We are in the middle of a five alarm fire, and while most of the country remains oblivious, too many in the resistance are wasting time discussing how to organize and implement a fire department. What’s needed from the general public is total non cooperation and a general Spending Strike. NOW!

During the Vietnam/Nixon/Civil Rights Era, targeted boycotts were a hot topic on the left. Almost all failed because it was too complicated. Too many corporations to keep track of. Much the same today.

The Montgomery bus boycott worked because of its simplicity, but it took a year, after fifteen years of organizing, and those folks were highly motivated and had very charismatic leaders. People now talk about Tesla and Target boycotts working, but they haven’t. Neither company has changed their behavior. Losing stock value is not success.

Disney boycott:

Hurrah! A targeted boycott that worked. (Or did it? Some argue that Kimmel’s contract was the motivating factor.) A good first step. But if you start boycotting all the corporations that are enabling the fascist takeover of the country, soon you’re at a general spending strike, which is a good thing. Let’s do it!

We, the People, can’t easily or safely withhold our tax dollars that are allowing this corrupt government to function. Our tax dollars fund the fascist takeover.

But as consumers we can indirectly withhold our tax dollars. Consumer spending is about 70% of the economy. That spending ends up as tax dollars. Stop unnecessary spending and the money funding the fascist takeover will disappear.

Why targeted boycotts are ineffective:

Boycotts often fail because they require massive, sustained participation to create meaningful financial pressure, lack clear alternatives for consumers, generate insufficient negative media attention, and are easily weathered by companies waiting for the protest to fade. Additionally, the complex nature of modern capitalism and the proliferation of corporate conglomerates can make it difficult for boycotters to effectively target and impact a company's bottom line or reputation, especially when companies have multiple revenue streams, like real estate, that aren't affected by consumer boycotts.

In 2020, Goya Foods praised President Donald Trump on social media, which caused those in opposition to Trump to boycott their products. Trump loyalists simultaneously initated a counter-boycott, where consumers bought mass quantities of their products, in response. The boycott caused Goya profits to increase dramatically because Trump supporters started an opposing campaign. 

Targeted boycotts are used to change the behavior of a corporation. We are trying to change the behavior of a fascist regime, an entire government. We must attack the entire economy.

“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the oligarchs (Greedy Bastards) will pay attention.

HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.

It will be up to the people to effect the economic pressure necessary to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of America.

Spending Strike. Stop spending except on essentials. We, the People, are funding the fascist takeover of America. Please help us Spread the Word!, far, wide, and quickly, before the fascists takedown our means of communication.

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

How to Stop His Royal Heinous

Primarily for new subscribers

The Peaceful Solution-Parts 1-3

How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?

Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).

A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.

We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.

Greedy Bastards own most of the politicians of both major parties. GBs start losing money, then they tell the politicians to change course and do what We, the People want.

We are running out of peaceful options. The legislature and Supreme Court are controlled by HRH. He controls the executive branch, including the Military, Justice Department, FBI, ICE, the IRS. He controls all levers of power.

We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. As all else fails, we can go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.

Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community, will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports HRH.

Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. All of us. Hobble the economy and the stock market. Mahatma Gandhi drove the British from India by peaceful civil disobedience and boycotts. We can stop the fascist takeover in  the same way.

We can keep rehashing past and present atrocities until our access to the internet is taken away by the regime, or we can DO something!

Now is the time for this Peaceful Solution.

The Peaceful Solution-Part 2

Why a Spending Strike is the Best Option:

TINA: There Is No Alternative. There is no peaceful alternative.

Plan A

Plan A consists of phoning/writing your legislators, and street demonstrations, neither of which have worked nor give any sign of working. His Royal Heinous controls the majority party in the legislature and they are doing his bidding. As for street demonstrations:

From Professor Erica Chenoweth:

…”they often subject their participants to a higher risk of repression or communal violence from opponents. So movements that are capable of having the capacity to shift to methods of dispersion, like stay-at-homes or strikes or forms of economic noncooperation, tend to be much more effective because they have the capability of maneuver when the state begins to ramp up violence against them.”

Soft Secession :

Federal funds make up 35% of California’s state budget, with $173 billion in federal grants awarded in Fiscal Year 2021 alone, making up a significant portion of state and local budgets for programs like health, education, and infrastructure.

Are they really going to anger HRH to the extent that he cuts off their federal funding?

Soft secession? Only to the point when HRH feels threatened.

He will move in with all his resources and stop it.

It’s another distraction to the resistance in that it keeps us from organizing and uniting around what must be done and what will work. It’s another example of hoping for an easy fix, one that will not take any sacrifice.

In addition, soft secession is divisive, pitting blue states against red states, playing into the narrative of HRH, who wants to start a civil war. MAGA not only wants to “own the libs”, they’d like to kill as many as possible, to eliminate the opposition.

Targeted boycotts:

Why targeted boycotts are ineffective:

Boycotts often fail because they require massive, sustained participation to create meaningful financial pressure, lack clear alternatives for consumers, generate insufficient negative media attention, and are easily weathered by companies waiting for the protest to fade. Additionally, the complex nature of modern capitalism and the proliferation of corporate conglomerates can make it difficult for boycotters to effectively target and impact a company's bottom line or reputation, especially when companies have multiple revenue streams, like real estate, that aren't affected by consumer boycotts.

In 2020, Goya Foods praised President Donald Trump on social media, which caused those in opposition to Trump to boycott their products. Trump loyalists simultaneously initated a counter-boycott, where consumers bought mass quantities of their products, in response. The boycott caused Goya profits to increase dramatically because Trump supporters started an opposing campaign. 

The midterm election:

Will it be free and fair? It won’t be. Will it occur at all? HRH has already said that if we’re at war there’ll be no election. Guess what? If it’s looking bad for him, we’ll be at war to stop the election. (We already are). The election is important to him because having the majority in the legislature gives the fascist regime the look of legitimacy.

People are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. They may have a beneficial psychologic effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything HRH has done or pass new legislation because of his veto power.

The Courts:

While some lower courts have ruled against HRH, slowing his takeover, the rulings have been fast tracked to the Supreme Court. It has almost universally ruled in HRH’s favor. SCOTUS members Roberts and Barrett may have an epiphany and save the country from civil war, but it’s doubtful. It’s going to be up to us to stop this.

Time is running out for a Peaceful Solution. Please Spread the Word!, far, wide, and quickly, before the fascists takedown our means of communication.

The Peaceful Solution-Part 3

How to accomplish a Spending Strike

“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the Greedy Bastards will pay attention.

HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.

Our best chance of success lies in obtaining high profile, national leadership and spokespersons. Fragmented, unknown groups leading the charge might work but would take much longer, and time is of the essence. Since the Disney boycott there have been more “bigger” names taking up the cause.

There will have to be a great amount of grassroot support before a national “leader” will take up the cause. Most of our supposed leaders are really followers of movements. They’ll get out front after it’s shown to have popular support. So, we recruit more foot soldiers, like ourselves, and spread the word on various Substacks and other social media platforms.

After mustering much grassroots support we can then approach some Substack writers who have many subscribers and appeal to them to take up the cause and spread the word. Writers like Robert Reich, who has over a million subscribers , and Heather Cox Richardson, who has over 2.5 million subscribers. There are several Substack writers with large followings who have been promoting this concept, such as Truth Matters, Marie Newman, Danielle Moodie, Mark Mansour, and Everybody’s Mama. Truth Matters leads with 105,000+ subscribers. Their Substacks are great places to Spread the Word and to reinforce what they are saying.

This will be a tough sell. Americans are addicted to buying. We are brainwashed from the cradle by advertising, popular culture, and peer pressure, to consume. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you must have this or that product. To overcome this, our fellow citizens must be convinced that this is the only viable peaceful solution to stop and reverse the fascist takeover. And it is.

But, if a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.

So, a single voice that doubles everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days.

Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue?

Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!, far, wide, and quickly, before the fascists takedown our means of communication.

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!



Let’s try this one again. It received little notice yesterday and there are a number of new subscribers who haven’t seen it. And, restacking is critical to the success of this grassroots effort.

Albert Einstein supposedly said “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest”.

Restacking on Substack is a form of “compound interest” for words and ideas.

If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.

So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.

It starts with Restacking.

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

Albert Einstein supposedly said “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest”.

Restacking on Substack is a form of “compound interest” for words and ideas.

If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.

So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.

It starts with Restacking.

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

The following excerpt is from a Washington Post Op-ed from 2020 regarding the Pandemic, but the lessons apply perfectly to opposing the current fascist takeover.

“Sacrifice is not easy and natural, but it can happen. And yet, the language of sacrifice faded in the aftermath of a more popular, more total and more demanding conflict for Americans. Following World War II, the “good war,” politicians, business leaders, unions and many Americans embraced the idea that mass consumption would drive economic prosperity. Even in the midst of the burgeoning Cold War, such a notion supplanted more collectivist notions of community and sacrifice, in part because those were increasingly stigmatized as “socialist” or “communist.” This offered an individualist reaffirmation of the nation’s democratic values and became central to American identity. Mass consumption and participation in the economy, not sacrifice, increasingly came to signal one’s patriotism.


The last military draft in the United States ended in 1973, and since then, service and sacrifice have been voluntary and borne unevenly. The fractures of national unity that came at the end of the Vietnam War and the distrust of government in the wake of Watergate helped to propel these changes. In their wake, collective sacrifice has been extolled by politicians but never urged, much less required. Instead, market logics and consumer-citizenship has been the default setting for how to practice engaged models of citizenship.

Shopping, traveling and showing confidence in the economy have come to define American citizenship and even responses to collective existential threats such as terrorism and emergencies, including deadly viral outbreaks.

The challenges the nation now faces are dire and require sacrifice, not consumption. The problem is that Americans have been actively discouraged by their leaders from making sacrifices in support of larger efforts — including wars, fossil fuel consumption, global warming, the Great Recession and the current pandemic. Confronting the looming public health, economic and climate challenges today requires a wholesale change in how citizens and the state conceive and construct a rhetoric as well as a practice of collective sacrifice.”

Christopher McKnight Nichols is professor of history and Woody Hayes Chair in national security studies at The Ohio State University. He is author of "Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age" and editor and author of "Rethinking American Grand Strategy" and "Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations: New Histories” (Columbia UP, 2022).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/12/07/americans-used-sacrifice-public-good-what-happened/

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

Sacrifice is Necessary

Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue?

How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?

Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).

A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.

We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.

Greedy Bastards own most of the politicians of both major parties. GBs start losing money, then they tell the politicians to change course and do what We, the People want.

Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!

If a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.

So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.

From Mark Mansour:

Sacrifice has always been the price of renewal. Democracy, if it is to survive, cannot be the cheap luxury item of a populace too comfortable to fight for it. The Trump regime can be resisted through civic courage, legal challenge, and organization. But it can also be starved—one deliberate, withheld dollar at a time.

https://open.substack.com/pub/mmansour/p/its-time-to-recognize-that-this-ordeal?r=5f62tm&utm_medium=ios

From Axios, August 2, 2026

“President Trump doesn't much care if Republicans lose the House and/or the Senate in the midterms this fall.

• Yes, he'd prefer a big win, but he seems indifferent to the election and the possibility of endless Democratic investigations of his family, wealth and policies, his closest advisers tell us.

• A big reason: Trump knows he'll emerge just as strong, or even stronger, heading into his final two years, at least among Republicans.

Why it matters: Trump will enjoy a more pro-Trump Republican Congress, win or lose; gleefully play '28 kingmaker and further test the boundaries of presidential power beyond legislating, his preferred method anyway. He'll use pardons to protect his people, the advisers say.”

Three dramas to watch post-November:

1. Trump will flirt with running again in '28 until the bitter end, but it's all about PR and keeping Vance and Rubio in their place.

2. As potential outside-the-walls competition in '28, the White House is watching Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.).

Most importantly: A constitutional clash over congressional oversight, among the last and most vital powers lawmakers hold dear. What happens if Trump orders his entire administration, family and friends to just ignore Congress?”

From The Peaceful Solution:

The Midterms Will Not Solve the Problem

Most Americans disapprove of His Royal Heinous, but they are looking for an easy solution. One that will not require even a small sacrifice on their part, or any disruption to their life.

They are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. The midterms may have a beneficial psychologic effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything His Royal Heinous has done or pass new legislation, because of his veto power.

There will be investigations if the Dems take the House, but to what end. HRH will pardon all perpetrators, and they know it.

They will impeach HRH, but we’ve seen that movie twice before. Convicted in the senate and removed from office? Please.

He will continue to rule by “National Emergency“ and Executive Orders .

The greatest danger in all this is that it will appear that something beneficial is happening. The majority of people will believe the system is working. After about a year they will realize that nothing is changing. Then they will think, Oh well, he’ll be gone after the election next year.

Or will he? It took the Hungarians 16 years to get rid of Orban, and the Project 2025 people will certainly not make the same mistakes that Orban did.

What can we do?

We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. The other peaceful options are failing. Time is of the essence. The longer the fascist takeover goes on, the more difficult it will be to undo.

We must go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting His Royal Heinous and the politicians who enable him.

Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. You and me. Hobble the economy and the stock market.

Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community, will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike (Quiet Quitting). Go to work, do as little as possible. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports HRH.

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

From Encyclopedia Britannica

“The Progressive movement was a political and social-reform movement that brought major changes to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. During this time, known as the Progressive Era, the movement’s goals involved strengthening the national government and addressing people’s economic, social, and political demands. Progressives saw elements of American society that they wished to reform, especially ending the extreme concentration of wealth among the elite and the enormous economic and political power of big business.”

From The Peaceful Solution:

The political right wing has been working to undo these reforms for over 100 years and now they’ve succeeded. It could take many years to restore our democracy, unless the citizens awaken quickly and take the peaceful actions of non cooperation, and economic disengagement.

How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?

Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).

A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.

We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

By Mick Jagger and Keith Richards

“Please allow me to introduce myself

I'm a man of wealth and taste

I've been around for a long, long year

Stole many a man's soul and faith

I was 'round when Jesus Christ

Had his moment of doubt and pain

Made damn sure that Pilate

Washed his hands and sealed his fate

Pleased to meet you

Hope you guess my name

But what's puzzlin' you

Is the nature of my game

Stuck around St. Petersburg

When I saw it was a time for a change

Killed the Tsar and his ministers

Anastasia screamed in vain

I rode a tank, held a general's rank

When the blitzkrieg raged

And the bodies stank

I watched with glee

While your kings and queens

Fought for ten decades

For the gods they made

I shouted out

"Who killed the Kennedy's?"

When after all

It was you and me

Just as every cop is a criminal

And all the sinners saints

As heads is tails, just call me Lucifer

'Cause I'm in need of some restraint

So if you meet me, have some courtesy

Have some sympathy, and some taste

Use all your well-learned politeness

Or I'll lay your soul to waste”

The following is Biblical in nature, but non believers can still appreciate it as symbolic.

Satan's characteristics

Satan's characteristics include being the great adversary, deceiver, accuser, and tempter, known for pride, cunning, and a desire to destroy God's creation, often appearing as an "angel of light" to lead people astray. He's a powerful, spirit- being with a will, though not omnipotent, who uses lies, schemes, and subtlety to oppose God, seeking to corrupt and ruin humanity. 

Key Characteristics

• Adversary & Opposer: His name means "adversary," and he actively opposes God and His people. 

• Deceiver & Liar: He is the "father of lies," presenting false images of reality and hiding his true motives.

• Tempter: He tempts people to sin, tailoring temptations to individual weaknesses.

• Accuser: He brings charges against the righteous.

• Proud & Malicious: He is characterized by pride and envy, desiring to elevate himself and bring others to ruin. 

• Powerful but Limited: He possesses great power, but is not omnipotent, omniscient, or omnipresent, and will ultimately face punishment. 

• Fierce & Cruel: Described as a "roaring lion" seeking whom he may devour, he embodies evil and destruction. 

• Cunning & Subtle: He uses craftiness and deceitful schemes to corrupt minds. 

• Destroyer: His goal is to kill, steal, and destroy, bringing people into rebellion against goodness.

All of the above seems so familiar.

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

From No mercy/No malice

By Professor Scott Galloway

“We frame economic power as a contest between capital and labor, but the real star of the American economy is consumer spending, which accounts for 68% of GDP. The Great Recession saw a 3.4% drop in consumer spending — at the time, the most severe year-over-year decline since World War II. The U.S. economy registered a 9.8% drop in consumer spending during the second quarter of 2020, when Covid shut down the world as we knew it. In both instances the U.S. government responded aggressively, spending hundreds of billions, primarily on bailouts, to pull us out of the Great Recession, and trillions, primarily in direct aid, to get us through the pandemic. The lesson? When consumers stop spending, American leaders start listening. As Geo Hussar explained to his YouTube followers at the end of September, “this is not seizing the means of production, but seizing the means of consumption,” adding that if every American dropped their consumption, on average, by 2%, “that would be the most loud and potent form of protest.”

From Professor Erica Chenoweth:

“The third thing that successful movements do is they innovate new tactics. This is very important because movements that tend to over-rely on a single technique like protests, like demonstrating every Friday, something that becomes very routinized, end up succumbing much more quickly first of all to protester fatigue, but the second thing is they often subject their participants to a higher risk of repression or communal violence from opponents.

So movements that are capable of having the capacity to shift to methods of dispersion, like stay-at-homes or strikes or forms of economic noncooperation, tend to be much more effective because they have the capability of maneuver when the state begins to ramp up violence against them.”

https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/media/podcast/20201116-protests-perspective-civil-disobedience-activism-erica-chenoweth-deva-woodly

From Professor Paul Krugman

“So how can we make a Trump implosion more likely? The public can help by doing what Target’s customers and Disney’s audience did — make it clear that they will stop paying money to institutions that lend aid and comfort to the authoritarian project.”

From The Peaceful Solution

How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?

Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).

A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.

We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

How Restacking Works

• Sharing to Feeds: When you restack a post or note, it appears in the Home and Notes feeds of the people who follow you or subscribe to your publication. [1, 2]

•

• With or Without Text: You can choose to restack a piece of content "as is" or add your own commentary or thoughts alongside it. [1]

•

• Quote Highlights: You can highlight a specific sentence or paragraph inside any Substack article and choose to "restack quote" to share just that snippet. [1]

•

• No Email Spam: Restacks only live on the platform's social network feed (Substack Notes); they do not trigger an email notification or newsletter blast to your subscribers. [1]

•

Why Writers Use It

• Audience Growth: It introduces content to a brand-new group of readers by borrowing the network reach of whoever is sharing it.

•

• Community Building: It helps support peer creators in your niche and signals to the Substack algorithm that your publications share overlapping audiences

•

From The Peaceful Solution:

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

The following are excerpts from this article.

“The extraordinary level of grassroots solidarity and creative resistance in anti-ICE protests in Minnesota has given people a new appreciation for the power that mass non-cooperation can have in resisting the Trump administration’s drive toward authoritarianism. And it has created an awareness of why such action is clearly needed.

Early in Trump’s second term, an array of mainstream critics expressed skepticism about the value of continued protests in the streets. They invested their faith in institutions such as Congress and the courts. But as these institutions – along with law firms, universities and the business community – have each caved in to the administration’s demands and proven themselves unwilling to catalyze an ardent defense of democracy, it has been left to the people themselves to do this essential work.

Mainstream political thinking in the US sees power as “monolithic,” resting in the hands of senators, generals, billionaires, presidents and CEOs. From that vantage point, the options for opposing a rogue administration seem desperately thin: wait for elections, file a lawsuit, hope for some unforeseen maneuver by elites. This worldview breeds despair. One prominent Democratic party consultant even advised that the best course for progressives is simply to “roll over and play dead”.

Those immersed in social movements look at the process of change in a different way than political insiders do. Instead of subscribing to the monolithic view of power, they hold a social view of power, which understands that those in positions of authority are dependent upon the cooperation and support of the governed.

Now, as then, the list of methods is best seen as an invitation to creativity, reminding organizers they have many tools in their collective toolbox – each with distinctive properties and powers. The potential of civil resistance is not just in holding large demonstrations. It is in drawing from a vast array of strikes, boycotts, noncooperation tactics and artistic protest. And it is in coming up with innovative forms of creative resistance that may never have been seen before.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/15/defeat-trump-mass-non-cooperation

From The Peaceful Solution:

Please: Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover.

Thank you for restacking, and sharing, to help Spread the Word!

So, would it follow, that a single voice that doubled everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days? That seems doable.

Resist. Stop cooperating. Stop spending. Stop the fascist takeover. Spread the Word!

The following is an excerpt.

“People tend to think the way we create change is through elections, and the result is an overconfidence in elections,” she says. “During election cycles, people divert their energies away from community organization and mobilization in a way that makes it hard to sustain a mode of extra-institutional struggle.”

“One challenge to organization, especially in the Western world, Chenoweth says, is that progressive movements full of freethinkers tend to be fragmented and often internally contentious.

Participants in right-wing movements, meanwhile, are easier to organize because they tend to be more ideologically oriented to following authority.

“In emergencies, people in left-leaning or progressive movements can agree on the problem, so progressive movements tend to rally around a key moment or an emergency,” she says. “But this means they are often reacting to crises rather than taking the initiative or proposing a consensus-based solution to the problem.”

Complicating things further, she says, there is often less agreement in democracies about what exactly constitutes a crisis, and the energy around mobilization for change gets pushed into election cycles.”

Erica Chenoweth illuminates the value of nonviolent resistance in societal conflicts | Harvard Kennedy School

From The Peaceful Solution:

The above comments spell out the problem the resistance in the U.S. is facing right now. Most of the people in the country are unaware, and do not regard the fascist takeover as an emergency or a crisis. They think that whatever is wrong, the midterm elections will put things right.

The midterm election

Will it be free and fair? It won’t be. Will it occur at all? His Royal Heinous has already said that if we’re at war there’ll be no election. Guess what? If it’s looking bad for him, we’ll be at war to try to stop the election. His numerous ongoing nefarious attempts to subvert the election are well known.

The election is important to him because having the majority in the legislature gives the fascist regime the look of legitimacy and the Republicans in Congress will continue rolling over, allowing HRH to do whatever he wants.

People are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. They may have a beneficial psychological effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything HRH has done or pass new legislation, because of his veto power.

If the Dems win the House, they will impeach HRH, but we’ve seen that movie twice before. Convicted in the senate and removed from office? We can only hope, but hope is not a strategy.

What can we do?

We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. The other peaceful options are failing. Time is of the essence. We must go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting His Royal Heinous and the politicians who enable him.

Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. You and me. Hobble the economy and the stock market.

Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike (Quiet Quitting). Go to work, do as little as possible. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports HRH.

This is how we can stop the fascist takeover.

Thanks for Restacking and Sharing, helping to Spread the Word!

By Laura Gamboa, Assistant Professor at Norte Dame University

Published in Foreign Affairs

The following is an excerpt.

“For democracy to survive, it must be protected. In the past few decades, in countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Poland, opposition groups pushed back successfully against leaders with authoritarian tendencies early in the process of democratic backsliding, when they still had institutional levers to pull. But in other cases, such as Bolivia, El Salvador, Turkey, and Venezuela, oppositions either failed to act with sufficient urgency or used tactics that lost them their institutional levers, gradually hindering their ability to resist.

In the United States, the opposition’s response to the threat so far has been underwhelming. Reeling from electoral defeat and shocked by the blitz of the Trump administration’s power grabs, politicians and civil society groups are uncertain about the path forward and hesitant to take bold steps.

This delay is costly. If American democracy is to prevail, pro-democracy forces must follow the handbook that has enabled oppositions to stop would-be autocrats in other countries. They should coordinate to defend and expand their institutional powers while they have them, wield them to obstruct Trump’s authoritarian agenda, strengthen grassroots resistance efforts, and protect the activists, officeholders, and other individuals exposed to retribution from the administration. The alternative may be that democracy slips away while they wait.”

From The Peaceful Solution:

A Bold Step

We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. The other peaceful options are failing. Time is of the essence. We must go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting His Royal Heinous and the politicians who enable him.

Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. You and me. Hobble the economy and the stock market.

Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike (Quiet Quitting). Go to work, do as little as possible. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports HRH.

This is how we can stop the fascist takeover.

Thanks for Restacking and helping to Spread the Word!

Most Americans disapprove of His Royal Heinous, but they are looking for an easy solution. One that will not require even a small sacrifice on their part, or any disruption to their life.

They are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. The midterms may have a beneficial psychologic effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything His Royal Heinous has done or pass new legislation, because of his veto power.

There will be investigations if the Dems take the House, but to what end. HRH will pardon all perpetrators, and they know it.

They will impeach HRH, but we’ve seen that movie twice before. Convicted in the senate and removed from office? We can only hope, but hope is not a strategy.

He will continue to rule by “National Emergency“ and Executive Orders and almost surely the Supreme Court will allow it.

The greatest danger in all this is that it will appear that something beneficial is happening. The majority of people will believe the system is working. After about a year they will realize that nothing is changing. Then they will think, Oh well, he’ll be gone after the election next year.

Or will he? It took the Hungarians 16 years to get rid of Orban, and the Project 2025 people will certainly not make the same mistakes that Orban did.

What can we do?

We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. The other peaceful options are failing. Time is of the essence. The longer the fascist takeover goes on, the more difficult it will be to undo.

We must go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting His Royal Heinous and the politicians who enable him.

Stop cooperating. Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. You and me. Hobble the economy and the stock market.

Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community, will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike (Quiet Quitting). Go to work, do as little as possible. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports HRH.

This is the place where many political writers on Substack plead for paid subscribers. I don’t have that category.

What I plead for is that readers of my screeds Spread the Word! Please restack, share, copy and post on other social media that you frequent. To be successful this must be a group effort.

Non cooperation and economic warfare are the surest, quickest, safest ways to stop and reverse the fascist takeover.

Anything I put on Substack, I regard as public domain. Anyone can use it to oppose the fascist takeover of the country.

How to Stop His Royal Heinous

The Peaceful Solution-Parts 1-3

How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?

Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).

A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.

We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.

Greedy Bastards own most of the politicians of both major parties. GBs start losing money, then they tell the politicians to change course and do what We, the People want.

We are running out of peaceful options. The legislature and Supreme Court are controlled by HRH. He controls the executive branch, including the Military, Justice Department, FBI, ICE, the IRS. He controls all levers of power.

We, the people, still have the power of the purse. No one can control our spending, or lack of spending. As all else fails, we can go on a spending strike until the business community stops supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.

Economic warfare is the only thing the oligarchs, the business community, will understand and act on. Call it a Surreptitious General Strike. Stop spending money except on essentials. Quit feeding the corporate beast that supports HRH.

Stop participating. Nearly 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. All of us. Hobble the economy and the stock market. Mahatma Gandhi drove the British from India by peaceful civil disobedience and boycotts. We can stop the fascist takeover in  the same way.

We can keep rehashing past and present atrocities until our access to the internet is taken away by the regime, or we can DO something!

Now is the time for this Peaceful Solution.

The Peaceful Solution-Part 2

Why a Spending Strike is the Best Option:

TINA: There Is No Alternative. There is no peaceful alternative.

Plan A

Plan A consists of phoning/writing your legislators, and street demonstrations, neither of which have worked nor give any sign of working. His Royal Heinous controls the majority party in the legislature and they are doing his bidding. As for street demonstrations:

From Professor Erica Chenoweth:

…”they often subject their participants to a higher risk of repression or communal violence from opponents. So movements that are capable of having the capacity to shift to methods of dispersion, like stay-at-homes or strikes or forms of economic noncooperation, tend to be much more effective because they have the capability of maneuver when the state begins to ramp up violence against them.”

Soft Secession :

Federal funds make up 35% of California’s state budget, with $173 billion in federal grants awarded in Fiscal Year 2021 alone, making up a significant portion of state and local budgets for programs like health, education, and infrastructure.

Are they really going to anger HRH to the extent that he cuts off their federal funding?

Soft secession? Only to the point when HRH feels threatened.

He will move in with all his resources and stop it.

It’s another distraction to the resistance in that it keeps us from organizing and uniting around what must be done and what will work. It’s another example of hoping for an easy fix, one that will not take any sacrifice.

In addition, soft secession is divisive, pitting blue states against red states, playing into the narrative of HRH, who wants to start a civil war. MAGA not only wants to “own the libs”, they’d like to kill as many as possible, to eliminate the opposition.

Targeted boycotts:

Why targeted boycotts are ineffective:

Boycotts often fail because they require massive, sustained participation to create meaningful financial pressure, lack clear alternatives for consumers, generate insufficient negative media attention, and are easily weathered by companies waiting for the protest to fade. Additionally, the complex nature of modern capitalism and the proliferation of corporate conglomerates can make it difficult for boycotters to effectively target and impact a company's bottom line or reputation, especially when companies have multiple revenue streams, like real estate, that aren't affected by consumer boycotts.

In 2020, Goya Foods praised President Donald Trump on social media, which caused those in opposition to Trump to boycott their products. Trump loyalists simultaneously initated a counter-boycott, where consumers bought mass quantities of their products, in response. The boycott caused Goya profits to increase dramatically because Trump supporters started an opposing campaign. 

The midterm election:

Will it be free and fair? It won’t be. Will it occur at all? HRH has already said that if we’re at war there’ll be no election. Guess what? If it’s looking bad for him, we’ll be at war to stop the election. (We already are). The election is important to him because having the majority in the legislature gives the fascist regime the look of legitimacy.

People are putting too much faith in what the midterms will do. They may have a beneficial psychologic effect but in reality the outcome will have little or no practical effect, unless the Dems can get 2/3 majority in the house and senate, which they won’t. They will not be able to undo anything HRH has done or pass new legislation because of his veto power.

The Courts:

While some lower courts have ruled against HRH, slowing his takeover, the rulings have been fast tracked to the Supreme Court. It has almost universally ruled in HRH’s favor. SCOTUS members Roberts and Barrett may have an epiphany and save the country from civil war, but it’s doubtful. It’s going to be up to us to stop this.

Time is running out for a Peaceful Solution. Please Spread the Word!, far, wide, and quickly, before the fascists takedown our means of communication.

The Peaceful Solution-Part 3

How to accomplish a Spending Strike

“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the misperceived state of the economy. That’s what must be attacked, not individual corporations. The overall economy must suffer before the Greedy Bastards will pay attention.

HRH will not destroy the economy on his own (TACO). He will find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates) because the economy and stock market are his report card and key to keeping power. The key to keeping power, as it is in Russia, China, Hungary, Turkey. They give the people a somewhat decent standard of living, and in exchange, the people have no political power. Only the autocrat has that. Unlimited.

Our best chance of success lies in obtaining high profile, national leadership and spokespersons. Fragmented, unknown groups leading the charge might work but would take much longer, and time is of the essence. Since the Disney boycott there have been more “bigger” names taking up the cause.

There will have to be a great amount of grassroot support before a national “leader” will take up the cause. Most of our supposed leaders are really followers of movements. They’ll get out front after it’s shown to have popular support. So, we recruit more foot soldiers, like ourselves, and spread the word on various Substacks and other social media platforms.

After mustering much grassroots support we can then approach some Substack writers who have many subscribers and appeal to them to take up the cause and spread the word. Writers like Robert Reich, who has over a million subscribers , and Heather Cox Richardson, who has over 2.5 million subscribers. There are several Substack writers with large followings who have been promoting this concept, such as Truth Matters, Marie Newman, Danielle Moodie, Mark Mansour, and Everybody’s Mama. Truth Matters leads with 105,000+ subscribers. Their Substacks are great places to Spread the Word and to reinforce what they are saying.

This will be a tough sell. Americans are addicted to buying. We are brainwashed from the cradle by advertising, popular culture, and peer pressure, to consume. If you want to be happy and fulfilled, you must have this or that product. To overcome this, our fellow citizens must be convinced that this is the only viable peaceful solution to stop and reverse the fascist takeover. And it is.

But, if a single dollar doubles every day for 30 days, it reaches a total of over $536 million ($536,870,912) at the end of the 30th day.

So, a single voice that doubles everyday would become 536 million voices after 30 days.

Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later. What kind of world will our children and grandchildren live in if we allow this to continue?

Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!, far, wide, and quickly, before the fascists takedown our means of communication.



Erica Chenoweth’s research highlights that nonviolent movements succeed by inducing defections within an opponent's "pillars of support"—institutions upholding the regime, such as economic elites, business leaders, media, and security forces. Targeting these pillars with economic pressure (strikes, boycotts) weakens regime loyalty, forcing structural change. 

Key Aspects of Chenoweth’s Pillar Strategy:

• Definition: Pillars of support are the essential institutions (e.g., police, military, civil servants, media, organized labor, business leaders, educational systems) that maintain an authoritarian or unjust system.

• The Goal (Defection): Rather than directly attacking the regime, successful campaigns target these pillars to cause, in Chenoweth's term, "defections" - where key stakeholders stop supporting the leadership.

• Economic Tactics: Key actions include labor actions, consumer boycotts, and targeted pressure on economic elites and business leaders.

• Informed Pillar Strategy: Research suggests that identifying and focusing on the least loyal or most "low-hanging" pillars is more effective for small-to-medium movements than broad, random, or only massive mobilization.

• Disruptive Power: The goal is to break the perception that supporting the regime is in the best interest of these institutions. 

The approach emphasizes that, while mass participation is crucial, specific, strategic action against the pillars of support is a more effective way to create, in Chenoweth's terms, a "cascade of defections". 

A dynamic model of nonviolent resistance strategy - PMC

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9328538/

Down here in the enlightened parts of the South (they do exist), we have another name for His Royal Heinous.

We call him Dick Tater.

Tater because he loves him some French fries.

And Dick, because he is one.

The surest way to get Democrats elected in November?

Defer spending until after the election.

If the economy is suffering between now and November, Democrats will be ensured victory.

The real star of the American economy is consumer spending, which accounts for 68% of GDP

Stop spending now, except on essentials. Defer spending, as much as possible, especially on big ticket items, until after the election.

Shop, but don’t buy. Defer that gratification for a short while.

It’s important to stop spending now so there will be two quarters of bad economic news before the election.

“It’s the economy, stupid” as James Carville famously told Bill Clinton. It was then, and still is, in politics. The reelection of His Royal Heinous is largely attributed to the state of the economy, misrepresented as it was by HRH.

Will HRH destroy the economy on his own? Maybe or maybe not. He’s already retreating from his ill conceived war with Iran because of the damage it’s doing to the economy. TACO.

He will try to find a way to prop it up (like lower interest rates and fake numbers from the administration) because the economy is his key to keeping power.

But why take a chance? A simple and painless deferring of spending until after the election will ensure a Democratic wave and almost surely make the Republican politicians fear The People more than the fear His Royal Heinous.

Please share and restack this comment, and feel free to copy and paste it on whatever social media you frequent.

Sacrifice is Necessary

Defeating the fascists in WWII did not happen without sacrifice from the citizens of the Allied countries. We will have to sacrifice to stop and reverse the fascist takeover of our country. We can sacrifice a little now or a much greater amount later.

Too many in The Resistance and the general public, seem to think that there are still rules and guardrails. That the system will work. That all we have to do is vote in large numbers in the midterm election.

We are in a street fight with the forces of fascism. There are no rules, no guardrails. There is only what His Royal Heinous decrees, and he controls all the levers of power. The system is not working.

How much do you want to stop His Royal Heinous and the fascist takeover of the country?

Enough that you’re willing to make a small sacrifice? Like altering your spending habits for a month or two or three? That could be all it would take to get the attention of the oligarchs (formerly known as The Robber Barons in the first Gilded Age, also The Fat Cats, The Greedy Bastards).

A brief demonstration of We, the People’s, power of the purse could persuade them to quit supporting HRH and the politicians who enable him.

We quit spending, except on essentials, businesses lose money, stock market goes down, Greedy Bastards pay attention to our demands.

Greedy Bastards own most of the politicians of both major parties. GBs start losing money, then they tell the politicians to change course and do what We, the People want.

Spending Strike, Spending Freeze, Spending Suspension, Spending Pause, Economic Disengagement, Economic Warfare, Stop Spending!, even Boycott. Choose your favorite but Do It, and Spread the Word!

From Mark Mansour:

Sacrifice has always been the price of renewal. Democracy, if it is to survive, cannot be the cheap luxury item of a populace too comfortable to fight for it. The Trump regime can be resisted through civic courage, legal challenge, and organization. But it can also be starved—one deliberate, withheld dollar at a time.

https://open.substack.com/pub/mmansour/p/its-time-to-recognize-that-this-ordeal?r=5f62tm&utm_medium=ios

The following excerpt is from a Washington Post Op-ed from 2020 regarding the Pandemic, but the lessons apply perfectly to opposing the current fascist takeover.

“Sacrifice is not easy and natural, but it can happen. And yet, the language of sacrifice faded in the aftermath of a more popular, more total and more demanding conflict for Americans. Following World War II, the “good war,” politicians, business leaders, unions and many Americans embraced the idea that mass consumption would drive economic prosperity. Even in the midst of the burgeoning Cold War, such a notion supplanted more collectivist notions of community and sacrifice, in part because those were increasingly stigmatized as “socialist” or “communist.” This offered an individualist reaffirmation of the nation’s democratic values and became central to American identity. Mass consumption and participation in the economy, not sacrifice, increasingly came to signal one’s patriotism.


The last military draft in the United States ended in 1973, and since then, service and sacrifice have been voluntary and borne unevenly. The fractures of national unity that came at the end of the Vietnam War and the distrust of government in the wake of Watergate helped to propel these changes. In their wake, collective sacrifice has been extolled by politicians but never urged, much less required. Instead, market logics and consumer-citizenship has been the default setting for how to practice engaged models of citizenship.

Shopping, traveling and showing confidence in the economy have come to define American citizenship and even responses to collective existential threats such as terrorism and emergencies, including deadly viral outbreaks.

The challenges the nation now faces are dire and require sacrifice, not consumption. The problem is that Americans have been actively discouraged by their leaders from making sacrifices in support of larger efforts — including wars, fossil fuel consumption, global warming, the Great Recession and the current pandemic. Confronting the looming public health, economic and climate challenges today requires a wholesale change in how citizens and the state conceive and construct a rhetoric as well as a practice of collective sacrifice.”

Christopher McKnight Nichols is professor of history and Woody Hayes Chair in national security studies at The Ohio State University. He is author of "Promise and Peril: America at the Dawn of a Global Age" and editor and author of "Rethinking American Grand Strategy" and "Ideology in U.S. Foreign Relations: New Histories” (Columbia UP, 2022).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/12/07/americans-used-sacrifice-public-good-what-happened/