Preparation
Any significant endeavor requires preparation.
- Students study for tests, and they gather subject expertise in order to attain graduation.
- Top athletes train their bodies and study both game strategy and opponent tendencies, in order to compete effectively.
- Inventors can spend years perfecting both scientific and technical practices, in order to create new technologies.
There is no difference here. When a challenge presents itself, it is important for us to understand the profile of the obstacles before us. This will allow us to both develop the appropriate mindset and construct the tools and systems required to achieve success.
Discipline
We’re going to have to get used to going without. Engaging in boycotts means that we’ll have to go without goods and services that we are used to. This could express itself via differences in either quality or quantity, and it will be largely determined by the communities involved and the disobedience strategies that they employ. In the case of targeted boycotts, we may find alternative manufacturers and service providers. However, in the case of national boycotts, in which we are boycotting the entire economy, we will have to adjust to a new way of life, entirely, even if just for a temporary time frame.
As with the United States People’s Parliament (USPP) charter, I will not prescribe specifics. Rather, I will provide ideas and philosophy that we should consider. Each chamber of parliament must determine the specific approaches that make sense for its community. However, and at some point, broader chambers that encompass multiple communities will have to coordinate on the appropriate details of the mission, in order to maximize on effectiveness. The charter’s sections on debate will be paramount, in this case. And we all need to be willing to be uncomfortable and step outside of our comfort zones so that we can deliver the greatest result for the collective.
Targeted Boycotts
We may decide to engage in targeted boycotts in order to signal that we are willing to economically attack corporations, in order to compel those corporations to consider either supporting our cause or discontinuing actions that are harmful to the people. In this case, we will need to find alternative ways to garner the goods and/or services provided by the specific business.
For example, I have cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription. As a response, I use both internet search and my free Amazon account to search for goods that I need. I then order those items directly from the manufacturer. I may trade off the convenience of slightly lower prices and potentially shorter delivery times in order to engage in activism against Amazon. Why? I got rid of Amazon Prime before Trump’s second term, due to their price gouging that was described by increasing the price of Prime Video in order to evade ads during viewing. We should be in the habit of doing this. We should not roll over for all price increases. Price increases should accompany an increase in the quality of goods and services. Additional cost should not accrue as a result of the threat of decreased quality. That is disrespectful to the consumer. We should punish companies that engage in this predatory behavior. However, I am unwilling to reconsider Amazon Prime because Jeff Bezos capitulated to the Trump regime in many ways. One of those ways was backing off of displaying tariff costs to consumers. Amazon continues to enable the rogue behavior of the Trump regime. They should not be rewarded with our business.
Of note, the targeted boycott of Target Corporation (Target) resulted in the removal of the then-sitting CEO, and Target continues to see declines in foot traffic. Many have found that taking their business to Costco has been a beneficial substitute. Further, the targeted boycott of Disney resulted in the reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel’s show on the ABC Network and its many affiliates. Do not discount our power. It is the supreme power in the land. Yes, it is even greater than the combined might of the federal government. However, it requires our unity in large numbers in order to be wielded effectively. This is the importance of our collective participation in the USPP.
National Boycott
National boycotts would be described as subsistence spending. We would be purchasing groceries, necessary medicines, energy for housing and transportation, and any other monthly expenses that relate to maintaining a basic level of life. We would still pay for mobile service, rent and mortgages, and internet. We would have to consider cancelling all other services that provide convenience. This could include gaming services (PlayStation Plus, XBox Live), streaming services (Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, etc.), cable and satellite services (Comcast, DirectTV, etc.).
As stated previously, this is merely a recommendation. Each chamber of parliament should discuss and debate the appropriate measures for their community.
Strikes
Given the current state of the job market, this could get tricky. Current news reports suggest that there could be more job seekers than jobs available. The going advice is that only 3.5% of the population is needed to create an impact with a general strike. This may be the best method, at this point. Targeted strikes would likely see those who are not striking taking the jobs at the company being singled out for activist action. Therefore, we’ll need to impair the entire job market by reducing the total number of job seekers. A general strike seems to be the most effective way to do this.
The total population of the U.S. is 342.7 million people, as of October 2025. Three and a half percent of this number equates to 11.9945 million people. That’s basically 12 million people. That’s 5 million more people than the estimated 7 million people who participated in the “No Kings” protest on Saturday, October 18, 2025. We have some organizing to do, if we want to enact a general strike.
Solidarity & Funding
The reality is that the general financial profile of the average U.S. citizen and resident is not a healthy one. Incomes have lagged productivity gains for about fifty years. Consumer debt is at an all-time high. Individual and household savings are paltry. If we are determined to engage in a general strike, then we will have to be honest with ourselves about the destabilizing effects on people’s lives.
We will need to consider crowd funding within our chambers of parliament, in order to support those who will participate in strikes.
Each chamber of parliament will have to organize its crowd funding in a manner that best suits the community that it serves, initially. Once the movement grows, then broader parliaments will have to work to create a normalized strategy to generate the finances necessary to support members in need. Given the current financial profile of the average American household, it could take several households to support one striking household. This will have to be assessed at the time of strike planning. Further, this shows us that we may need more than just twelve million people striking. We also need the numbers to support them.
Ideas for gathering resources could look like online crowd funding services, community gardens, deals with local farmers and permaculture practitioners, local economies that provide bartering, trading and community monetary systems that support local economies that are detached from the U.S. economy. We should also consider a switch to green energy that will allow us to become either partially or totally independent of the national, state, and local power grids. We could use crowd funding to purchase and utilize solar powered appliances, where applicable.
Let’s take a look at structures, ideas and philosophies that could be relevant. All USPP chambers should consider items that they would add to this list. As always, I am providing ideas as a springboard. Ultimately, this is a community project.
- Striking members: those who agree to strike, removing their labor from the market and destabilizing either a job sector or the overall job market
- Supporting members: members who agree to adjust finances in order to support the needs of striking members
- Strike Team: Striking members + Supporting members
- How long can Supporting members sustain striking members? vs How long before labor deprivation negatively impacts strike targets (whether targeted or general)?
- What happens if supporting members lost their income during the strike period? Should we consider alternate/backup support team members?
- What is the resource level needed to support striking members at subsistence level? This will likely need to be determined at the community chamber level.
- What if striking members lose assets and belongings during a strike (housing, vehicles, etc.)? Will we be able to enact a reclamation process to help make them whole, after the strike?
- How do we build enough trust so that striking members have faith that supporting members will hold in buttressing them? Again, we see the need for building true community and solidarity.
- Once demands are met, can we ensure that laborers will return to work for their employer? When negotiations begin, we are essentially entering into a contract with the employers. If they hold up their and meet our demands, then we must do the same and reinstate the labor that they need. We must conduct ourselves as a reputable organization. This adds further credibility to all of our activism, and it bolsters our ability to continue to negotiate for our demands through other boycotts and strikes.
Now that we’ve taken time to cover ideas and questions that can help us prepare for large-scale, collective disobedience, it’s time for us to move to the next stage.
Up next: How to take action.