First off, like all of you, we are horrified by the recent federal murders in Minnesota. We are equally horrified by the military occupation of a US city by a masked and lawless secret police. Anyone who’s visits our shop will see our morality on the shelves. They’ll also see we read history and know where all this can go. We are continually sickened by the erosion of rights, as well as the corruption and grift happening at the highest levels of government.
We know some small businesses closed Jan 30, in protest of the federal occupation of Minneapolis. We understand the drive toward a general strike, and we support those who engage in it.
We thought about it long and hard and decided that for Stanza, closing wasn’t the right decision. We concluded it wasn’t right for our employees and it wasn’t right for our community.
We firmly believe small, local businesses are antidote to growing authoritarianism. When you decentralize shopping, you decentralize power. Amazon has so much power because their scale not only allows them to abuse workers, but to strong-arm vendors as well. We usually carry a good book by Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow called Chokepoint Capitalism, that really breaks down how the Amazons of the world have strangled both workers and vendors, and once hey own the market, will strangle customers as well. So, for Stanza - and every small business - every single day we keep the doors open is an act of resistance against the forces that would bury us all, and use their money to fund authoritarian efforts. This is one reason we commit to being open every day of the week, 10-7, and not just on weekends for the tourist traffic. People who live here need alternatives. And believe it or not, we have customers who are simply not able to take off work. Some are on call for vital services. We have customers who work at the prison down the road. One came in last week, vocally grateful we were even open at 6:45, and continually grateful when I let her stay after 7 to research and select a couple books of get her through an upcoming 16 hour shift. For us, this is what showing up for our community looks like.
It’s no exaggeration to say that almost every day, a customer tells us they would rather order a book from us than from Amazon. And we heard it over and over when we opened: “Thank god I don’t have to shop at Amazon.” Amazon consolidated shopping so much, many feel they can’t even live without it. But many more make the choice not to use it, when they have alternatives. Small businesses are the alternatives. And it’s a cliched phrase at this point, but when you shop at Amazon, your money goes to the Melania documentary. When you shop with us, it goes to local jobs, it goes to supplies for the free kids programs we provide. It goes back into the restaurants and other shops we shop at ourselves. It goes back into the community.
So, as a small business, it’s never really business as usual. Every day has purpose.
I really appreciate how many people are expressing so much outrage at what’s happening, and I am really glad for all the attention the general strike brought to the government terror in MN and across the nation. It is absolutely horrifying that the federal government of the United States is using a masked, secret police to attack US cities under an ever-shifting series of flimsy justifications, but really to suppress the vote at the midterms. Clearly, those who read history know it’s nothing new, and know where it will go if we don’t push back.
Public protest has always been critical. And it’s heartening to see protest growing across the nation. This has gone so far beyond politics, it’s difficult to imagine any American not being shocked and dismayed.
Jan 30 was an amazing way to draw attention. But these people have no intention of stopping. Stopping them will require sustained pressure.
I was listening to Scott Galloway on his podcast today. I don’t agree with everything he says, certainly. Honestly, he bats about .450 in terms of things worth listening to. But I do admire him for constantly changing his mind based on what he sees and experiences. In an internet culture where most people double down in order to be “right,” it’s refreshing. When it comes to an economic strike, I think he has some very good points for applying sustained pressure that will get the attention of those with the power to sway things.
The stock market is propped up largely by a few Big Tech companies. And we know the regime responds to the stock market. If you don’t know the acronym TACO, look it up. Many of these companies have also publicly and vocally supported the regime. This is all easy to find online. For instance, Tim Cook attended Melania’s movie party the day Alex Pretti was murdered.
So personally, I’m going to focus on some actions I think can really move the needle. We saw this kind of movement when Disney took Jimmy Kimmel off the air. The reaction was massive and swift. So I’m going to focus on hitting them where it hurts. Here are only a few actions I believe will move the needle, if done at scale.
I don’t think these have to be forever. And they are not all or nothing. I know many cannot live without these companies, but we can certainly affect them.
As I stated above, Amazon is a pretty awful company. We can cancel Amazon Prime. I did this long ago. If that’s not viable, we can certainly stop purchasing from them for, say, a month. We know Amazon has made it difficult to shop anywhere else, esp in an area like ours. And now, there are certain things we simply cannot get anywhere else. But for books, we’ve talked about the alternatives many times:bookshop.org.libra.fm. the local library, and shops like Stanza. We try to shop at Key Food, Addams, Bretts, as many local spots as we can. For the new Stanza build, I am swearing off Home Depot, and shifting off all purchases to Ace. I’ve done this to a large degree already, but now, I’m committed to buying nothing more from Home Depot.
We can reduce the number of generative AI platforms we use. Personally, I use none of them, based on their mass theft of artists’ works. But even cutting usage can have a big impact. If we use two, maybe we can consider only using one.
We can refuse to upgrade our iPhones. We can cancel AppleTV or Apple Music. See above, about Tim Cook. I am pretty deep in the Apple ecosystem, but I’ve cut AppleTV and am looking into alternate storage to iCloud. Again, Galloway continually makes the point that this does not have to be all or none, and it does not have to be forever, to make a large impact. He says CEOs are already calling him angry about publicizing this effort. Good. Let’s get their attention.
We can cancel streaming platforms. Honestly, we’re about to buy a Blu-ray player and go back to all physical media. Same with records. But of course, not all can or want to do that. But maybe it’s worth considering paring down our streamers. Select 1 for a month. I think we only have AMC+ now. The state of TV is pretty dismal, so we’re comforting ourselves with a MADMEN rewatch.
We can close or limit social media accounts. It’s no secret at this point, social media companies are responsible for a lot of the world’s state. It’s no secret they engineer their platforms to addict us, and keep us all in a froth. It’s no secret they intentionally enrage us for “engagement.” And it’s no secret their owners are among the biggest supporters of the regime. Personally, I use social media in three ways only: Promote Stanza, occasionally ask for a service in the Beacon FB groups( an illustration of my point, managed with aplomb by the admins ), or follow certain trusted news sources on blue sky, but with no login. I just search them and see what they say. For the rest of my news, Heather Cox Richardson, The Atlantic, WIRED, and other sources doing good work right now. I know social media sites have become standard for many of us, but if we consider pulling back to just one platform for a month, that may send a message to the kind of people truly facilitating what’s happening right now.
Call your reps. Every day. I know this often feels futile, but it is not. It is one more way to speak up. And when enough do, they listen. Especially now, when the congressional tide is shifting so much. The regime is losing its grip even on its own party. This is why they’re trying to terrorize us. It’s why they broke into the election office in GA to try to validate the BIG LIE. It’s why they’re trying to gerrymander states. They are terrified of what’s coming if the people have our way.
Thank you all again. As I said, like you all, I’m horrified by what’s happening, and trying to make he best decisions I can for my life, for my business and employees, and for the biggest impact. Again, I think it’s important to stress, I’m not telling anyone what to do, and none of the above has to be all or none, and none has to be forever. Closing our doors for a day gets some great attention. Sustained choices in how we spend our money, keeps that pressure on.
