Written by PEL Lab Leader Laura Nash
We should all be able to meet our basic needs.
We should all have safe housing and communities, good food and clean water, quality education and care, a voice in our governments, meaningful work, and free time to rest and spend with the people we love. After all, there is more than enough to go around.
But, unfortunately, there are millions of us who aren’t able to meet our basic needs. Why? Because the individuals and corporations that hoard wealth and power have rigged the rules, making it easy for already absurdly wealthy people to accumulate even more money, largely at the expense of everyday working people, and particularly at the expense of Black, Indigenous, and communities of color, immigrants and refugees.
Right now, the Trump administration is putting billions of public dollars toward deadly foreign and domestic invasions, and slashing funding for services we all need, like housing, healthcare, and education. Prices for gas and groceries are going up, while billionaire corporations rake in war profits. They’re destroying the environment, because they care more about profits now than well-being later.
Enough is enough. We won’t last in this system much longer. If we want to survive, we’ve got to resist.
That’s why, on May 1st, International Workers’ Day, millions of people are planning to participate in an economic blackout–no work, no school, no shopping for 24 hours. We have to show the federal administration and billionaire corporations that we, the people who power the economy with our labor and our spending, mean business. We should–and can–be the ones to decide how the economy works.
We’ve seen economic noncooperation work. In February 1919, Seattle made history with a post-World War I general strike that lasted six days. In the 1980s, consumer boycotts contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa. In January 2026, we were inspired by a general strike in Minnesota and targeted protests that led Avelo Airlines to drop their contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), ceasing deportation flights. We believe it can work now, to turn back the tide of authoritarianism and make way for an economy that will actually meet all of our needs.
In Seattle, a few dozen organizations are planning an action at noon on May 1 in Cal Anderson Park. Their demands include ICE out of our communities; tax the rich so our families, not their fortunes, come first; expand democracy, and defend free and fair elections. Learn more and sign the May Day Pledge here.
Of course, one day of economic noncooperation isn’t enough. By consistently choosing not to spend our hard-earned dollars at companies whose values don’t match our own, we can show them that we don’t support their choices in a way they can’t ignore–by hurting their bottom line.
But we can’t just resist the economy we don’t want. We have to build the economy we do want: a democratic economy that puts people in charge and in control of our own well-being.
Some alternatives to the extractive economy already exist in our region. In the People’s Economy Lab network, we have partnered with organizations that produce compost, help people earn income from their housing, make coffee, create livelihoods through art and culture and much more. Many people across Washington already participate in buy-nothing groups, tool libraries, clothing swaps, fix-it fairs. We should grow and multiply these methods of repairing, upcycling, and sharing what we already have, rather than buying new. We should also continue to cultivate community gardens and farms, and frequent farmers markets, local co-ops, and community-owned businesses.
Other alternatives have already been seeded. They just need more advocacy and resources to get off the ground. Social housing, community assemblies, public grocery stores, and public banks, for example.
Still others have yet to be dreamed up!
So, on May 1, don’t go to work, don’t go to school, don’t go shopping. Decide which companies you’ll continue to boycott. On May 2nd, start building.
Whatever you decide to do, we’d love to hear about it! Email [email protected] or tag us on Instagram @peoples.economy.lab.
We’d also love to see you at our next Lunch Lab on May 13, 12-1pm, featuring Rian Watt (Economic Opportunity Institute) and Christine Hanna (formerly YES! Media, Seattle Good Business Network). RSVP for “Billionaires: Can’t Live With Them, Can’t Live Without Them?”
