"Not One Damn Dime" or not?

So tomorrow is inauguration day for Dubya, and 'tis also the day of Not One Damn Dime, a boycott on spending money anywhere for any reason. The idea is to express moral outrage against Bush's policies (especially the war in Iraq) but also to try to flex our progressive economic muscles.

I've been pretty torn about this one. Aside from the fact that my in-laws are in town and it's an inconvenient time to not buy anything (like food), there's the question of "Is this thing going to do any good?"

The boycott is a powerful tool when used right. I read Martin Luther King's final speech, which says in one part:

Now the other thing we'll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people. Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively -- that means all of us together -- collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That's power right there, if we know how to pool it.

We don't have to argue with anybody. We don't have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don't need any bricks and bottles. We don't need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, "God sent us by here, to say to you that you're not treating his children right. And we've come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God's children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you."

However, I think the key is that he was calling for a boycott specifically of businesses who were promoting discrimination. Not One Damn Dime is much broader, and the risk is that some of the businesses being boycotted are just as anti-war as their would-be boycotters. Also, not all businesses are created alike, and skipping Starbucks isn't the same as refusing to go to your neighborhood cafe. In all fairness, the NODD FAQ does address these concerns and others.

Alternet ran an article in which the author worried that the boycott would hurt small businesses; Snopes ran a piece opining that the boycott just wouldn't accomplish anything.

It's a matter of individual conscience whether to participate or not. There are good arguments on both sides. I would say that it would be good to call a Congressperson or Senator, write a letter to the editor, put a sign in your window, or just do something that actively communicates your thoughts on Bush, the war, and other current issues (that won't land you in jail.)