Who is John Schwarz, the man behind today's Feb. 28 Economic Blackout and founder of People's Union USA?
CBSN
After years of railing against corporate greed on social media, John Schwarz had an idea that suddenly caught fire: an "economic blackout" aimed at resisting what he maintains is an alliance between corporations and politicians to rig the system against ordinary Americans.
The 57-year-old Chicago resident, founder of the People's Union USA, the fledgling advocacy group leading the campaign, expresses surprise at suddenly finding himself and his movement in the spotlight. Yet while he initially found the attention overwhelming, Schwarz said that in other ways it's a moment he's been preparing for all of his life.
"I've been online for 10 years trying to do this in kind of a nice way, not really speaking as bluntly on specific topics," Schwarz told CBS MoneyWatch. "And then after that, I said, no, this is great because this is exactly what I wanted to do. And I just dove in head first and we're not stopping."
