Resistance Infrastructure
Resistance Infrastructure
Audio Recording by George Hahn
I’ve struggled my whole life to discern the difference between being right vs. effective. Over the past decade, the U.S. has been on a slow burn to fascism. The best description I’ve seen of America’s current political landscape came from David Frum: “If progressives won’t enforce the border, fascists will.” We are squarely in the fascist part of the program. Now that it’s happened, to borrow from Sinclair Lewis, being right isn’t enough. We need to be effective. The question isn’t what to say or who to vote for, but what to build? A: Resistance infrastructure.
American Duma
Congress has the power to rein in ICE, restore the rule of law, and unwind authoritarianism in America. But to paraphrase a quote popular with self-help gurus and motivational speakers, Congress isn’t coming to save you. Last year’s government shutdown over healthcare didn’t result in a solution, but the assignment of blame. Democrats leveraged the recent partial government shutdown to negotiate for “guardrails” on America’s gestapo. Good. But banning federal agents from wearing masks and ordering independent investigations into the murders of American citizens are empty wins if the Trump administration is responsible for enforcing those policies. In addition, without true structural change — de-gerrymandering, reversing Citizens United, installing term limits — we’ll continue to endure a bipolar America.
Democrats, playing by a rulebook that’s been incinerated, come across as neutered and voiceless. Meanwhile, Republicans are Jekyll and Hyde. In private, they say Trump is a threat to American democracy; in public, they’re sycophants, praising the president no matter what he says or does. The result? Congress is America’s answer to the Russian Duma, i.e., nominally important but functionally irrelevant.
When I interviewed historian Timothy Synder, author of On Tyranny, on my podcast at the end of January, he said the current state of American politics is best understood as a system of competitive authoritarianism. A democratically elected leader erodes checks and balances, attacks institutions, and weaponizes the justice system against his opponents. “There will still be elections, but you don’t wait for the opposition party,” Synder said. “Instead [the people] have to push out ahead of the opposition party. You have to set the moral terms, take risks, and build a coalition of which the opposition party is a part, but isn’t necessarily leading.” Pro-democracy movements aren’t created by political parties, they’re created by people.
If We Build It …
Political parties are elected and returned to office for promising and then delivering tangible results to their constituents: good jobs, better schools, clean drinking water, etc. Political movements are graded on a similar curve, but the connection between action and outcome is rarely a straight line. The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott began as a one-day protest. Despite a 90% participation rate, the single-day action achieved no tangible results. But after 13 months and a favorable Supreme Court ruling, the boycott successfully forced the integration of Montgomery’s bus system. During that long campaign, however, it would’ve been easy for onlookers to be cynical.
Over the past decade, I’ve been a protest cynic, believing most actions, viewed through the narrow lens of the moment, are performative measures that generate selfies and make participants feel good about being right, without having any actual impact. But Timothy Snyder says my thesis is incorrect. “The main reason you protest is to tell the rest of the people who are watching you that what’s going on isn’t normal,” Snyder told me. “The second reason you protest is that it’s the gateway to doing other things.” In other words, what looks like sound and fury signifying nothing is in fact an incubator for building infrastructure and organizing further actions. Case in point: After the first day of the Montgomery bus boycott, activists, led by a young preacher named Martin Luther King Jr., organized a carpooling network with more than 200 cars and 100 pickup locations. That infrastructure sustained their movement, allowing them to register an estimated $3,000 hit per day ($35,000 adjusted for inflation) to the city’s bus service until their demands were met.
Infrastructure
When we launched Resist and Unsubscribe last week, we contributed some infrastructure to a political movement. Our goal is to demonstrate to consumers that they wield enormous power, as their spending accounts for more than two-thirds of the U.S. economy. Your wallet is a weapon, and in a capitalist society the most radical act is withholding your money. Deployed broadly across the economy, however, a consumer boycott is a blunt instrument that maximizes damage while diluting influence. We prefer surgical strikes to carpet-bombing.
America’s economy has become one giant bet on AI, with seven tech companies representing more than a third of the S&P 500. The concentration of economic power in so few hands renders those businesses uniquely vulnerable to a boycott, as consumers can focus on a short target list. Big Tech’s vulnerability is further multiplied by the subscription model, as valuations for subscription companies are typically 8x to 20x revenue. One example: In 2022, Netflix reported losing just 200,000 subscribers in a single quarter, and that wiped out $50 billion in market cap overnight. (Netflix attributed the churn to increased competition and the lifting of pandemic restrictions that had kept people in front of their TVs.) The free gift with purchase? Consumers maximize political impact while minimizing household expenses. In America, 4 out of 5 adults spend nearly $200 per year on unused subscriptions. I had three HBO Max subscriptions … somehow.
Some of you have asked why we are targeting Amazon, my 2026 stock pick? Others want to know why we didn’t target Disney? A: I’d rather be effective than right. The companies at ground zero of Resist and Unsubscribe have an outsized influence over the national economy and our president. The stocks in the “blast zone” belong to consumer-facing companies we’ve identified as active enablers of ICE. Collectively, ground zero and blast zone businesses don’t represent the totality of complicity, but rather the jugular of American authoritarianism.
For a recent example of what happens when consumers deploy their spending power against the jugular of authoritarianism, see Disney’s suspension and reinstatement of Jimmy Kimmel. In the end, it took fewer than 1% of the Mouse’s total streaming subscribers to accomplish what CEO Bob Iger couldn’t — stand up to an authoritarian. (Note: According to Erica Chenoweth, a political scientist and professor at Harvard who analyzed 323 nonviolent and violent mobilizations between 1900 and 2006, when at least 3.5% of a country’s population actively engages in a peaceful protest movement, it has always resulted in political change.)
Expectations
My go-to framework for understanding the rise of fascism in America today is the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930s. The most chilling parallel between then and now is the relationship between business elites and authoritarians. German industrialists weren’t necessarily enthusiastic Nazis, Timothy Snyder told me, but they saw Hitler as a tool to crush unions and undermine democracy, the source of labor’s power. The most powerful American business leaders are making a similar bet, trading their support for tariff carveouts, a promise not to regulate AI, and hundreds of billions in shareholder value.
I believe consumers can force a change in the incentive structure around American CEOs. The clearest possible proof point that the incentive structure is changing would be for Resist and Unsubscribe to show up in earnings calls. That would signal that business leaders feel emboldened to speak up and insist that democracy and the rule of law prevail. That said, earnings calls aren’t the only relevant metric.
According to Brayden King, a professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management who studies social movements and corporate social responsibility, and Sarah A. Soule, dean of the Stanford Business School, the typical boycott doesn’t have much impact on a company’s market cap. In their 2007 study of 342 boycotts against U.S. corporations between 1962 and 1990, they found that boycotts, on average, caused a 1% decline in a company’s stock price. “The number one predictor of what makes a boycott effective is how much media attention it creates, not how many people sign onto a petition or how many consumers it mobilizes,” King said in 2017.
The reason media attention matters so much is that boycotts aren’t a tool to permanently destroy shareholder value, but rather a vehicle to pressure leaders to change their behavior. Some people mocked me for saying last week I was keeping Instagram despite our boycott. Fair. But be practical. Infrastructure plus the distributional scale of Instagram’s 3 billion monthly active users is the peanut butter and chocolate for a political movement. Sharing screenshots of your canceled subscriptions inspires others to Resist and Unsubscribe. Equally powerful, the community in r/ScottGalloway is sharing tips for canceling, including how to get a refund on the unused portion of your annual Amazon Prime subscription. Infrastructure begets infrastructure. Finally, in a nod to the King-Soule study, I have been a total media whore (comes easy) the last couple days, hitting CNN, NPR, BBC, MSNow, etc.
Marker
I recently wrote that we should be deeply concerned about a world where connections are forged without friction, as we’re seeing resilience muscles atrophy, especially among young people. In my conversation with Timothy Snyder, he shared a related concern about the lack of friction in the way we conceptualize politics. “People talk about the Insurrection Act or martial law, whether they’re for them or against them, like [we’re in] a video game and you just level up,” he said. “It’s not like that.” In reality, politics is a messy, unpredictable struggle that favors the most resilient. Deploying the language of video games — “unlocks,” “cheat codes,” “speedrunning,” etc. — lulls us into believing that political change, whether in the direction of dictatorship or democracy, is a frictionless experience, achievable by pressing the right combination of buttons.
This isn’t a game. Resist and Unsubscribe is a one-month campaign to demonstrate political power both to consumers and those we seek to influence. Smashing the unsubscribe button won’t defeat the final boss, but making that small sacrifice builds (some) resilience. It also lays down a marker for battles to come. As Timothy Snyder explained, we’re making it clear that there will be severe consequences if the regime attempts to steal the midterms. Recognizing the friction in our politics isn’t an invitation to opt for the path of least resistance; it teaches us that saving democracy requires the same things that build lasting relationships: showing up, enduring discomfort, and wielding the power we actually have rather than waiting for someone else to fix our problem. Finally, action absorbs anxiety. It feels good to do something with others — that whole community thing. Or put another way, stop doomscrolling/hectoring/complaining … and do something.
Life is so rich,
P.S. Resources to help you Resist and Unsubscribe can be found here.
128 Comments
Scott Galloway
Professor of Marketing at NYU Stern School of Business and host of the Prof G and Pivot Podcasts. For Scott Galloway speaking inquiries, email speaking@profgmedia.com
I unsubscribed from paid version of Chat GPT
Just unsubscribed from Facebook, as did my husband. Amazon is next. I posted the screenshot of the deleted account on Instagram and recommended that people follow your lead to unsubscribe.
Thank you Prof G
Absolutely agree with Timothy Snyder that: “The main reason you protest is to tell the rest of the people who are watching you that what’s going on isn’t normal,” Snyder told me. “The second reason you protest is that it’s the gateway to doing other things.” I’d add that in my experience, it’s extremely self-empowering, providing energy to engage in other resistance activities while building community. I try to attend one of our nearby standing protests at least once per week. (Being semi-retired helps.) Having participated in Vietnam protests, South Africa divestiture, etc, I’ve been dismayed by Scott’s poo-pooing of protest, but glad to see he’s perhaps having a change in heart. When in doubt, listen to Jessica T!
Love the resist/unsubscribe campaign! We are continuing to cut back on the few remaining subscriptions we have.
Separate, but related, how about a targeted focus on divesting from the concentration camp-industrial complex? GEO Group, Core Civic, etc. My understanding is both companies have large institutional investors that could be pressured, like Vanguard. Thanks!
In addition to the numerous other subscription based services I have already unsubscribed to earlier this month, I also just unsubscribed to Microsoft 365 Personal.
Scott – I unsubscribed from damn near everything over last 2 weeks — UberOne, Zoom, ChatGPT, Anthropic, Perplexity, Amazon Prime, Netflix, DAZN, AppleTV, Sportsnet — and bought 3 actual books. Also briefly explored joining the Canadian military until I learned there’s a mandatory retirement age I’ve already blown past. I will absolutely be standing a post if tanks cross our border. Try me.
Lastly — my act of epic courage is Mark Carney. Smart, authentic, transparent, character-led, refuses to be bullied politically, economically, and (in my fan-boy mind) physically. He’s Jean-Luc Picard. With hair.
I’ve got his back. And yours … resistance is not futile.
Please join the Fediverse and share posts on Mastodon, Friendica, Pixelfed, Sharkey,…..
I deleted Instagram, X and whatsapp already.
Signal, xmpp or Matrix are my favorite messenger.
Maybe Threema as well.
Instead for ChatGPT try MistralAI from france.
I have unsubscribed from Netflix and Apple Music. I don’t use Instagram so I can’t post screenshots. Next up to cancel YouTubeTV!
Why was Epstein allowed to traffic children for decades?
Who was protecting Epstein?
When Epstein “died” in 2019 and the FBI raided all of his properties, what happened to all of the blackmail tapes? Zorro Ranch had houses filled with computers, video files, even VHS tapes. Decades worth of evidence. What happened to all of that? How come no one was ever prosecuted over those crimes?
How come we never heard about any of the P Diddy blackmail tapes during the P Diddy trail? How come no one was ever prosecuted for those crimes?
How come Hunter Biden was never prosecuted for the CP on his laptop?
Why does the media give positive coverage to Hunter Biden, someone who filmed himself having sex with children?
Who is protecting these people?
Why are we allowing them to get away with it?
Thank you! I already avoided most subscriptions to Ground Zero co’s, and avoid both IG or X, but I do agree that the US is in the consolidating autocracy phase, and so I have been aching for more effective action! You can add me to your list: I’ve unsubscribed from LinkedIn and my (mostly inactive) FedEx and Uber. I wish the companies made it easier to directly tell them why I’m unsubscribing.
Need WhatsApp for Europe relatives, and my apartment complex has an AT&T and Comcast duopoly, but will look into Home T-Mobile. And see if family might go without Amazon Prime and Youtube Premium — at least for a month or two, and will avoid Home Depot. Horrified that HD and Lowes both cooperate with ICE to send them license plates! Ugh!
T-Mobile is partnered with Musk’s Star Link.
“My previous Trump Derangement Syndrome had me supporting pure evil.”
Isaiah L. Carter
I wonder what all the TDS people are going to do when it finally occurs to them that they have wasted the last 11+ years of their life hating on the person who has been fighting against this child sex trafficking death cult.
Hating the one person? Just one, no no. It’s not just one. If I didn’t want to answer anything based upon facts I’d come out with a ridiculous Trump Derangment Syndrome to cover any questions I don’t want to answer or respond to and negative challenges and statements too, Brandon. Of course, that also goes with the similiar “you are the worst reporter from the failing XXX for asking such a question”, So stupid, so clueless. You are still so left out. Wake up and improve YOURSELF. Sitting back and blaming everyone one else is easy. Working through problems is hard. And that is why this administration isn’t solving any real problems. Because it’s hard and it is impossible with DUMB, HATEFUL, CLUELESS, INCOMPETENT, and CARELESS people.
Scott, love your story and insight on marketing and markets. Stick to your strengths and leave politics out of the discussion. It weakens your brand. Your audience does not care how much you dislike conservative politics. 50% pile on, the other 50% must diside whether or not to continue listening. You have much to say – keep it neat.
Conservative politics? GTFO!
We’re talking about authoritarian fascist politics.
Scott, why aren’t you on Substack?
Cancelled ChatGPT and Hulu. Hoping to find a way to cancel Apple, but my 2 TB of iCloud data is slowing me down. Already unsubscribed from Amazon.
good work
Unsubscribed from Netflix and Apple TV. Having some success convincing friends to do the same. One suggestion. Some of my friends were overwhelmed by the list thinking that the ask was to unsubscribe to all. It might be helpful for you to put up front somewhere that the ask is to start with atleast one company and even then it doesn’t have to be forever. Once I explained this, I got more participation. Thanks for this!!!
Also would be good to post some less harmful alternatives to these companies, especially with regard to film and music.
nice
I canceled my apple tv and amazon prime. I think Scott is right. The only untouchable thing that is still enabling this administration is people’s lofty stocks and AI hype. People have opinions but when the numbers on their 401k or brokerage account change then they care. I hope enough people unsubscribe to make a dent, at least they save money so you really can’t lose.
OMG! Scott Galloway has succumbed to the Leftist Victimhood Identity. The trappings of Capitalism are too much for Scott to bare, so he attacks Big Tech and embraces Boycott Brainwashing. The argument overstates both the inevitability of institutional failure and the effectiveness of consumer-driven resistance, substituting economic symbolism for democratic accountability. While Congress is imperfect and often gridlocked, dismissing electoral and legislative pathways in favor of market pressure risks reinforcing the very power concentration the essay claims to oppose, shifting political authority from accountable institutions to unaccountable corporate reactions and media cycles. Targeted boycotts may generate attention, but attention is not governance, and short-term reputational or valuation pressures rarely produce durable policy change without parallel legal and electoral outcomes. Historical analogies to the civil rights movement overlook a crucial difference: those movements succeeded by forcing institutional action through courts and legislation, not by bypassing them. Framing subscription cancellations as meaningful political leverage may build personal catharsis and online momentum, but it risks confusing individual consumer choice with collective democratic power, offering the feeling of resistance without the structural change required to actually preserve democratic norms.
„… forcing institutional action through courts and legislation„ you seem to have been asleep the last 12 months. The courts do their thing – mostly, except for the SC – but that’s somehow of no real consequence to Trump and his stooges and as long as the legislature ie the GOP controlled House and Senate chooses to outright wave their oversight and duties, were does this leave you?
You are basically arguing that the institutions will save this republic – newsflash: they are barely holding. The fascist are grinding them down faster than you are able to adjust your worldview. Your voice means nothing to them until Nov. 2026 and even then, it’s probably a big fat meh. Your money, though, that’s different.
I really wish, if this is truly a one month action, that Professor Galloway had set a target date to do the unsubscribing. Like, say, March 1.
Unsubscribed from insta and chatgpt
Hi Scott! I’m not sure if you’ll read this, but I hope somehow this makes it’s way to you. I have a 26-year-old son. He struggled in his early twenties: unsure about his future, barely made it through college, and shamed after being exposed on social media for poor choices. I found you and your podcast via listening to you on Rich Roll and got him tuned into everything you talk about. It really changed his life: he taught 5th grade for two years and would even spout off your data to his boys about why they may not think school is for them, he stopped gaming, and read your book when I gave it to him as a Christmas present this year. He quit teaching last month to take a sales job in D.C.(also something you talk about) with Ferguson and to be closer to his girlfriend. My proudest moment was when he showed his class videos of the protests in Minneapolis when they had a reading about injustice and protest – grateful that he turned into a young man who is masculine but anti-MAGA. I can’t thank you enough.
This post raises the thought: Democracy is a marathon. Not a sprint.
I totally support (and tell all my friends about) this empowering alternative to hand-wringing. But I never subscribed to any of these evil products in the first place, and have chosen to replace all products that require subscriptions with freeware (eg Open Office instead of MS etc). It’s not enough to give up toxic products for some kind of consumer Lent or Ramadan. Over-consuming is a moral, hence political, choice. Join the Church of Not Shopping.
I unsubscribed from Apple+TV, Paramount, also from Meta in its entirety and “X”. I still have more to go because I think Scott is absolutely right. We need to take action economically because that’s what they care about. I reposted Scott’s Bluesky post and I’ve sent links to all my friends/family members. The ancillary benefit of cancelling many of your subscriptions is the MONEY YOU SAVE! I’m already at $105/month! A quick story: after Trump win the 2024 election, Mark Zuckerberg eliminated fact-checking on Meta/Facebook platform. I was so enraged, that I closed my accounts on Instagram and What’s App. I sent Zuckerberg a scathing email detailing the reasons, but I’m sure it went into the proverbial black hole. I’m sickened by the corruption/pay-to-play. Scott…thanks for enabling this resistance! Also, the next “NO KINGS” is 3/28.
Working on it. Might take a while to change my life like this. Perhaps extend more than a month? Buying at Wegman’s most of what I used to buy at Whole Foods. Perhaps consider selling stocks as well.
Thank you for your intuitive insight into these worrisome situations
Thank you for this! My husband and I are participating. Would it be more powerful if it was further focused on one platform a month to make a bigger impact? Example, February we unsubscribe from Apple TV, December HBO and on and on..
Thank you Scott for everything you do to truly teach and explain with humility. Unsubscribe!
Great post, very motivating. Get out and do something, it will make a difference.
Like the old saying, « all it takes for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing «
I dont have Instagram so couldnt share there, but here is what I unsubscribed from:
* Amazon everything including Audible
* Apple TV+ (which is the only subscription I have from them)
* Chat GPT Plus subscription
* Spotify
* Microsoft Office 365 (personal)
Netflix is the hard one as that’s my family’s go-to streaming platform but there’s some good stuff on PBS kids and maybe we just need to have a month of that. I can easily live without the rest until I see a CEO stand up publicly to fascism. THANK YOU Scott for organizing this. I hope this becomes a raging wildfire of unsubscribes – we have more power than we think. Greedy leaders are way more easy to conquer than those with integrity/ethics.
If you want a more direct and immediate national strike, enlisting the help of the Teamsters Union would do it. I noticed they were recently protesting in Portland Oregon along with many other labor unions last week.
The teamsters are already organized and let’s face it….everything and I mean everything in this country moves by truck at some point in time. That is regardless of whether it’s manufactured in the US or abroad!. Get the teamsters on board and you have your national strike. The government and big business would get the message right away. You could have exemptions for items like food and medicine.
Drastic times call for drastic measures!
I’ve witnessed two industries – Construction and Restaurant industries – taken over by cheap foreign labor, which is no longer cheap labor. Which industries do you feel should be targeted next by low wage foreign workers? Also, what is the difference between a living wage and cheap foreign labor? Thanks for all you do!
The hospitality industry, ie.hotels/motels.
Shop at local coops and immigrant-owned stores, take your money out of banks and put it in credit unions, change all your credit card numbers so the parasites have to work to get you back, pull your money out of Wall Street and find local businesses that could use a no or low interest loan or investment (or just build cash reserves)
The beauty is you don’t have to organize or follow the leader. Just stop participating.
Would you consider having an online survey, where participants can document which platforms they unsubscribed from and when?
I’ve been boycotting the money behind Trump ever since his election. The first thing I did was drop Amazon Prime. When friends say it’s too expensive or inconvenient to shop locally, I ask them to compare it enlisting in the Army in 1940 to save our country from fascism. Which is easier? 👁️’mRedi to us my wallet as a weapon, every day, against the destruction of our democracy.
We also need a strong, simple message from democrats like -“back to the middle, financial responsibility, transparency, liberty for all”
This is all great and I am going to do it but if you are organizing a boycott for Feb – would have been good to know a bit sooner – the word is really not out yet – but I see its building and I’m trying to help. I’m waiting for the other podcasters who are greatly benefiting from our anguish would also start actually do something with all their powerful contacts as Scott G. is doing rather than just talking – now frequently with each other!
Greetings from England where the echoes of your resistance are heard and supported. Might it be an idea to collaborate with one/some of the apps already developed to make unsubscribing easier? These apps also breakdown the costs and savings over a year which might provide additional incentives?
Great work well done. How about a certificate of validation for companies or individuals that can demonstrate financial push back against Trumpism or ‘ice’ . At scale it could undermine the fascists. Gives a monetary value to resisting and unsubscribing, and defines maga as an infection to be avoided like covid.
This feels a lot like the campaign to boycott advertising on X a few years back…
How’d that work out?
I suspect the result with R&U is going to be the same. A ‘GFY’ moment and then back to ‘BAU’
Pretty well—there’s nothing on that Nazi porn site anyone sane would read
Hey Scott, cribbing this post from my own post on Bluesky:
Galloway is the only rich fuck speaking truth to the other rich fucks. He’s like, we got a great fucking thing here and you wanna fuck it up so you can have yet another vacation home or a yacht a few feet longer? Stop sucking Trump’s cock and grow a pair you useless fucks. Galloway: still got fucks to give.
My response to the record day for the DOW:
Hey Folks, Wall Street just sent Trump the only poll results he cares about or understands. The capital part of our society said they don’t care about the Epstein files, MN, ICE or democracy. We’re clearly not sending them the right message. General strike. We won’t die for your profits.
G’day Scott, tried to cancel my Audible subscription but the page is down – interesting/strange – told to come back later. Already unsubscribed from Amazon Prime.
Misuse of power and the obscene pursuit wealth at any cost to others, has to be held in check. it is always a balance however it is clearly off the scales at the moment. Values matter.
To your detractors – either don’t read the blogs or do something other than moan about the inconsistencies.
Greetings from Australia.
I salute you Scott for stepping up and encouraging ordinary people to make a difference.
I believe Stephen Miller is largely the dangerous Nazi in the group who is coming up with the bad ideas that Trump is executing.
I doubt the Trump administration will agree to hold free and fair 2026 midterm elections and this will result in a very dangerous situation in America.
I read Sinclair Lewis’ “It Can’t Happen Here” about 15 years ago and thought, never could. Unfortunately as Tim Snyder points out, we are already here. The German industrialist parallel is also real – look what happened to mogul Fritz Thyssen who initially backed the Nazis and then ended up in Dachau.
Interesting, that Scott doesn’t remove all of his content from platforms like FB, IG, LinkedIn X. Or stop using them in promoting his brand, image, business, etc.
Good call!
Irrelevant, what Scott says is still 100% valid and, if we want to limit fascism, we must do something.
It’s easy to impose rules for thee but not for me from the comfort of the ivory tower.
We unsubscribed from quite a few offerings, we just didn’t share it out. I suspect there are more people similar to our household. Amazon Prime (including avoiding Whole Foods), Netflix, Youtube. We kept our Ring because we have to think harder about how to manage that change, and we are an Apple family in the bay area in design so generally we for now are in that echosphere. It’s good for a tween family but really disappointed in Tim Cook being such a (bad word, starts with c for boys).
Americans overseas (like myself) are eager to participate. While it may only move the needle a fraction I want to help inform Americans – and yes even other nationalities that we can make this matter. I’m thinking of how to act. Well done Scott.
I’m a middle aged nurse in Australia. I’ve cancelled my Amazon, Netflix and Apple+ subscriptions. I know what happens downunder won’t affect the American economy bit I’m with you guys in solidarity. Will be good (for my eyes and my brain) to read a few books instead of watching TV. Also, everyone I know says they wouldn’t contemplate a trip to the USA whilst Trump is in power. Planned trips to the Olympics are off. Surely the hit to the tourism economy is going to be noticed?
Yes, I am also in Australia and was due to compete in an event in the US this year and our group is now not going.
The US embassy in Australia sent out information on X telling Aussies how it is now easier to get into the US as a promotion for the World Cup and the comments that came back were absolutely brutal.
Why not stop clicking into any ads that are served up by Google or other third parties? If you see something of interest, look into purchasing it by going directly to the product’s website.
Resist & unsubscribe is a valid approach. To create more mass action, the process of unsubscribing has to be made easier. I’d love to see a follow up piece showing 5 or 10 actions toward this end – with links that expedite the process. Pushing those buttons will matter.
I have never begrudged Jeff Bezos for his success, but it’s obvious that enough is never enough and his kissing up to Trump (along with the other billionaires) is discusting.
I have been an Amazon Prime member since 2011 and paid a monthly fee for Kindle Unlimited. It may be a small thing, but did give me a sense of doing ‘something’. Your critics will say I am only hurting myself, but they are wrong. I feel better already!
I am giving up Amazon, Prime and Kindle. I have already dropped all social media. It is extremely satisfying to stop giving Billionaires my precious income. They build their companies on the backs of average Americans but they don’t protect the consumer, they just don’t care, they should. Make them care. Thanks Scott.
Resist and Unsubscribe – a great idea. As a Canadian who loves America it gives me hope that you can find a middle way so that America is for all of you, not just the elite.
Years ago I used to love Scott’s insights and recommended him to many folks. But the decline in quality has been steady and, frankly, saddening. I wonder if it’s inversely correlated to his increasing wealth and public profile. He’s become one of the best exemplars out there of Rob Henderson’s ‘luxury beliefs’. I’ve kept hoping that Scott will wake up (grow up?) and use his considerable talents and influence to help move the dialogue in a more constructive direction, but it seems like he’s not interested. “Resist and Subscribe” is not a genuine movement; it’s just Scott’s latest branding strategy.
I know cynics like you. Unhappiest people ever.
Even more basic than the subscription economy is the ad powered economy. If we refuse to engage with platforms that don’t have an ad-free option we do even more to disrupt a revenue model driven by attention without regard to values.
I am giving up Amazon, Prime and Kindle. I have already dropped all social media. It is extremely satisfying to stop giving Billionaires my precious income. They build their companies on the backs of average Americans but they don’t protect the consumer, they just don’t care, they should. Make them care. Thanks Scott.
Included in the protest should be OpenAI as the leaders are bid donors to MAGA. Any boycott or media attention during the lead up to their IPO would be especially inconvenient. There are too many AI options in the market to support a category leader who is playing fast and loose with our democracy, in the name of looser regulations for their industry.
This protest should go on as long as it takes for these corporations to start to support the American constitution & democracy.
Thank you. I dropped my Marriott Bonvoy account and will now shop at my local Ace Hardware and NOT at Home Depot or Lowe’s. I don’t use the rest of the stuff except Microsoft Office. Thank you.
Trump’s unlikely to respond directly to this as he’s in another universe but there must be an awful lot of congress and senate members shitting themselves about this coming November. Great idea, Scott, I immediately cancelled Amazon and Apple TV+ when you mentioned this on Pivot. Thank you!
If the only 2 options on the menu are Communism and Facism than congratulations, the left has pushed us into eating Facism.
All the left knows how to do is obey groupthink and cancel.
What happens when they run out of things to cancel?
What happens when they run out of things to cancel?
History shows that when the communists take over the first people purged are the intelligentsia like Scott
Has Galloway ever gone against groupthink?
Ever?
Maybe he has, but I can’t think of a single example.
Galloway goes along with the agenda, echos the groupthink,and somehow thinks that he’s a rebel. Stunning and brave.
Communist is built on the backs of useful idiots.
You’re posting in the wrong group buddy. This group is for people who want to be positive and make a change. Stop trying to bring us down with your cynicism and go find your tribe in the fascist MAGA forums and be unhappy over there.
Unsubscribing to as many as I can BUT my business depends on some of these. Please provide ALTERNATIVES to every company you are suggesting we unsubscribe from. I’m willing to pay extra to support our democracy but I also need the convenience that, sadly, come with these companies.
I think what Scott is saying is that whatever part you can play is going to matter. Ok it may be difficult to cancel everything. But there are things you can. Ultimately the idea is for everyone to send the strongest signal they can. There’s an extensive list available of all the things you can do on the website.
Scott: Thank you for coming up with a practical way to get the message across. While we don’t subscribe to much, we have sent letters to the CEOs of Home Depot, Lowe’s and Amazon, three companies we generally spend significant amounts of money on monthly, stating that we are stopping further purchases while they continue to support “armed and masked thugs terrorizing American cities like Chicago and Minneapolis.” Tom Paine
The protests are useful. We will see what happens when, like Steven Pinker says, “When everybody knows what everybody knows”.
Thanks for moving this campaign forward. This is critically important work. You and your tiny band are true patriots. It is time the people seen a message to this insanity.
The theme song should be Alice’s Restaurant. Works on so many levels.
Here, analysis is replaced by emotional certainty. The same thinker who once warned against narrative overreach and simplistic villain stories now declares fascism as a settled fact and builds everything on top of it. That isn’t rigor—it’s TDS dressed up as strategy.
The irony is sharp. Someone fluent in unintended consequences suddenly treats subscription boycotts as a “surgical strike” that pressures the White House without collateral damage. Workers, pensions, supply chains, and unrelated consumers disappear from the model. That’s not economics; it’s wishcasting.
Worse, he abandons his own best insight: systems matter more than personalities. This essay does the opposite. It personalizes everything, moralizes disagreement, and frames dissent as complicity. That’s not resistance infrastructure—it’s polarization infrastructure.
Calling Congress the “American Duma,” law enforcement “gestapo,” and every policy dispute authoritarian may feel cathartic, but it collapses distinctions that matter. When everything is fascism, nothing is—and strategy degrades into performance.
The problem isn’t criticizing Trump. Reasonable people can debate that. The problem is watching someone capable of sober, high-signal analysis let outrage replace calibration. That’s not effectiveness. It’s TDS overwhelming the discipline that once made his voice worth hearing.
Thank you Mark, best and most thoughtful comment I have read in ages!
Prof G,
please read Mark’s toughts many many times, it will help you. You have fallen into a terrible trap – us versus them. This never leads to a good outcome. Let’s say you are outraged by ICE tactic, join screaming left brigade – does this also mean you are not supporting woke and BLM movements (arguably worse than fascism), man in girls dressing rooms, Palestine idiots, “reparations”, cancel culture, open borders, the list goes on …
Let’s think for ourselves, think in every case, not just scream and choose sides.
We need to fix our country and one good idea is to delete any social media accounts, supporting that for sure, don’t have any as I write this.
More love, less hate.
Prof G lost me when he’s suggested “let’s fix CNN” – that place is hopeless now, should be disbanded, was once great. I have no oppinion about Fox – last time I watched it 15 years ago.
This situation requires a stupid and futile gesture.
Apologies to Animal House
Prof G needs a new emoji for resist and unsubscribe as opposed to like and subscribe.
Dear Scott: Thank you for all your good work. And being on Smerconish. PLEASE CONSIDER A LIST OF COMPANIES TO WHICH WE CAN SUBSCRIBE who are anti-ICE or not TRUMPIFIED. Thanks again for your democracy-saving efforts! Phillip George
. LEO’s should all work together. Protest should be civil. Pass the SAVE act, this is a MUST and we will have a Republic.
You have lost your mind. Time to unsubscribe ……from you
Unsubscribe – Done! Feels great to do something and I agree that it is sending a message that there is power here too. Thanks for organizing!
SG man.
Kinda disappointed you wnt thos way.
These migrant protesters are not being done in earnest – like you originally said- and to me this ICE “involvment is not Fascism: its dissimilar in every way to the experience of the blacks and MLK during the 1960s.
These people are here unlawfully. The protesters are overwhelming overreacting let them do their job and administer the deportations.
I can guess you never lived I’m another country on an overstay visa in effort to become public charges.
Why would you believe that’s a legitimate cause?
Very disappointed in you.
I guess you didn’t notice all the AI memes of J.D. Vance way back in 2024. Too bad you didn’t warn Democrats about letting everything ride on AI memes.
The Amazon boycott seems a little odd. Trump has always despised Amazon and Bezos.
Sounds nice. I doubt it will work as you describe. Maybe it will lead to something more effective- like voting in the mid terms for centrist candidates. IMO- that is the likeliest and most efficient way to effectuate change.
Far left is possibly worse than far right- and is reactionary and not a solution. At least the far right’s pro business policies provide the US more financial strength. Such riches create an effective counterweight to our global enemies (and allies) through the use of financial coercion and military might. And I am not in favor of this abuse of power (not all of it is abusive either) and reduced humanitarianism and it’s better than being on the receiving end of it.
“If progressives won’t enforce the border, fascists will.” And here we are.
Scott, you should stick to tech and market analysis. That radical leftist depressive bullshit is not only innefective and proven to fail wherever implemented, losers discourse. It just sounds so fake it’s sahemful and pitiful. I know you have a woke audience to sell your packages to, but is it worth sounding that ridiculous? You’re not even fun anymore…poor you…
I enjoy your idea’s immensely but am confused as to some of the choices to boycott and to the extent that such a large assembly of organizations can effectively be targeted enough for any impact. Firstly, the choices: why boycott Lowe’s when the CEO of Home Depot is in Trump’s pocket. We gotta shop somewhere and if not Lowe’s we are forced to buy at HD. Also, Hilton shuts down its Hampton Inn franchisee for refusing to book ICE and I’m unaware of Marriott’s pro Trump stance. A rationale for each unsubscribing would be useful. Are there suggested alternatives if we drop Facebook or others you suggest we boycott? So, my dear guru, help me understand the choices you suggest and address why not focus on fewer companies to unsubscribe to show impact. It worked with Target I believe because it was focused. It might work with Amazon for example. Many thanks and eager to learn.
Unsubscribed. Scott, you were interesting, because you were unpredictable. Now, just another rich, predictable, by-the-book guy telling normies to burn their money in some harebrained scheme. I decline.
Thank you for being the voice of democracy and sanity. One suggestion, on the resist and unsubscribe list. Define the alternatives. For example, cancelling Amazon (which I fully support for the most obvious reasons) is so integrated into most peoples lives, what are the companies that share our values and offer similar services.
Another list could also be where to invest your money outside of these big tech firms. As you said they represent 1/3 of the S&P and growing, what are the alternatives.
Just DELETED Facebook, and come July, no more Amazon Prime. I feel great, especially after listening to Scott and then Tim Miller’s interview with Marty Baron and what is behind the WAPO demise. Let’s hope for success.
“There will be severe consequences if the regime attempts to steal the midterms” — my mantra & battle cry! Our opposition has taught us we have to be badasses!
Sounds alot like the Mamdani supporter who will stop businesses from leaving New York, take them over and run them. Didn’t work out too well for the USSR, Cuba or Venezuela
Reminds me of Dry January. Once you go a month without this stuff you realize how unnecessary so much of it is. Thank you.
Something of a puzzle for me. I have never subscribed to any social media site—no facebook, no twitter, no snap, no Reddit, no LinkedIn no WhatsApp, no instagram. None. Ever. Also, no streaming services (also, no TV). So the only one on your list that I have is my IPhone (iPhone X with a cracked screen) due for an update. I’m holding off and hoping it lasts till the end of February, but since I’m not on instagram, I don’t know how to tag you 🙁. Nonetheless, doing my best to support the cause.
Susan, perhaps had you paid attention you’d realize Biden allowed 20MM+ people cross our border adding to the 20MM- 40MM illegals that were already here.
Ridding America of the giant burden of these people should be your cause not backing the hack that “Professor” Galloway has become.
Far more concerned (horrified, actually) by murderous masked thugs summarily executing citizens in our streets while they exercise their first amendment rights.
Thank you Scott for spear heading this movement! I adore white straight wealthy men who use thier agency for the benefit of all. Big love to you!
❤️❤️
I’ve unsubscribed from ChatGPT, Hulu, Apple, Audible. My amazon prime and Paramount are yearly and paid for till later in the year. I cancelled Paramount, it will not auto-renew and I’m not ordering anything off of Amazon. Honestly, I can go longer than February for most of these things and once I saw how much I was paying I realized I’d rather spend that money on other things. Keep it going Scott!
Paula – If you call/chat Amazon and Paramount to cancel your yearly subscription (effective immediately), they will cancel right away and refund you for the unused time.
The Democratic Party needs a platform, effective, lean, government, and lower taxes. All the rest is noise. Trump won because he got it. I don;t think he followed thru in the right way, which makes it easy to go against him. He does’t help himself in any way. We need a young, smart , centralist, person to emerge as a presidential candidate. Where they are is the question.
Consumer boycotts help. What also helps is divestiture.
If consumers move some or all of their retirement funds to the sidelines temporarily, the CEOs comped in stock would definitely have a reaction and change their policies.
There is $13T passive invested in index funds. That money provides liquidity and leverage for the people who are abusing power.
The Democrat Party has not run on lean, effective government and less taxes in my lifetime. (I’m 73). And now has been hijacked by the progressives/socialists who run on total control, equity, not opportunity, victimhood versus independence, larger gov’t and having everyone pay their fare share. With almost 50% not paying anything, what is my fair share?
And David Frum really? With Conservatives now encompassing libertarians and classical liberals, and “liberal” being camoflauge for progressive/socialists, I submit the following “If conservative/liberal citizens don’t enforce the border, no one will”
Scott doesn’t have nearly the clout to affect a big tech stock price by 1%. Even if this boycott does somehow work, his followers will have essentially sabotaged their own 401k balances in exchange for a brief moment of virtue signaling joy.
Exactly. I love it when rich guys that have their own private jets, Davos types, tell normies to burn their money. Scott has lost it. Just another TDS patient.
Voices like yours will help lead us out of the darkness. Thank you for what you do.
‘Duma’ indeed. Incisive, sad and true.
Hey Scott
Add me to your numbers, I have canceled:
YouTube TV, Apple TV, Netflix, Paramount+ Amazon prime HBO and Spotify. Which is everything I had subscribed to. I’ve also deleted Facebook and Instagram apps and had the most productive week and I don’t know how long.
Sometimes things are more important than the shareholder value. Thank you for your courage.
Bravo!
Have been reading Scott for years – a. he should run for President and b. thank you thank you for creating a path to “do something” for all of us who go to protests but then what…. Keep us charging ahead! will cancel 3 services today!
Hey Scott,
Add me to your numbers.
I cancelled:
Spotify
YouTube TV
HBO
Amazon Prime
AppleTV
Netflix
Paramount+
Peacock
Deleted Facebook and IG apps
Which is everything I subscribed to.
I’ve had the most productive week in I don’t know how long!
Thank you for putting yourself out there and taking this risk.
Bravo!
Although I am a Canadian I’ve joined and cancelled Amazon Prime.
P.S. Timothy Snyder’s name has been misspelled.
Although I subscribe to free market leverage in the form of boycotting it just seems pale to possible other options. Unfortunately my bandwidth can’t raise any salient ideas.
Think it is rather poor of you to recommend hurting a stock that trusting people may have recently purchased in good faith on your advice
Good grief. This used to have great business insights. Now its just extreme TDS and marxist ideas. I’ll pray for you.
I love where you are headed with this. I completely agree with the concept of hitting these corporate CEOs in their market caps! That’s how you will get their attention and embolden them to stand up to Trump!
You, apparently, have never read the Bible, specifically the new covenant containing the words of Christ. Your faux self-righteousness, love of the almighty dollar, and other extreme views are quite antithetical to His.
Oh FFS. Using market power to seek to restore democratic values over authoritarianism? Do you have any idea what “Marxist” actually means, as both market power and democracy are opposite to any Marxist society ever implemented. TDS is literally the only real thing in your sentence, but the derangement centers on anyone who still believes our Conmander ‘n Thief cares about America or anyone or anything in it which doesn’t boost his ego or net worth.
I won’t pray for you, not least because we have ample evidence that “thoughts and prayers” have never done anyone an iota of good.
I’m with you now!! Excellent ideas! Keep up the good work.