Note To ‘Economic Blackout:’ We Used To Do That Every Sunday
According to numerous sources, the anti-capitalist Left is planning another of its textbook buy-nothing days on Friday, Feb. 28.
The timing is sadly ironic.
Axios reported the “Economic Blackout” is an initiative by The People’s Union USA, which describes itself as a “grassroots movement dedicated to economic resistance, government accountability, and corporate reform.” But just like other such attempts, such as “Day Without a Mexican,” any number of student walkouts, or the yearly “National Buy Nothing Day,” there are two major problems with that play, and one given the timing of it:
- One-day boycotts are worthless if you only postpone what you’d buy anyway for the next day or later. You’d have to take what you would normally buy that day and not buy it (ever, or at least until you would buy it again) in order for that to be effective.
- Our culture used to do such a thing every week, by and large. It’s called a Sabbath. Christians have celebrated for that millennia on Sundays (and a small minority on Saturdays), and the Jews and Muslims know all about that, too. The cultural benefits of a weekly sabbath, though under-appreciated at this point in time, are numerous. Some of us are old enough to remember Blue Laws in various U.S. states — while not optimal and hugely unpopular, we all learned to do without buying certain things on “the Lord’s Day.”
- It’s ignorant of Lent, which begins next week, March 5. More on that below.
Economic Blackout comes on top of a number of boycott days being promoted by liberals. See one such meme below listing several:
Yes, Americans are struggling to keep up in the current financial landscape and during an ongoing Biden-Harris Recession, characterized by high housing costs, inflation, and even high egg prices. Even with a new administration and higher hopes, the latest jobs report is bleak, but not unrecoverable.
The People’s Union USA, though it claims to not be political, routinely assails “corporate greed,” and is founded by a leftie activist. The group’s website suggests that items of absolute necessity should be purchased from small, local businesses if strictly needed.
“Corporations and banks only care about their bottom line,” the website reads. “If we disrupt the economy for just ONE day, it sends a powerful message. If they don’t listen (they wont) we make the next blackout longer (We will). [sic]”
It’s not that prolonged boycotts cannot have an affect, and on either side of the aisle. The socially conservative American Family Association recently claimed victory regarding its boycott of Target department stores. While a famed mid-’90s Disney boycott by Southern Baptists is still mocked, it’s clear Disney’s recent losses is due to numerous calls to boycott the entertainment giant as well as general distaste for its recent “woke” offerings. Sustained boycotts on the left can also be effective at getting corporate America’s attention.
But Economic Blackout is tone deaf. Consider that Lent is coming up just next week.
While not all Christians practice the 40-day fasting period (from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday), the concept of systematic going-without stretches back to the early days of Christendom. According to Asbury Seminary’s Seedbed.com:
“Clement of Alexandria, in the second century, records that early believers fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays. Fasting has been a part of the celebration of Lent since 340 A.D., when Athanasius suggested that it be used to commemorate Jesus’ experience in the wilderness. Christians throughout history have fasted in preparation for the Lord’s Supper. John Wesley refused to ordain Methodist leaders who did not observe a weekly time of fasting.
“Charles Finney found it personally profitable ‘to hold frequent days of private fasting’ for kindling ‘a revival in our soul’ as remedy to ‘a flagging spirit of prayer and for gaining “greater prevalence with God.’ This was to ‘know ourselves as starving souls,’ a state of prayerfulness, acknowledging how crucial it was that the soul’s ‘hungering after the bread and its thirsting for the water of life should be duly enkindled, and that the spirit should pant and struggle after God, and ‘cry out for the living God.’
“Don Whitney has written: ‘The Bible does not teach that fasting is a kind of spiritual hunger strike that compels God to do our bidding. If we ask for something [in prayer that is] outside of God’s will, fasting does not cause Him to reconsider. Fasting does not change God’s hearing so much as it changes our praying.’
“Fasting strengthens prayer, it intensifies and fortifies prayer, sharpening and giving focus and passion to our intercessions. Fasting causes us to yearn for what we pray for and understand fully who truly is the Author of every answer to prayer. And fasting, like kneeling, is a physical gesture which cultivates the spiritual posture God loves and looks for in all those He blesses.
“When we need stronger prayer in a matter, it is an invitation from the Lord to fast. If we need guidance, it is an encouragement to fast. God gives us the gifts of prayer and fasting in order to be close to Him.”
With that said, maybe there’s a self-medicating element to the Left’s desire to “fast” on Feb. 28. As we know, Trump Derangement Syndrome is real, and many on the Democratic side are emotionally distraught that Donald J. Trump managed to get his second term. But considering the above about fasting and its righteous intents, the focus should not be on moving the hand of God or Big Business. Rather, abstaining points the finger at ourselves and helps us to consider what is important when spending our hard-earned money and resources.
That’s something we used to do every week as a Christian culture. You might find more than a few people with ashes on their foreheads giving up something for the next 40 days. Those planning to boycott “everything” on Feb. 28 would do well to put on a little ash on March 5 … or not go out for coffee this Sunday morning, while letting God’s economy take precedence over all things in our lives.
