US citizens concerned about the policies and personnel in President Trump’s administration have lots of ways we can make our disagreements known. We can contact our elected representatives, especially those in the US Congress, and communicate our opinions. (Note: I will do a post soon with details about how to do that.) Congressional members who have been brave enough to hold town meetings have gotten an earful of complaints from their constituents. We can attend rallies or protests or other group civic engagements. We can reach out and support those who are on the front line or who have been negatively impacted directly by these policies (such as federal workers fired without cause). We can give money to the groups and organizations that are fighting these policies. I particularly recommend those bringing the lawsuits against the Administration’s illegal actions, such as the ACLU and Public Citizen.

But we also have another tool–the power of the purse. We can refuse to give our money to the people and organizations that are fueling and funding policies we oppose. And that is what an organization called 50501 (short for 50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement) is calling for in its Economic Blackout Protest this Friday, February 28.

The basics are explained below. But mostly, don’t spend any money with the national corporations that have funded and supported President’s policies that hurt the average person but benefit the millionaires and billionaires.

It is unlikely that a one day boycott will really hurt any of these national corporations. (The boycott includes credit card companies, so try to use cash even if you are buying from local businesses.) If enough people do it to make it noticeable, 50501 and other organizations plan to call for more targeted and longer boycotts against the worst offenders. That is more likely to make a real difference. You have to start somewhere…

One thing I can suggest in particular: DON’T eat at Jimmy John’s! According to Newsweek, the sandwich chain’s founder, Jimmy John Liautaud, donated a total of $3.1 million to President Trumps 2024 campaign and/or 2025 inauguration. If you don’t like what is going on, are you going to enjoy that food, knowing your money is profiting a man that gave the Trump campaign more money than did Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta/Facebook), and MobileExxon COMBINED?

So I’m in. Will it really make a difference to President Trump’s corporate supporters? Who knows? But we can try….