where science and ethics intersect with politics
The federal minimum wage has been frozen at $7.25 since 2009, but workers have not been frozen in time. As rent, food, healthcare, and basic survival costs continue to rise, Congress has allowed the nation’s wage floor to decay into a policy of abandonment. This is not just an economic failure. It is a moral indictment.
A growing movement is calling for a full consumer blackout over Black Friday weekend—urging people to skip the sales and resist the hyper-capitalist pressure to buy. The blackout shines a light on exploitative labor, environmental damage, psychological manipulation, and the animal suffering embedded in the holiday retail spike. Through the Humane Party lens, it’s an act of ethical realism: choosing not to feed a system built on harm.
The Humane Herald 