It’s a threat. Nobody likes the idea of crippling the economy with an unending general strike. But the people who watch the daily numbers use them to predict future behavior. A big blackout in the second month makes them think really hard about what is coming 6 months down the road. If the blackout is small, they know they don’t have anything to worry about. If it shifts 50% of sales to another day, they know they’re having a conversation with a giant that can move their numbers a lot.
And also to get people accustomed to the idea of participating in mass actions. You don’t go from barely having protests to a multi week general strike in one go. You do things like this, first.
I never understood these “don’t buy stuff on day X” things. Ok, then you will buy on the next day. It doesn’t make a difference. What am I missing?
It’s a threat. Nobody likes the idea of crippling the economy with an unending general strike. But the people who watch the daily numbers use them to predict future behavior. A big blackout in the second month makes them think really hard about what is coming 6 months down the road. If the blackout is small, they know they don’t have anything to worry about. If it shifts 50% of sales to another day, they know they’re having a conversation with a giant that can move their numbers a lot.
The idea is for it to be material enough that it shows up in reports about earnibgs for the day.
And also to get people accustomed to the idea of participating in mass actions. You don’t go from barely having protests to a multi week general strike in one go. You do things like this, first.