The Shutdown 315 Movement

Can it make a difference?

Photo by Andrew Winkler on Unsplash

I have been hearing more about the Shutdown 315 movement lately and I thought I would take a deeper dive to see what it is all about and spread the word if that would be helpful.

What is the Shutdown 315 Movement?

Here is the Shutdown 315 Movement Substack if you want to learn more: What is the SHUTDOWN315 Movement?

Here is them telling you who they are, and information if you are interested in participating or want to share this with others. Most of the below comes directly from the Shutdown 315 Movement Substack.

The Shutdown315 Movement started as a small group of individuals on a Signal group chat on the eve of January 18th, 2025; in the moments before Tiktok went dark. Since then it has grown into a decentralized national movement across the US, with some people requesting for the movement to go global. The group has no formal leadership structure.

In the words of the organizers themselves:

What is #SHUTDOWN315 ? #Shutdown315 is a critical-mass movement of coordinated economic protest. In specific terms, it is economic disengagement by mass boycott and a general strike.

When is this happening? We begin our strike and boycott on March 15th, 2025. Some of us have already begun.

Why are you doing this? We are doing this to stop the rise of fascism and to release our nation from the control of oligarchs. We are being destroyed from the inside out by a corrupt and greedy ruling class that has pitted us against each other - while they actively ‘re-appropriate’ (steal) billions of our taxpayer dollars.

By collective refusal to contribute our labor and dollars, we are demonstrating our greater power and willingness to harness that power.

How does this work? The oligarchy cannot function without our labor. Fascism cannot continue to gain power with a non-compliant population. The longer we wait to take action, the harder it will be to stop these forces.

Who are we? We are every day people from a wide swath of cultural, political, and occupational backgrounds. We share the common goal of mobilizing our collective economic power to starve the oligarchy of our labor + resources.

Most importantly, Shutdown 315 is not a 1-day strike. The strike starts on 3/15.

Shutdown315 has partnered with GeneralstrikeUS. You can find the Shutdown315 link here:

Tinyurl.com/shutdown315

My thoughts.

Good on you Shutdown315 Movement.

A way to take away the power of the oligarchy is to starve it of the money it needs to keep going, but that is a very heavy lift. Not impossible, just one that will take a lot of people taking the long view. I joked on Tuesday that some people will just participate in the movement on 3/15 and then move on, expecting that they have changed the world. The organizers of Shutdown315 are in this for the long-haul, but I am concerned that many people will be Shutdown315 curious, but then move on to other things when 3/15 passes.

The kind of change needed, and the kind of change the organizers of Shutdown315 are calling for is a cultural change, and that takes time. That change can also be painful, as shopping less, traveling less and overall consuming less will harm the economy, meaning people will lose jobs.

According to the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the Average American Family has about $62,000 in savings across all of their accounts. That won’t last long if we enter a recession or even depression based on a sharp downturn in economic activity. Of course, many families have much less than that.

I think what the Shutdown315 movement is doing is admirable, and I wish them success, but it will hurt the average American as much if not more than the average oligarch.

They need to make sure they are communicating the reasons for their actions, how it can improve the lives of average Americans, and how people can get involved. Many people know things aren’t right, but they feel powerless to change things, and are looking to be part of something bigger than themselves to make the world better.

You have to have a better story.

To get people to sign on to the Shutdown315 movement, you have to tell a better story than the one the oligarchs are telling. You may think that the oligarch’s story is not compelling, and you’d be right, but they also own all the media.

At first, the oligarchs will hope the movement fizzles out and no one notices it. It is up to Shutdown315 to make sure that doesn’t happen.

If the movement gets too much attention to ignore, the headlines you will start seeing around 3/15 are will be that those in the Shutdown315 movement are anarchists, communist, socialist, anti-American, misguided, and all-around terrible people, and that they hate prosperity and therefore hate America. If that message is repeated throughout media ad nauseam, the attitude of most Americans may turn against the movement.

I encourage the folks behind the Shutdown315 movement to make sure they have a tight clear story they are telling. I have seen a lot of different messages about the movement in doing a little research and some of the stuff out there is very vague, or just says things like, boycott Amazon, Tesla and Facebook because they bent the knee to Trump.

Those messages aren’t coming from the Sutdown315 organizers, but it does muddy the message. The organizers of the movement need to ensure they have a tight message that tells people: who, what, where, when and why, in a concise and consistent way.

If you can help them do that, please do so. I am happy to do the same.

The Shutdown315 organizers may not think of themselves as degrowthers, but this could be an important step of convincing a great number of people that degrowth is the answer.

If a society learns that they can be happy with less consumption, less waste and focus their energy toward building a wellbeing economy rather than a growth focused economy, they will indeed regain power over those who “lead” them. If Shutdown315 shows people that a culture focused on wellbeing is preferable to a culture based on chasing growth, we may just find ourselves in a better world.

Please check out the Shutdown315 materials for yourself, but I copied and edited down some of their materials below for those looking for a little more info.

We will:

• Remove our money from all banks and corporate financial institutions. Cancel all unused accounts and lines of credit.

• Cancel all subscription services, Amazon prime and other unnecessary premium services

• Stop working.

• We will stop shopping. No buying or ordering anything. If something must be purchased, we will be purchasing from a locally owned and operated business, not a franchise store and preferably buying goods that are made/manufactured locally as well.

• We will not travel.

• We will not purchase any item made by companies that fall under the ownership of the corporate giants that control our food supply.

• We will unionize our workplaces and go on an organized labor strike that is protected by law.

• We will delete and deactivate Meta and X apps.

• Move our bank accounts, lines of credit and all other financial business to a small, locally centered credit union.

• We will stop dining at large chain restaurants and fast food.

• We will only shop locally.

• We will keep our user information safe. Download and install a good VPN.

• We will not use Microsoft, Apple or Google applications. A good alternative to Microsoft office is WPS Office. A good alternative to Google Maps is Magic Earth.

• Use end-to-end encrypted communication apps such as Signal, or Session. E2E email options are Proton Mail and Tutamail.

• We will build strong community initiatives and organize mutual aid and community support for all our community members.

• We will take nonviolent direct action to fulfill any movement or community need.

What are our demands?

While the full list of demands is still being added to, discussed, edited and submitted to a legal expert, some of our basic demands are as follows:

• Protection and permanent guarantee of civil rights for all

• Total government reform

• Publicly funded health care

• Adequate and accessible disability support and services

• A permanent solution to Homelessness, hunger and the housing crisis

• Respect and support for tribal Sovereignty and involvement with indigenous leadership for environmental action

• Enhanced enforcement of constitutional rights

• More power to american voters

What are some good ways to get involved in my local community?

• Start a food security program.

• Download and install the Nextdoor app. This is a great way to get in touch with community members and organize online without Facebook.

• Start a trading post/swap shack.

• Build a network of professionals such as mechanics, and other trades people that are willing to donate time, space and products to anyone in need in the community

• Unionize your workplace and encourage friends and family to do so as well. Contact local labor unions.

• Form a group of childcare workers, educators and mothers who will help provide support to families with children

• Medical professionals and those who work with the elderly and disabled, communicate and organize ways to keep the community healthy, safe and cared for.

• Organize people willing to drive supplies and food to people who live in remote areas and may not be able to access community supports.

• Organize a security team for your neighborhood to keep people safe.

• If you are able to, start a community fundraiser to make sure that everyone in the community has what they need for food, supplies and necessities.

• Download and install the app Groupspot. It is a secure and privately owned app with privacy at the forefront of it's principals. Use it to organize community initiatives.

• If you are a member if an indigenous tribe, you likely have a lot of these supports in place. Indigenous culture is often centered around community. Find ways to reach out to tribal members who may be estranged or live outside the community and get them home.