Tomorrow is Not One Damn Dime Day, a day when people are urged to protest the war in Iraq and/or the obscene amount of money the Bush administration is spending on the Inauguration (more than Bush initially pledged to tsunami relief) by not spending any money on January 20th. The idea is to refuse to participate in the U.S. economy which feeds the war machine for just one day.
No one expects this day to actually achieve anything. It's not going to bring home our troops, or bring back all those who've died, or force Condoleeza Rice to tell the truth*, or get Bush to spend the money he's paying for Kid Rock's backup dancers to buy rice for orphans in Banda Aceh instead.
Some have pointed out that people will just spend the money they would have spent on the 20th on the 19th and 21st, instead. Of course. The point is to make us all think about how complicit we all are in this mess our country has gotten itself into, not to bring the economy to a grinding halt.
At any rate, I know it's not going to do any concrete good, but I'm still not spending any money tomorrow. I went to the farmers' market today (mmmm... Ronnybrook Dairy eggnog ice cream), and I'll go to my local family-owned health food store later on today to stock up so we can eat tomorrow.
Anyone else doing this? Why or why not?
*You know she was waiting for someone to bring up her lies so she could use the word "impugn." Someone should make up Confirmation Hearing Bingo cards so we can all play along at home: "Mentions candidate's humble origins." "Thanks God or other higher power." "Uses SAT vocab word to defend self from accusation of poor conduct."
this was a hard one for me... if it were my average thursday i would voraciously shop today and smirk tomorrow, but as it stands, not one damn dime day coincides with a trip to the beach with my husband.....
and when you have 48 hours of celebration several miles from home, and it is one of the last pre-child getaways you will ever have, you do get the urge to splurge on a nice dinner.
Posted by: semaphoria | January 19, 2005 at 01:02 PM
Yeah, I'll participate. I hate this administration. And I really feel the bile rise in my throat every time I see that smirky, self-satisfied Condolies-a Rice character in my newspaper.
Posted by: Kimm | January 19, 2005 at 02:03 PM
I'm participating. Mostly on principle, I'm not thrilled with the 2 Ws (the man and the War), but also because I rarely get out to buy stuff anyway. My contribution is going to be not buying anything on line. THAT'S much harder for me.
Posted by: Linda | January 19, 2005 at 03:13 PM
I'm participating. I wish I could be there in Washington for the "http://www.turnyourbackonbush.org/" thing.
I hope it's reported on. But it won't be.
Posted by: Cecily | January 19, 2005 at 04:20 PM
As a Canadian I can only avoid goods made n the U.S. or chains/franchises that are U.S. based but I wish you the best in this endeavour. It's very hard to watch my American friends suffer under this administration. So many people know better.
Posted by: Lauren | January 19, 2005 at 05:38 PM
I did it today, which I know doesn't quite count. Tomorrow, I have to go to the grocery store because I have family coming to town on Friday. If enough people did it, I'm sure someone would notice. But I have a feeling there are too many people who assume it wouldn't make a difference, so they won't bother. (After all, that would involve skipping the Starbucks stop!)
Posted by: Darcie | January 19, 2005 at 06:58 PM
I plan on participating, in spite of feeling like it won't make a difference. Because, as Darcie said...if we all say it won't make a difference than no one will do it and voila: self-fufilled prophecy.
It doesn't hurt me to do it, so why not try?
At least then I feel like I'm trying SOMETHING. Sigh. It is a sad day.
Posted by: Sarah | January 20, 2005 at 08:47 AM
I'm in too! The mere thought of what Bush has done to this country makes me want to vomit.
Posted by: Sheri | January 20, 2005 at 01:57 PM
I wish I could have, but there's no good time to have a toddler with brochitis and an ear infection - which means I had to purchase a doctor's visit, medication, and extra fluids for her to drink.
Posted by: KT | January 20, 2005 at 04:04 PM
KT, I'm not sure the doctor's visit counts toward GDP. The meds, probably, though. Do they run commericals for them during the nightly news? :)
Posted by: Moxie | January 20, 2005 at 04:33 PM
I don't think so, actually. She's on Amoxicillin, which is such an old, standby drug that there's no point in advertising it.
I hope it was effective (the NODDD, I mean) but given that DC spent several days trying to hide all the homeless people so that the poor rich politicians wouldn't have to be afraid of them, I seriously doubt it was.
Posted by: KT | January 21, 2005 at 09:10 AM
Moxie/KT - the doc visit does count toward GDP, but life's a tradeoff - and that's one tradeoff that can't really be criticized by anyone.
Otherwise, it's ironic that Dr. Rice gets to request that Barbara Boxer "refrain from impugning my integrity." As if Condi - or any of the slimers in this Administration - had any integrity to impugn...
BTW, Moxie: Erica at ackery.com sez Hi. I need to contact you folks about setting up a blog of my own. I like yours!
Posted by: Uncle Jeffy | January 21, 2005 at 01:41 PM
damn, I didn't know. I sought solace at Target during the inauguration and spent $100 on crap I didn't need. Grrr.
Posted by: courtney | January 31, 2005 at 05:35 PM
damn, I didn't know. I sought solace at Target during the inauguration and spent $100 on crap I didn't need. Grrr.
Posted by: courtney | January 31, 2005 at 05:40 PM