While we sympathize with the motivation behind the boycotts and strikes, and we fully support the right of all Americans to peaceably assemble, we don’t believe this approach creates meaningful change. Single-day actions rarely accomplish their intended goals and often have the opposite effect.
Single-day boycotts do not affect large companies – ones with record-breaking quarters like Amazon, Google, ExxonMobil, etc. Most people will make their Amazon purchases either the day before or the day after, only shifting revenue rather than eliminating it. If you still use the internet, Google and others will still get their ad revenue. You can’t cancel Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, or Paramount for just one day, so they still get your money. Unless you have a long drive, you can usually put off buying gas for a day as well.
So who does a single-day boycott hurt? Small businesses and low-wage workers.
Small businesses like ours are disproportionately affected by well-meaning actions like these. We depend heavily on consistent customer traffic on peak days like Friday and Saturday. A sharp drop in business on a single high-volume day can erase a week or even a month of profit. Unlike large corporations, small businesses cannot offset losses across massive revenue streams or global markets. Low-wage workers often can’t afford to take a day off work due to financial burdens, and if sales do drop in a meaningful way, their hours can be cut.
This is not an argument against change. It is an argument for effective change. Real, lasting change does not come from symbolic gestures that can be waited out. It comes from sustained effort and deliberate choices made over time. It comes from shifting habits, not pausing them briefly.
Choosing where and how you spend your money every day has far more impact than withholding it for one. Supporting local businesses instead of multinational corporations keeps resources in your community. Instead of ordering from Amazon, Target, or Walmart, go to a local grocery store. Instead of eating at McDonald’s or Applebee’s, try that new place you’ve been hearing good things about. Skip MJR and go to a local theater or comedy club. Cancel subscriptions you don’t use. These choices create ongoing pressure that cannot be dismissed as noise or absorbed as a rounding error.
Civic participation matters as well. In most jurisdictions, voting can be completed in a short amount of time with basic planning. Voting in primaries is especially critical: roughly 80% of U.S. House seats are considered “safe,” meaning the general election outcome is highly predictable based on party affiliation. In these districts, the primary election is often the election that determines who will hold power. Choosing not to participate cedes that decision to a much smaller group of voters.
If you want to strike, we stand with you—but not for a single day.
We recognize that not everyone can afford to participate in an open-ended strike, and that reality matters. Support and solidarity can take many forms, including mutual aid, community organizing, long-term economic pressure, and sustained civic engagement. History shows that meaningful change comes from pressure that is consistent, collective, and impossible to ignore or simply wait out.
One-day boycotts can be absorbed. Sustained action cannot.
Real change depends on commitment, mutual support, and the willingness to remain engaged for as long as it takes to achieve results that last.
