Re+Volution:
Path To Divestment
The current corporate-controlled system no longer works for all of us, but benefits the wealthy. It has not only abandoned the people, it has turned against us. We The People must collectively turn our backs on the system, starve it, take back what is ours and regain our voice and influence over policy and governance. We MUST divest from the system and become more cognizant of how and where our hard-earned money is going and what it's funding.
This requires a culture shift with each of us taking a series of actions that at first, involves each of us individually. As we move down the Re+Vo Pyramid of Action, we begin expanding into areas involving others and finally arrive in a place of community. With strong community-based economies and local systems—economic, social, and cultural—we become less dependent on corporations and more resilient to their exploitation. The stronger our communities, the weaker the system becomes.
Let's Break It Down
Recognize that our TRUE DIVISION is not "left vs. right"; it's "up vs. down"
Our "system" isn't broken - it's working as designed. To benefit the wealthiest few and exploit the rest of us. We have to ask: Why are corporations so successful while their employees are not? For decades, productivity, corporate profits and cost of living have soared, while worker wages have relatively stagnated. Most of us are working harder, longer and struggling to make ends meet, while the corporations and billionaires collectively hoard trillions.
We have less leisure time so we accepted the conveniences they sold us - all while they are pocketing more wealth and squeezing out competition - small business. We're told to look across at "other demographics" being the reason for our hardships, while they keep the flames of division burning so we don't look UP - AT THEM.
Let's talk about consumer spending in the U.S.
Consumer spending in the U.S. is the largest in the world, by far. China falls in 2nd place after the U.S. In fact, the U.S. consumer spending is approximately equal to 8 of the top 10 countries for spending - combined. What is even more shocking is that the combined population of these 8 countries is over 10 times larger than the U.S. population!
The U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) consists of approximately 68% consumer spending.
Now, this fact isn't meant to "shame" the American people. Instead, what it does tell us is:
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The U.S. economy depends upon Americans to spend and spend and spend...
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Therefore, how, where and when we spend our money is our power.
We've been culturally conditioned to spend, assume debt, value obtaining shiny new things and believe that we must work endlessly to keep that cycle running. Millions of Americans are recognizing this and beginning to question - everything.
So, from the inventory and budget outlined in the Re+evaluate step, we now should:
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Assess: Ask the questions about each expenditure...
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Do I truly use this often enough to justify the cost? For example, if you have 6 streaming subscriptions, do you genuinely use all of them enough each month to justify the cost? What if you had one or two at a time and rotated your services?
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Do I truly need this or simply want it?
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Seek Alternatives: If both answers above are "yes", then question if there are alternatives.
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Lower cost: Can you trade to a lower cost alternative? For example, if you enjoy one of the paid platforms that offer print or audio books, try your local library or the Libby app.
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Multi-use: Opt for multi-use products rather than single-use to reduce consumption
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Eco-friendly: Reduction of consuming, also has a direct, positive impact on our environment. Look for opportunities to choose products with less packaging
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In seeking alternatives, this really leads us into Re+Use, Re+pair and as well as Re+directing, along with beginning to involve more of your community.
Re-evaluate Our Spending
Many of us are going through the motions when it comes to our finances. We often don't realize how much we're spending on things we don't necessarily need, eating out, or on excessive subscriptions to a variety of services - many times that we don't even truly utilize on a monthly basis.
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Inventory: Taking a deep dive into our spending accounts - banks, credit cards, payment platforms - we can assess where our money is truly going. List each expense and group/total them by category. You might be shocked at what you find.
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Budget: As of 2025, 86% of Americans report creating a budget, but only about 22% consistently stick to it. Economic challenges, such as inflation and a turbulent job market, impact budgeting behaviors. More Americans are concerned about their finances. Creating and adhering to a budget can help us spot unneeded spending, a greater sense of accomplishment and control, and possibly be better prepared for unexpected events. Next, we'll begin to review many ways to reduce expenses.
Why buy new?
Because we've been conditioned to. Over the past few decades, the American consumer landscape has shifted towards a greater emphasis on convenience, quality, and newness. Factors contributing to this shift include:
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Brand Influence: Strong advertising from manufacturers often promotes new products, instilling a sense of desirability for fresh items over secondhand options.
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Digital Culture: The rise of e-commerce platforms has made new goods more accessible, often overshadowing the appeal of used items. Tracking data and algorithms pummel us with targeted ads.
Many consumers associate new purchases with higher social status. This perception discourages the purchase of used goods, which can be viewed as inferior or less desirable. This is intentional conditioning - How many times have you seen celebrity A-listers promote all the new trends as "must haves"?
However, recent data indicates that the stigma of second-hand items is fading, especially among younger consumers, but older consumers may still harbor lingering biases. Let's ride this wave and bring finding those used treasures back into fashion!
Today, acquiring items secondhand is referred to as "Circular Economy".
A subset of circular economy is "Gifting Economy" in which items are simply given away to other individuals.
Another subset is "Sharing Economy" where items are borrowed and returned.
Benefits of using circular economy:
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Costs less or may be free
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Bypasses the pockets of corporations and keeps money within the local economy
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Reduces waste sent to landfills
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Helps toward building community
Some channels to acquire used items:
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Free marketplaces such as "Buy Nothing" or "FreeCycle"
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Clothing swaps (or other material items)
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Thrift and consignment shops
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Yard sales and swap meets
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Online marketplaces like OfferUp, FB Marketplace, NextDoor or a number of others appearing on the scene lately.
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Used book stores - both "brick and mortar" and online
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Lending libraries are considered a part of sharing economy and isn't restricted to just books. "Libraries of Things" are popping up all over the country - either standalone or part of the public library system. It's an emerging initiative in which communities are experimenting with a model where objects are shared rather than owned. Think tools, sports or medical equipment, musical instruments, technology equipment, small appliances and more. Check your area to see if any have been spun up.
For circular economy to be sustained, be sure you're also participating as a donor or seller as well.
Shop Small, Local & Consciously
Big corporations have sold us the illusion of convenience while quietly consolidating power, crushing small businesses, eliminating competition and stripping communities of independence. The true cost of this is a growing, extreme wealth inequality, consolidated power behind corporations and billionaires, an uber-dependence of the population on the current system and diminished power, sovereignty and prosperity of the people.
Part of the cultural shift away from the corporate-led system, is to reclaim our resources and return it to where it belongs: our communities - not corporate America. By rebuilding local systems—economic, social, and cultural—we become less dependent on corporations and more resilient to their exploitation. The stronger our communities, the weaker the system becomes.
Redirecting consumer spending from corporations to local communities offers numerous advantages that strengthens local economies, creates jobs, encourages entrepreneurship, fosters social connections, and promotes sustainability. Additionally, more of every $1 spent locally, stays in the community - 60-70%, in fact! For large corporations, approximately 40% comes back to the community. This difference emphasizes the benefits of choosing to shop locally, not just for strengthening community ties but also for building and sustaining local economic health.
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Shop local / regional when possible
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Shop small - medium businesses
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Prioritize employee-owned, unionized and co-op businesses
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Join a CSA (community-supported agriculture) and at farmer's markets to support your local farms.
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Visit local craft fairs
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Use non-profit, local credit unions over large, for-profit banking institutions
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Use cash over cards when possible - when using cards, the merchant is charged 2.5-5% of the purchase, plus a transaction fee. This benefits the sponsoring banks, VISA, MC, etc. and reduces the amount staying within the community.
If looking for ways to find small business options, see the list below. If shopping local isn't an option, consider searching for small businesses online. A growing number of online marketplaces that are limited to small businesses are surfacing.
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Search engine: append "near me" to your search term
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Local Chamber of Commerce
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Ask in neighborhood apps like NextDoor
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Business review websites, like Yelp
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Shop Where I Live: Small business products in your state (not all states yet)
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LittleBlueCart: online marketplace for small businesses
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To find farms in your area to support, take a look at Farm Fresh 24/7 & LocalHarvest,
Be a conscious consumer - meaning, be discerning about where you shop and products you purchase to ensure they align with your values.
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To support minority-owned or businesses that support DEI, consider using resources like, ShopRedBag and BuyBlack.org
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To check the ethical values of a company and/or political contributions, look into resources like Goods Unite Us, B Corp, Buycott or GoodGuide.
Shift in American Culture: From Repair to Disposability
American culture has significantly shifted over the decades, moving from a mindset of repairing items to one of disposability. This transformation is influenced by various social, economic, and technological factors.
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Post-War Prosperity: After World War II, economic growth and the rise of consumerism encouraged people to favor new purchases over repairs, driven by advertising that equated ownership of new products with status.
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Consumer Culture Emergence: The growth of advertising in the latter half of the 20th century promoted a culture of "buying new" as desirable and aspirational. This reinforced the idea that status was tied to owning the latest products, making repairs seem less appealing.
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Planned Obsolescence: Manufacturers often create products with limited lifespans, pushing consumers toward replacements rather than repairs. The cost of fixing broken items frequently rivals that of buying new ones, making repairs less appealing.
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Rapid Technological Change: The fast pace of innovation leads to quick obsolescence of devices, prompting consumers to discard older items for newer models. Additionally, the complexity of modern products often means fewer people possess the skills to repair them.
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Environmental Concerns: Despite the throwaway culture, awareness of environmental impacts is rising. Landfills across the country are filling up and communities are being challenged for solutions.
Communities and organizations are increasingly promoting repair workshops and “repair cafés,” where people can learn to fix their items. This marks a shift toward more sustainable consumer habits and a rejection of the throwaway mentality. If you can't repair an item yourself, consider hiring a local repair shop to do so. It's yet another way to keep money out of corporate pockets and support a more robust community economic system - which leads us into the Re+direct portion of the pyramid.
Find Community Again
As individuals, divesting from the current system is just one part of the solution. We also need to build up our communities and parallel systems that rivals the rigged system. Over the past several decades, since the mid-20th century, American society has witnessed a sharply diminished sense of community, largely replaced by fast-paced lifestyles, personal isolation, and reliance on institutional systems. Various factors contribute to this shift, impacting social interactions and civic engagement.
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Life's increasing pace prioritizes work and productivity over community engagement.
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Technology promotes fragmented interactions, leading to less face-to-face time.
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The pandemic further exacerbated isolation, with a notable decline in communal activities, such as dining together. Many people began viewing their homes as solitary sanctuaries. Studies show a dramatic decrease in Americans' social networks, leading to an "epidemic of loneliness." Individuals are spending significantly more time in isolation compared to socializing.
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As community ties weaken, dependence on large institutions for services grows, diminishing local empowerment and neighborly reliance.
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Access to community resources varies by socioeconomic status, leaving those in "civic deserts" without local establishments that foster connections.
Ideas for reconnecting and building community:
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Volunteer at ANY local organization
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Join or organize a neighborhood yard sale, potluck, campfire get-together or game night
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Offer or participate in skill sharing or crafting meetup
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Create a mutual aid pod
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Participate in hobby groups or try new activities
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Organize a daily/weekly walking group
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Become familiar with your city website and what is offered in your community
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Show up to town halls or become aware of / involved in city planning events
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Check out your local community center or YMCA for activities, classes and events offered
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Make dinner parties a thing again.
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Join a community of faith
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Check out the local Rotary Club
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When out in the community, make an effort to resist "transactional" social interaction and strike up conversation - introduce yourself
For many of us, it may require stepping outside of your comfort zone. But rest assured, it will most likely, not only become comfortable, but very rewarding and life enriching.
Build and fortify community support systems
This Re+Vo section deserves an entire volume of information all by itself. There are an endless number of ways to build community-based support, social and economic systems. There will be much more information and guidance to come, but for now, some examples are listed here.
Instead of entire communities being highly dependent upon institutional systems, communities should build out or further develop parallel systems. There are many "categories" of need and many ways to realize solutions, both novel and historically inspired.
Approach considerations:
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Identify needs - or gaps in current institutional support - and focus on these areas first.
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If structures exist for a need within a community, but are insufficient, consider if fortifying it will be better than "reinventing the wheel".
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Seek out historical reference or successful current implementations of that particular part of a system, but understand that what works well in one zip code or timeframe, may not be the best solution for another.
Examples of categories of community-based systems:
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Entrepreneurship: Launch a locally‑focused business; champion for small business classes in your area.
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Food Sovereignty: Cultivate personal and community gardens, practice seed bombing, guerrilla gardening, host mason‑bee habitats, or start worm farms/composting.
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Skill Sharing: Teach and learn new abilities within the community.
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Community Infrastructure: Volunteer to create shared resources such as a “Library of Things,” mutual aid networks, barter/trade networks, or time‑banking services.
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Education: Develop programs that fill gaps left by formal institutions.
Again, this section deserves more comprehensive information and more to come soon...
As a community, reclaim your power - and retain it!
As your community ties and support systems strengthen, care must be taken to protect and further cultivate it. Each of the Re+Vo actions should be continuously revisited, fine-tuned and developed further.
Some ways to protect community resilience and sovereignty:
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Stay Informed: Monitor local, state, and national policy proposals.
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Be Vigilant: Act promptly against legislation or development that threatens community‑driven resilience.
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Vote: Exercise your right to vote in every election—always. Never assume your candidate "has it in the bag".
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Run for Office: Consider a role in public service to take part in shaping policies.
As a community member:
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Never assume "someone else" will step up or "someone should do something about this" - take initiative
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Have the courage and belief in your ability to make a difference and inspire change
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Understand that courage begets courage, kindness inspires kindness - be a model of what you'd like to see in your community - even when you feel alone in that
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Commit to being more "in service" to your fellow community members
By systematically applying these Re+Vo actions, individuals and communities can develop a cultural shift to create a civic force that transitions economic power back to the community, reduce reliance on corporate structures, and build a resilient, self‑sustaining future.
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We welcome volunteers to help with organizing, strategy, leading initiatives, professional services, knowledge/skill sharing, advocacy and operational tasks. If you'd like to get more involved, we have a spot for you.