How We Take on the Tech Oligarchy
February 28, 2025 | Press Releases
Social media and chat groups are full of calls to boycott corporations like Amazon and Walmart. These calls reflect a deep dissatisfaction with the status quo – and with the idea that people have to accept the economy and politics “as-is.” The aggregation of all our money and power into the hands of a few people in Silicon Valley and Wall Street did not happen on its own – it was a carefully laid plan, which we have the power to undo.
For decades, we’ve deregulated, privatized, signed trade deals that benefit corporations over workers, stopped enforcing antitrust laws, and neglected our own public infrastructure and services. This was driven by right-wing thinkers and money, but it took hold across the country and across both parties. Now, there’s a general sense that the game is rigged, a few individuals have most of the wealth and power, and this is really bad for the rest of us.
A general boycott may feel good (and hopefully helps local businesses), but its most important function would be as a rallying cry for what comes next. If we think the economy is failing to give regular people a good life, then we have the power to change that.
This is a long game, but these are the things we have to start fighting for:
Right now, Congress wants to rewrite the tax code to give even more tax breaks to billionaires while weakening our public institutions and services. We need to tell them that the wealthy shouldn’t pay lower taxes than we do, and that we should invest in public institutions that benefit everyone.
States can enforce and update their antitrust laws to stop corporations like Amazon from hoarding wealth and power – for example, by stopping Amazon from overcharging online vendors and crushing smaller competitors.
We can stop giving corporations like Amazon public handouts like sales tax exemptions and discounted utility prices – especially since these subsidies come at the expense of public services like school budgets.
We can support workers organizing for better working conditions and a say in how the corporation operates. Warehouse workers, drivers, data, and tech workers are all doing this at Amazon, and they’re fighting for more than just their own wages – they want the corporation to do the right thing for their communities and the world.
States can regulate tech and prevent corporations from using surveillance tools to punish workers and manipulate customers.
We can require big tech’s data centers to be powered by renewable energy instead of coal and gas, and make sure we don’t have to pay higher utility bills to offset its energy use.
Our state and local governments can buy their supplies from local businesses instead of signing enormous contracts with Amazon, and we can set higher standards for our cloud contracts.
And finally, we can vote out politicians – even progressive ones – who consistently side with corporations at the expense of regular people.
We have to remind ourselves that we decide how corporations operate in our own country – we decide if we invest more in the people of this country or in yachts. Too many of us were taught to be consumers and not citizens – and that the market was all-powerful. But in reality, WE are the economy, and we have the power to decide who benefits from our labor.