Since it is pretty clear that the Democratic Party will have little, to no say at the national levels of government.....

[chiffondior]

I propose that we continue to vote every day with our dollars. And my proposal is that we target something at the very core of Americana......

A boycott of the National Football League.

The billionaire boys club of NFL owners overwhelmingly contribute to the Republican party and the league has its tentacles into everything. The leagues has time and again leveraged public fear of losing their teams to another city into forcing the people to pay for these obscenely rich families' multi billionaire dollar stadiums. Many times paying for these stadiums comes at the expense of important social programs, infrastructure and other basic things that cities need to fund. The league's sponsorship deals are so broad that even a small, but sustained drop in television ratings would potentially have an impact.

This incoming administration is not beholden to the people of this country but they are beholden to the plutocrats that effectively own this country and many of them own NFL teams. I know this country loves its football but maybe if enough of us love of freedoms and our very way of life, this could be the start of a way of fighting back.

Right now this is just a half-baked idea but a public, organized boycott could potentially make some noise and cause some problems for the incoming administration. I'm desperately trying to come up with ideas of how we can resist because the prospects of what we are facing is almost to much to bear.

[pat_k]

1. The core is the belief in people power...

whatever type of regime we find ourselves in.

https://www.amazon.com/Lobbying-Change-Create-Better-Society/dp/1785782851

[jimfields33]

2. I wonder how many would join? Definitely ones who don't watch. But getting others would be a huge get.

[tritsofme]

3. Sure....the path back to power surely runs through boycotting the nation's most popular sport.

I don’t know what the answer is yet, but it’s not this.

[chiffondior]

7. Power is lost, maybe for good. This is about survival and minimizing damage to our most vulnerable members of society.

I cannot speak for your situation but as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I've already had to talk one friend from down from the ledge because there were so scared. A league that is silent about a player giving a speech about women knowing their role and another player flashing his MAGA hat on national TV but clamps down on and blacklists a player taking a knee to protest police violence feels like a ripe target to me.

[Ocelot II]

4. I've done that all my life. I've never watched an entire football game and don't intend to, but

boycotting anything doesn't work unless you can convince a huge percentage of users to do it, which is just about impossible - people are not going to stop watching football in large enough numbers for anyone to notice. I don't understand the interest in it myself, but it's a thing for a lot of people, and it will continue to be a thing even for unhappy Democrats who need an enjoyable distraction now more than ever. It might make you feel good and righteous, but a boycott of football is tilting at windmills with a pool noodle.

[33taw]

5. The Packers are owned by the community. Their Board of Directors manage the club and their GM.

Obviously, not everyone is a Packer fan or want to be, but their is a reason Green Bay with a population of just over 100,000 has a NFL team and that is because they are community owned.

[chiffondior]

8. And the league has safeguards in place to ensure that that can never happen again.

Kudos to the people of Green Bay though for being able to keep their team!

[GenThePerservering]

6. That's like asking a lot of guys

to give up their religion..even worse. Not sure that will work as too many of them relax back into their white dudes' world.

[Silent Type]

9. I watch parts of games, but seldom full games. In any event, think the players probably lean Dem. Now NASCAR is

a different matter. Don't watch that either, but that's what I'd boycott otherwise.

This is from 2016--

[EllieBC]

10. Half of the NHL are Trumpies. Still going to watch hockey.

We have season tickets and honestly, I fucking love hockey.

You look hard enough and you’ll find lots of right wingers in most things.

Still am going to try to enjoy life.

[ForgedCrank]

11. We have two

things. We have a few, not many, but a few moderate GOP members who will side with us on the really stupid crap, and we have the filibuster.
Economic terrorism never ends well and has disastrous consequences for people who aren't even involved.

[valleyrogue]

16. We also have the filibuster.

I am amazed at the sentiment of some who were eager for us to get rid of the filibuster. This situation is an argument as to why we need to keep it. All is not lost.

[ForgedCrank]

18. Yup. One

of the oldest saying regarding politics is one of the few solid realities, and that is that politics is circular. We can never forget that dreadful but necessary reality. it is like that by design, and for good reason.

[standingtall]

12. Terrible idea that would do nothing for us but backfire badly

Many of the owners might donate to republicans, but 53% of the players are African Americans our most loyal voting block and yes I'm aware some are republicans too, but I'm confident the majority of them are Democrats.

[ForgedCrank]

19. And like

any business that suffers at the hand of these boycotts, the innocent employees are the most likely victims of it, people who usually have nothing to do with it, but still have kids to feed.

[roamer65]

13. If you want to make a real dent just ask one simple question before spending.

“Do I really need this?”

Here’s the harsh coming realities.

1. SS and Medicare are going to get cut, so people will need to save a lot more for retirement.
2. Tariffs will increase prices on all imported goods, so it will be more “pick and choose”.
3. Trump’s economic plan will reignite inflation. You should plan on inflation running around 10-20 percent by the end of his term, IMO.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

14. I used to be a fanatic but quit watching when they started having games on Thursday and Saturday

and they kept adding new teams. I couldn’t keep track of who was who. I went to baseball but now I’m a basketball fan - love LeBron James and started watching watching the Heat games - being from Florida. Switched to liking the Cavaliers and now the Lakers. I don’t know what I’m going to do when he retires. Hope one of his sons make it.

[proud patriot]

15. I'm not big on boycotts

I think we should do more to support local liberal causes and radio /tv etc .

[H2O Man]

17. Respectfully disagree.

First, a dedicated minority can exercise power. The control of the House -- which controls the purse strings -- is an obvious example. But even in the Senate, the minority party has influence. A study of Irish politics illustrates this.

Second, boycotts are an effective tool if properly used. To be properly used, they must be properly understood. The best example, which is easily understood by Americans, is the 13-month Montgomery bus boycott. It was aimed at impacting a specific target -- the bus company that discriminated against black people. In doing so, they caught the attention o0f the nation, and sparked the the new wave of the Civil Rights Movement. This included related economic boycotts.

In reality, a boycott of the NFL would appeal only to those who already dislike football for any of a variety of reasons. Those who simply don't watch the NFL would not care one way or the other. And those who like the NFL are highly unlikely to participate in any meaningful numbers.

This is no way means that you shouldn't put more thought into what target(s) of a boycott could prove meaningful. Have faith in the Power of Ideas.

[Blue Full Moon]

20. Yes

Need a site or thread for reference so people can see who supports democratic ideas of freedom, representation, equality. Penzy and King Arthur Flour (employee owned). Been trying to buy things not from chain. Even if republican, small local businesses.