Updates for the Shutdown315 Movement

WOW….. We are beyond speechless for the outpouring of support and success we have seen here on Substack. Our movement has gained so much traction over the past two weeks alone, thanks to all of you.

This movement relies on you. You are us, and we are you. You have so much power in your voice. Every little bit you do to support this movement brings us closer to our collective goal: taking down the oligarchy and removing the fascist regime taking over our beloved country.

Every small action builds up. Every share, every comment, every like, every subscription, every mention of us. Our online connections and IRL interactions have brought us to today - and will continue carrying us forward.

THANK YOU! Kchi wliwni (‘BIG THANK YOU’ in the western Abenaki language.)

To welcome our newcomers, here's an FAQ-style breakdown of the #SHUTDOWN315 movement :

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.

For more information, check out our other Substack posts. Subscribe to us and stay updated!

Now, Where Are We Today?

On Thursday, February 13th, Newsweek ran a feature on the Shutdown315 Movement. We are gaining enough traction to be noticed by mainstream media, which is HUGE. Please note that there are a few incorrect details in the article. The main correction is the following: we are not a 1-day strike. We start our strike on 3/15. We don't stop until the ruling class begins to address the demands of the working class.

We have partnered with GeneralstrikeUS and will use our movement to build serious momentum into theirs. Shutdown315 has a unique strike card. When you sign our strike card, it contributes to their participant total and tallies how many people have joined our movement. If you already signed their strike card, you can still sign ours. It will delete the old duplicate. You can find our link here:

Tinyurl.com/shutdown315

We are now less than one month from March 15th as of this writing. We have received many concerns that our movement is waiting too long to start; however, a successful general strike takes years to organize. This historical reality is why we’re now partnered with GeneralstrikeUS.

A results-producing general strike also relies heavily on direct action and ample participation in spreading the word. We recognize that the US is in a crisis right now. We need to prepare and organize ourselves sufficiently to 1) maintain our shutdown once it begins and 2) allow a greater number of people, including those with dependents, to participate.

To those feeling the utmost urgency, we implore you to help spread the word as widely as possible! Movements such as 50501 are rapidly coordinating immediate actions. And, recognize time and energy needs channeling into action and support. Constructive critique comes with initiative - critique alone, without action, is counterproductive.

This is a multi-faceted fight and we will not succeed without direct action.

We are looking for ways to reach people who are on the fence about the state of our nation, and people who are regretful of supporting trump. We are also in need of ambitious individuals who are ready to help us spread the word far and wide. If you have large social media platform, are involved in other activist and political movements/groups, or have experience organizing on a community level, please join us on our chat channels.

Please also remember to restack this post and share where you can.

Thanks for reading! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Below is a link to our Waiting Room on Telegram where admins send each new member the group rules and some questions. Once approved, we will send you the links to our Telegram and Signal chats.

https://t.me/+YB2N9bFvCG84Zjdh

Handing out information to people IRL is extremely effective (think community boards, coffee shops, protests, etc.), so please do this as well.

We have a small team of graphic designers who have been working very hard at creating fliers and graphics to distribute. So far; we have the following: