Oh, no — another group you've never heard of threatens a "nationwide economic blackout" later this month, but this time with a twist. The People's Union (not a union — it's a progressive lobbying outfit) is hopping mad about the end of DEI in the federal government and major corporations, and they plan to do something about it.
Rather, to not do something about it. The People's Union (not a union) calls on all participants for 24 hours on February 28 to "not make any purchases. Do not shop online or in-store. No Amazon, No Walmart, No Best Buy. Nowhere!"
"Do not use Credit or Debit Cards for nonessential spending," during the economic blackout, they urge. "If they don't listen (they wont) [sic] we make the next blackout longer (We will)."
The group "is also asking boycotters to refrain from spending money on fast food or gas, as well," according to Newsweek. However, the organization's website says, "If you must spend, ONLY support small, local businesses." So it's less of a "nationwide economic blackout" and more of a "support your local grocer," and that always feels nice.
I did a little digging into The People's Union (not a union) to learn what kind of economic power the group wields, and I'll be generous and just say that Jeff Bezos isn't losing any sleep over the nationwide economic blackout. As far as I can tell, The People's Union (not a union) is this guy named John (he wants you to call him Jai), and he has a nicely designed website.
When I wrote above that The People's Union isn't a union (it isn't) but is a progressive lobbying outfit, that's because most of the site is dedicated to promoting the usual causes like direct democracy and "free" health care.
Neither Jai nor The People's Union (not a union) has an official presence on X, but earlier this week, he did have a bunch of low-follower accounts promoting his latest TikTok video. His Bluesky account has 293 followers, which doesn't seem like a lot. But this is Bluesky we're talking about, so maybe 293 followers is a lot. I don't know.
I'm not here to ridicule Jai. I launched VodkaPundit 23 years ago as a one-man nonprofit outfit, and now I'm part of Salem Media's online digital empire. Just another cog in an evil corporate machine, I am. The People's Union (not a union) should probably boycott me.
I promised you a twist, and so here it is: The Peoples Union (not a union) does not appear to take any federal funding. I visited DataRepublican this morning to search for The People's Union, and there were no hits. "Jai" turned up zero results, too. Searching for "John" turned up a lot — and I mean a lot — of results, including $11,899,997.00 in Department of Energy grants to the University of Texas-Austin for "New materials and interfacial chemistry for next-generation electrical energy storage; pi- John B. Goodenough," which hardly seems relevant.
(BTW, John B. Goodenough might seem like a fake name, but he's a Nobel Prize-winning chemist who passed away in 2023.)
My point, though, is this: In a country filled with "non-profit" organizations pushing a political agenda at taxpayer expense, The People's Union (not a union) doesn't appear to feed at the public trough. That might be a lot more newsworthy than anything that does or doesn't happen on February 28.
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