Moving forward though, what's the plan? I submit that all overhead costs of civilization should be visible at the only decision point that is counted: The checkout. All fees, taxes, programs and demands exist because of people trying to acquire things they can't or don't want to obtain locally.
All citizens should be paid UBI that gives them the resources to be useful to place and community, even if that's only as cannon fodder.
The powers that shouldn't be know any consumption strike is only temporary as long as people don't have control of where their meals come from.