “industrial slaves.” The fact that this is about capitalism also explains why his proposed response is an economic blackout, an anti-Black Friday if you will.

The planned blackout is scheduled to run from 12 a.m. EST through 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday. The activist group advised customers to abstain from making any purchases, whether in store or online, but particularly not from big retailers or chains. It wants participants to avoid fast food and filling their car gas tanks, and says shoppers with emergencies or in need of essentials should support a local small business and try not to use a credit or debit card.

People’s Union plans another broad-based economic blackout on March 28, but it’s also organizing boycotts targeting specific retailers — Walmart and Amazon — as well as global food giants Nestle and General Mills. For the boycott against Amazon, the organization is encouraging people to refrain from buying anything from Whole Foods, which the e-commerce company owns.

So will it work? Well, it’s already getting a lot of attention but as far as having an impact on the economy, that seems unlikely in the short term.

These types of boycotts “often don’t make an impact,” according to Koen Pauwels, a distinguished professor of marketing at Northeastern University…

Pauwels said a successful boycott needs two major ingredients. The first is enough participation, which cannot be determined until after Friday’s action. But the second ingredient is already missing from the proposed “economic blackout.”

“For a boycott to be really effective, you also have to be very specific in your demands, so it should be something that the organization you’re boycotting can actually do,” Pauwels said.

It’s one thing to have a sustained campaign against Bud Light, it’s another to ask people to stop spending on basically everything for a day. Even if they go along with this, they’ll be back to shopping as usual on Saturday and no companies will respond because no specific demands were made.

That said, I plan to go out to dinner and do some extra shopping tomorrow just because I don’t like Marxist claptrap.