urlhoardingisunethical:

wrenwind:

bigcopedipper:

micdotcom:

Activists call for a nationwide general strike on February 17

• In a column for the Guardian on Monday, American writer Francine Prose called for a “nonviolent national general strike” to demonstrate “how many of us there are, how strong and committed we are, how much we can accomplish.”
• She wrote: “Let’s designate a day on which no one (that is, anyone who can do so without being fired) goes to work, a day when no one shops or spends money, a day on which we truly make our economic and political power felt.”
• Calls to do just that have been circulating online recently, with activists setting Feb. 17 — the Friday before President’s Day — as the day for a #nationalstrike against the presidency of Donald Trump. Read more

Even if you can’t not work, we can all not spend money for a day. I think this is a brilliant idea!

Thank you for the alternative for people who can’t afford to miss work! I feel like that gets ignored in a lot of strike talk.

But not spending money for a day, I can do!

Perhaps someone can set up a post for people who are striking but can’t afford the loss of a day’s wages to get their day’s pay covered by other more financially stable activists? The share economy is radical in itself; make it work for this situation too, really hammer the point of an economical ‘opt out’ home.

That would fix step one of what makes a strike work. Unfortunately step 2 is lacking. Historically a strike needs:
– a strike fund for all those who need to live without pay
– the commitment to be able to go on as long as it takes

A strike is not a symbolic act. Traditionally a one day strike is a warning: “Do what we want or we will strike indefinitely until we get it.”

The next step, a long term strike, is a case of who can hold on to their opinion the longest. Does hunger force the people back to work or does the halted economy force the government to give in? That struggle is the nature of a strike.

A one day strike without the power to follow up with a full general strike will be seen for what it is: a rather weak symbolic act that the state can easily survive.