The (national) Indivisible Team describes May Day as “No Work, No School, No Shopping” and defines its goals in terms of “economic disruption.” May Day can be a simple message about flexing the power of the masses.
The details — beyond taking signs out to the streets for our usual public protests — may not be so simple.
For example: in the small town environment, the message of “no shopping” is often modified to something more like, “support only local business, and only with cash” in order to focus protest against the powerful financial institutions, rather than against our neighbors. Others raise questions about whether a single day amounts to the national disruption we really need to make a statement.
As we prepare to support our local May 1 events as a mass demonstration, what do you consider to be the highest priorities and best practices to make it successful? (You’re welcome to submit a comment at the bottom of the page.)
Justin Lloyd Ludwig
Florence Indivisible, City Club of Florence, Florence Young Professionals, Florence ORganizes / Florence
Exercises in collective action, like the upcoming national May Day events, can do much more than simply disrupt the economic scaffolding that supports the current administration. They can help maintain the focus and energy of the movement, keeping communities organized and connected during difficult times. Seeing friends in common purpose lifts spirits, and the power of that is more precious today than ever.
The scope of May Day, “No Work, No School, No Shopping” won’t appeal to everyone, and its message doesn’t always fit in each community. The national messaging is best tailored to each Indivisible chapter locally, by people who know their communities best. The more people who participate, the greater the effect; even if some of those people need to meet their work or school obligations.
In our rural town of roughly 10,000, our small businesses include our friends and supporters, many who are beside us in times of need. Why would we seek to punish them? Not only that, their pain wouldn’t leverage action in the same way that a national chain’s pain would, when there are shareholders concerned.
Wherever leverage can be found, though, feels like fair game to me. Credit card companies, entangled with the international economic system, definitely fit this bill. Not only are they routinely extracting money from ordinary Americans with exorbitant interest rates, they’re taking a cut out of every transaction, which disproportionately hurts small businesses more than large corporations. This is another reason why we often seek to use cash locally, whenever possible, and not just on a special occasion..
If actions like May Day could translate into regular habits, then real pressure could begin to form. A single day can only do so much. We need a larger trend.
Excluding shopping from national chains and using cash instead of plastic could have a huge impact with a sustained effort. And depending on how you view our current situation, not as left vs. right but as the 1% vs. everyone else, in many ways buying anything at all that is not essential for daily life can sometimes feel like an indulgence that’s serving only to perpetuate the status quo — a status quo that’s taking us to some very dark places: ICE kidnappings, shootings of Americans, and expensive distractions like the War in Iran that puts even more innocent civilians in the line of fire, with more potential war crimes on our nation’s collective conscience.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the high gas prices and the lifting of Russian oil sanctions, two more side effects of the War of Distraction in Iran. If there was ever a time to build a sustained resistance that leverages real economic penalties toward the status quo, this is it.
Susan Williams
Dunes City Indivisible / COIN Leadership Team
Such a good question and one I’ve thought about a lot over the last few weeks. I do think that the most important action is two-fold. YES, we need to flex our power by boycotting business. And YES, we need to support our local businesses every day of the week.
My personal plan is to make sure that I have actual cash on hand on May Day to patronize our awesome local community for any and all needs and optional purchases. Without using credit cards that benefit the corporate giants of transactions.
I’m also excited to be supporting the local May Day rally by joining with our local Dunes City Indivisible group while we activate The Hot Cocoa Brigade and bring free (also delicious!) hot cocoa and coffee to the event at Florence City Hall where there will be plenty of music and joy. Chocolate, music, community, and joy. That’s what it’s all about….
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