More than "not one damned dime"; a full economic boycott is needed.

[benburch]

Friends,

The commercial interests that fund the GOP, which in fact ARE the GOP, need to be destroyed. To this end, we need an austerity plan for all loyal Americans in which we spend as little as possible at all times until this regime falls.

To that end I suggest that we explore;

- Barter systems
- Victory Gardens
- Fishing
- Food storage
- Flea Markets
- Small appliance repair
- Scavenging

In other words; Use it up. Wear it out. Make do. Do without.

In other words, simple living.

Would any of you be interested in a DU Group, or a stand-alone website to promote such money-less living?

I really believe that if we could get even 20% of the people who voted for change in this election to participate in such an activity that we could destroy these GOP commercial interests.

Comments appreciated!

-Ben Burch
http://www.WhiteRoseSociety.org/

[dweller]

1. i'm interested in a group

and a website too.

a dumpster diver for long time now. :)

dp

[Lorien]

8. We HAVE a group and several websites:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=255

Lots and lots of info there; but more DUers need to be made aware of it.

[Rockerdem]

13. If it is close by, make your purchases in Canada

Or buy imported European goods. Why buy from our enemies when we can patronize our real friends??????

[Catchawave]

2. I prefer boycott over civil war....

I'm all for shooting the gonads off corporate CEO's who piss on the American worker for profit.

[benburch]

3. Properly done, a Boycott IS an act of war.

Or it is when your enemy is the GOP.

[robcon]

4. If "simple living" is required to get rid of this regime...

count me out...

Unwise: the strength of this country I love is our economic strength.

Impractical: If there is anything that is certain, it is that a political movement that requires lowering our living standards is doomed to failure, IMO.

Immoral: intentionally weakening our country is a stab in the back of those less fortunate.

[benburch]

5. It is immoral to support this economy.

If you are worried about the "less fortunate" I would bid you consider what conditions will pertain for them in four years, or 8, or 12 of GOP absolute rule.

[Lorien]

9. If the regime stays in power

you damned well better believe that your standard of living is going to be significantly lowered. And as for economic strength? Have you LOOKED at the value of the dollar lately? Rising interest rates? THE FUCKING NATIONAL DEBT?!!

Is killing ma and pa businesses and implanting WalMarts nationwide good for your town or America's workers?

The only way to unseat the regime is to take our $$$ away from their corporate masters. It's a choice between democracy (buying blue) or fascism (buying red; keep the neo-cons and kill the planet). I choose the former.

[msanthrope]

10. We are undercutting our strength with our Wal-Mart culture---n/t

[MadHound]

11. I guess you've never heard of Ghandi then?

After all, in his revolution, he based his entire plan around exactly what you speak against. And guess what, he won. Do you think what he did was immoral?

[peacebird]

14. live simply, so that others may simply live.

as a nation we use a disproportionate amount of energy, and produce way too much pollution.

it would serve us all well to begin living a bit more simply. walk or bike instead of driving when possible. gives you exercise, burns FAT not oil, and is non-polluting.

start a vegetable garden - used to be called Victory Gardens during WWII. In an apartment - if you have a balcony, grow veggies in pots.
benefit - inexpensive fresh veggies, brimming with vitamins.

Amazing how stress-free life can become when you reduce your debts. i'm a firm believer in not buying unless you really NEED something.

[trogdor]

16. I heart fresh veggies.

Now, if I can only keep my other half out of the Home Depot buying fertilizer, topsoil, manure, etc., and so on, and so forth, so that the veggies cost more than they would at the supermarket, we'd be all set.

I think this year I'll tell her if I see one more bag of stuff to fortify our perfectly good dirt, I'll mow the whole thing down and plant grass seed. I like homegrown tomatoes, but I don't like paying $4 a pound for the damned things.

[trogdor]

15. So you're doing your patriotic duty by maxing your plastic.

Nice.

[cap]

6. freecycle

free give aways within your community

www.freecycle.org

I've saved thousands of dollars... got a bedroom set (end tables, dresser, drawers)... small refrigerator...aquarium...cookbooks...stereo speakers (3 ft high)

[benburch]

7. Great idea!!!

And I have a garage full of possibly useful (to somebody else) junk!

[Trailrider1951]

12. Buying Blue and not Red is only half the equation

To really starve that GOP beast you need the other half of the equation: quit supporting those corporation with your WORK. I myself work for a major corporation, after the small company I worked for was bought by this corporation. I am now looking hard for another job, a position with another small company. If you can possibly swing it, come join me. I swear I will NEVER work for another huge soul-less corporation ever again!

[amazona]

18. unfortunately for most that's cutting off one's nose

Small companies have fewer and sometimes no benefits, depending on what you consider a small company. I would never advise anyone to accept a job with a small company if they were able to be hired at the same or similar job with a large company. Small business is just as likely to be run by members of the GOP, and they can get away with offering less benefits for health, retirement, etc. than larger companies do. Many small family companies are real soap operas of stress and misery. Scrooge was a small businessman.

[Lorien]

19. I have no problem with taking my megacorp's $$$

and spending it on Blue products and services while donating some of it to progressive causes. To me, it's a matter of taking money from the right to redistribute it to the left.

[amazona]

17. some have no choice but to live that way

With an annual income of less than five figures, I already do all that stuff. More people competing with me for stuff at Goodwill doesn't necessarily help me. As an example, when dumpster diving became known to the general public, the entire way of life was destroyed because stores began to destroy their discarded goods or else to use compactors.

At this point I'm interested in sharing ideas only where it doesn't destroy the opportunities for everyone. Not everyone can live "free." By its nature, you need wasteful consumers and slack in the system that we can take advantage of.

The book, Possum Living by Dolly Freed, is widely published on the internet. It doesn't take much math ability to figure out that her method of money-less living causes her to work harder than if she had just given up, gone to school, and got a job with good benefits. Subsistence living for most people is a miserable existence indeed, and those of us who have sometimes found ways to exploit weaknesses in the system find that when those weaknesses are publicized...the game is up and the party is over.

There is a fine line to walk between spreading knowledge and destroying opportunities for "free" living. How do we walk that line in a public forum? I don't think we can. USENET certainly played a big role in destroying dumpster diving for all of us.

Now if there is a way to do this as a private listserv, I might be onboard with more enthusiasm.

Oh, another example of the way society has changed to hurt people who want to live free. In days of old, you might be able to get a lower price by negotiating with a doctor by offering to pay cash. Now if you are not in the insurance system, the cash payers pay 3 to 9 times as much as the insured patient, so one accident or illness wipes you out and takes your home. So you can't really give up buying certain products like insurance, even though insurance companies might be some of the most harmful industries in our society.

The cards are really stacked against us being able to use this tool to help ourselves more than we hurt ourselves.

That said, I doubt I would be able to resist participating in such a forum. It just needs to be done intelligently.

[blm]

20. Join Costco, too. They stand with us AND you save money.

.