If Democracy Is for Sale, Why Don’t We Try to Buy It?

Good Monday morning, friends. Welcome back to Qualified at the Intersection.

There’s so much happening. Too much, maybe.

From rising political violence to the U.S. Secretary threatening both the Governor and a Mayor in California, it feels like we’re living inside a stress test for the Constitution. A Jurassic Park moment, if you will. Testing the fences. Seeing how far they can push before the electric current shorts out completely.

But here's the thing: not all hope is lost.

This weekend, millions showed up across the country for the No Kings March. It was a reminder that people's power is still a force to be reckoned with. I heard a stat that just 3.5% of a population mobilizing can spark sweeping societal change.¹ We didn’t quite hit that number, but we’re close enough to make some noise.

So let me offer a provocation:
If democracy is being sold to the highest bidder, why aren’t we pooling our resources to buy it back?

Let’s Break That Down

Last week, Donald Trump admitted on live TV and admitted that he will reverse parts of his aggressive immigration policy because wealthy friends in agriculture and hospitality called to complain. They said, “Hey, we need those undocumented workers. You’re hurting our bottom line.”²

So he changed course.

That’s not a democratic decision-making process. That’s not leadership.
That’s customer service for billionaires.

And it’s not the first time. Walmart and other corporate giants have done it too, pressuring policy changes on tariffs when it hurts their profit margins. And guess what? It worked.

So, again: if this is the game, why don’t we play too?

What if we swarm those very same companies, not with support, but with silence?
With refusals to spend? With targeted economic withholding?

What if we collectively said to the Targets, the Walmarts, the meat-packing companies:
“You got your immigration fix. Now call him again. Tell him to back off, DEI.
Tell him to stop this rollback on diversity in the workforce. Tell him we’re watching.”

We know boycotts work. Target’s foot traffic is still down. Their revenue took a hit.
Margins matter in this economy.

So what if we swarm with intention?

This isn’t about cancel culture, it’s about consequence culture. It’s about flipping the very strategy used to exclude us and bending it in our favor.

I’m not saying it’s the perfect answer.
But it is an answer and one we’ve used before. Think Montgomery. Think United Farm Workers. Think ACT UP.

Let’s remember that in the real world of politics and power, money talks louder than morals.

Let’s Talk About Communication, Too

And speaking of talking: how are we explaining any of this to the public?

Joe Biden said democracy was on the line and was immediately scolded by Democratic strategists: “That’s not what people want to hear; they want kitchen-table issues.”

But that’s not true.

People didn’t care that the economy was recovering. They didn’t care about job numbers. They cared about rage.
They wanted someone to blame. They wanted retribution.

But this weekend? This weekend felt different. It felt like some people were finally waking up. Finally realizing that yes, democracy really is at stake.

So our next challenge is: how do we communicate that in ways people can actually understand?

How do we explain what it really means when the federal government occupies a city?
How do we show the average American that if it happens to Oakland today, it could be their town tomorrow?

How do we explain that immigration raids hurt workers, but never the CEOs who hired them? That we’re jailing the “sex workers” in this analogy, but never the “johns” who paid?

It’s upside down. But it’s also a clue. Because if they can influence policy through money and pressure, then so can we.

So what if we did?

A Closing Thought

I’ll leave you with this:

If we know that immigration policy changed because billionaires made a phone call
Then we also know who’s really writing the script.
And if we want a new ending, we have to change the actors who get top billing.

We’ve done it before.

Maybe it’s time to try again.

I’ll be diving deeper into how we explain “democracy at stake” in future newsletters, along with strategies for taking real, bite-sized action. But for now, I’d love to hear your thoughts:

What would it look like to swarm with strategy? To boycott with precision?
To buy back democracy, one targeted campaign at a time?

Because if democracy is for sale, maybe it’s time the people pooled their coins.

1. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190513-it-only-takes-35-of-people-to-change-the-world

2. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/trump-reversal-may-exempt-farms-hotels-immigration-raids-rcna212958