My thoughts on the boycott… Okay, not really. These are my thoughts that came up as a result of the one day boycott….
Just to catch you up…. So in the US many people are pushing back against a new government structure that is leaning toward a racist, misogynistic, anti-anyone-who isn’t-a-caucasian-male, billionaire-run dictatorship. As a show of solidarity against this nonsense, many people joined in on a spend no money boycott on February 28, 2025. These people—myself included—didn’t spend a single dollar online, for gas, for food, for anything. It was just ONE day of not spending. And I realized something really unsettling….
Not spending money is hard. I was surprised at how many moments came up in that 24 hour period where I was about to spend some money, and remembered the boycott. I mean, all day I was having moments like… “I’m feeling a bit parched. Let me just pull into this drive through and grab a …. Oh, yeah.” OR “You know what I need? Let me just get on my Amazon app and order a… Damn. Tomorrow, then.”
And as I thought about it, I realized that what some people were saying was right. Having a one day boycott does send a message (if enough people participate). However, if we all rush to the store to stock up the day before, AND immediately go back to shopping as usual the day after, we kind of miss the point. And as business owners that study buying habits, they could easily anticipate the surge before and after and not shake that much.
However, for me, just taking that one day off helped me see the habit of spending. It helped me become aware of how often tapping (my debit card, not my pressure points) is my automatic go-to behavior. It’s like tapping is my cigarette break.
Most of us probably have no idea how many times we mindlessly create “solutions” to our “problems” by buying. And it made me really think about how the ease of spending, and the promoted desire to have a lush life, has lulled us into a habit of giving away every dollar that comes in…. and even to spend what we don’t have (i.e. credit, loans, borrowing others money to maintain a lifestyle, etc.).
Today’s podcast is NOT ABOUT ME JUDGING. It’s about me seeing the tendency in MYSELF and recognizing it, and sharing that same opportunity for awareness with you. I hope you’ll check it out. It was eye-opening for me. Maybe more came out of this boycott than we think.
Enjoy the podcast!
Blessings!
Marlene Dillon Empowerment Specialist
MDillon Designs & Publishing 