If Money Talks Corporate America May Be Forced to Listen February 28th

A social movement has been brewing online, and on February 28th, every American citizen has been encouraged to participate in an "economic blackout." Keep reading to learn more.

Big Corporations Spend Our Money to Fund Their Politics

Big corporations have been spending our consumer dollars for their own political gain for years, often in ways that harm rather than help the rest of our country's population. Many Americans are now finding themselves at their tipping point.

You are Likely Part of the Bottom 99% of the United States Financially

If you are reading this now, you are likely part of the bottom 99% in this country. We are the working class. We are the poor and the working poor. We are the ever dwindling middle class.

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The American Machine is Profiting While the People Continue to Struggle

We are what I often refer to as "cogs in wheels," meaning we are the ones that keep the American machine as a whole up and running smoothly while corporate America profits from our often overworked and underpaid labors. Meanwhile, the cost of goods and services continues to rise.

Prices Continue to Rise For Food, Rent, & Utilities

During the pandemic, we were told there were supply chain issues that drove up the prices of goods like toilet paper and groceries. Yet, post-pandemic those prices never came back down. Rather, they continued to rise, and so did the price of rent and utilities.

READ MORE: Evansville Water Rates Expected to Jump 36% from 2022 to 2026

Federal Minimum Wage Hasn't Increased Since 2009 and Is Less Than "Poverty Wage"

The federal minimum wage hasn't seen an increase since 2009 when it went up to $7.25 per hour, or based on a 40-hour work week, and missing no days of work, about $15,080 per year. It's also less than the $7.52 that MIT says is a poverty wage for a single person with no children.

Inflations Has Far Outpaced Federal Minimum Wage

Likewise, the average market rate for a one bedroom apartment here in Indiana is $1,085 a month, according to Apartments.com. In 2009, fair market rate for a 1-bedroom apartment in the Hoosier State was $512 per month. Yet, the minimum wage has stayed the same despite the fact that an individual would have to see a more than 50% increase in earnings just to have the same buying power as they did in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

READ MORE: Centerpoint Energy Approved for $80M Rate Hike in Indiana

The Cost to Simpy Exist Has Become More than Many Americans Can Afford

For many Americans, including here in Indiana, the cost to just exist is more than they can now afford. We are being priced out of necessities like a roof over our heads and keeping the lights on, making it increasingly more difficult to put food on the table and cover the cost of much needed medications.

Corporations Like Walmart & Amazon Are Seeing All-Time Record Profits

Meanwhile corporations like Walmart, Target, and Amazon have seen record profits. Amazon raked in $311.671 Billion in annual gross profits in 2024. Walmart's annual gross profits climbed to $157.9 Billion, and Target brought in $30.544 Billion in gross annual profits. 

Mega Corporations Are Underpaying Employees at the Expense of the U.S. Taxpayers

While these mega corporations are raking in big bucks, they pay their workers some of the most pitiful wages in the nation, leaving their employees dependent on government assistance like SNAP and Medicaid.

Walmart Alone Costs U.S. Taxpayers Billions to Subsidize Its Employees

While current data is lacking, in an article published by Forbes in 2014, it was revealed that Walmart alone had cost tax-payers $6.2 Billion to provide government assistance for its employees, and in a report shared in 2020 by Vermont Governor, Bernie Sanders it details just how many employees of these mega corps require subsidized assistance - the numbers are staggering.

5.7 million Medicaid enrollees and 4.7 million SNAP recipients who worked full-time for 50 or more weeks in 2018 earned wages so low that they qualified for these federal benefits. An estimated 12 million wage-earning adults enrolled in Medicaid and 9 million wage-earning adults living in households receiving SNAP benefits worked at some point in 2018.

READ MORE: How to See The Political Donations of The Places You Shop

The American People Are Fed Up and Looking for a Way to Fight Back

Most recently, there has been a lot of backlash against these companies for their political actions - or in some instances, their inactions. We the people are tired. We the people are frustrated, fed up, and looking for a way to fight back.

The Only Language Companies Like Amazon & Walmart Understand is Money

Unfortunately, these mega corporations have made it abundantly clear by their actions that they do not care about the welfare of the American people. Our cries of frustration and outrage have fallen on deaf ears as the only language these corporations speak and understand is money.

Economic Blackout Planned for February 28. 2025

That's why on February 28, 2025, the American people are being encouraged to let their money (or lack there of) do the talking. For one day, the American people are encouraged to put their differences aside, and unite in peaceful protest by way of an ecomomic blackout.

Who Started the Idea of Protesting with an Economic Blackout?

The economic blackout has been attributed to an organization known as The People's Union U.S.A., a grassroots movement with no ties to any political parties.

The founder of the organization, John Schwarz, shared about the motive behind the black out in a video posted to Instagram, where he said:

For our entire lives, they have told us we have no choice; That we have to accept these insane prices, the corporate greed, the billionaire tax breaks, all while we struggle to just to get by... February 28th, the 24-hour economic blackout: no Amazon, no Walmart, no fast food, no gas, not a single unnecessary dollar spent, for one day, we are going to finally turn the tables.

How to Participate in the American Economic Blackout

The American people are encouraged to buy absolutely nothing, to spend nothing - not on Amazon, not at Walmart, not at Target or anywhere else that is corporately owned. Don't buy gas or groceries, and don't use your credit cards that day either.

What If You Have to Shop on February 28, 2025?

If you do have to shop on February 28. 2025, you are encouraged to only spend what you absolutely have to for necessities, and if at all possible, to spend your money with small, local businesses.

Economic Blackout - A Small Act with a Powerful Message

It may seem like a small, insignificant act, but if the American people all act at the same time, on the same day, in the same way, it has the potential to send the very powerful message that despite what the corporations may think, We the People still hold the power in our country.