An Open Letter
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE LIBERAL ELITE: YOU HAVE POWER, USE IT NOW!
AN OPEN LETTER TO THE LIBERAL ELITE: YOU HAVE POWER, USE IT NOW!
I am not going to spend much time cataloging every outrage, the cowardice of our elite institutions, the cruelty and violence visited upon our immigrant communities, nor will I decry the tortured reasoning of our highest court. Let me state plainly and clearly; Donald Trump and his enablers are psychopaths and liars. The most recent capitulation by the Democrats on the shutdown illustrates clearly that we cannot rely on our leaders to take action. As Black Friday arrives, I would like to propose the following:
In a Friedmanesque sense, we will need to vote with our wallets and stop the funding of companies and institutions that have either a.) capitulated to the Trump regime or b.) actively endorsed the Trump administration.
The administration will not care about public opinion until there is clear pressure from consumers and voters.
Stop Spending, NOW!
As someone who rarely shops online (not a criticism) I am often shocked by the sheer volume of packages delivered daily to my luxury apartment complex. At the top of the income scale are those households most likely to purchase goods from Amazon. We need to send a strong message at the beginning of the shopping season that we will no longer support companies that pay extortion, brutalize their employees and refuse to stand up for democracy. Consumer pressure works and we will need to send a clear message on Friday through Monday November 28th-Dec 1st. Additionally we need to withdraw, as much as possible, from spending overall. Try to avoid unnecessary spending overall and use a portion of any savings to help those who will be most affected by the downturn. Many will have moral objections to this approach, and I am well aware of the ‘Paradox of Thrift’. That, my friends, is the whole point. If millions of Americans work in a coordinated fashion we will pressure the administration and its enablers to deal with our outraged fellow Americans.
Elite Universities that Capitulate?
Universities that capitulate to the Trump administration should (UVA) see their ratings and application rates plunge. Our failure to do so is an implicit acceptance of this horrific status quo. Send a clear message to institutions that have capitulated to the administration that their reputation and donations will suffer.
Start Moving your Retirement and Investments out of US Equities and Bonds
I am not providing investment advice but rather (perhaps) moral guidance. We need to understand that with our retirement savings, and personal investments we are actively financing our sociocide. A disproportionate share of stock market gains have been derived from the so-called ‘Magnificent 7’ stocks. Even if you are in passive index funds, it is likely that your retirement or investment portfolio consists of these stocks. Take a look at your 401k investments and adjust accordingly. For example, if you review the prospectus for the Vanguard VOO the largest global stock index fund, you will see that the top holdings include NVIDIA, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook etc. Move to safe European or Asian stocks. Finally, during a stock market correction, even if precipitated by activities in the US financial sector, there is a consistent ‘flight to safety’ from stocks to US treasuries. Given the recent decline of the US dollar, that trade may no longer be as appealing. Move your retirement funds and personal assets overseas as much as possible.
Get Off Social Media
This may be a challenge as some will claim that these platforms have become almost necessary utilities. I personally have grown tired of seeing pictures of the children of a casual acquaintance from 10th grade chemistry class. For those who raise these objections, I will merely say that we have had civilization for over 10,000 years and these platforms have existed for less than 20. We do not have to provide valuable data to advertisers and other bad actors to harvest and use for the purposes of our own digital imprisonment. Setup a text group, use other platforms, connect offline. U can do it!