America is not one country anymore. It is becoming two.
In one of these countries live members of what Temin calls the “FTE sector” (named for finance, technology, and electronics). These are the 20% of Americans who enjoy college educations, have good jobs, and sleep soundly knowing that they have not only enough money to meet life’s challenges, but also social networks to bolster their success. (...) The citizens of this country see economic growth all around them and exciting possibilities for the future. They make plans, influence policies, and count themselves as lucky to be Americans.
The FTE citizens rarely visit the country where the other 80 percent of Americans live: the low-wage sector. Here, the world of possibility is shrinking, often dramatically. People are burdened with debt and anxious about their insecure jobs if they have a job at all. Many of them are getting sicker and dying younger than they used to. They get around by crumbling public transport and cars they have trouble paying for. Family life is uncertain here; people often don’t partner for the long-term even when they have children. If they go to college, they finance it by going heavily into debt. They are not thinking about the future; they are focused on surviving the present. The world in which they reside is very different from the one they were taught to believe in. While members of the first country act, these people are acted upon.
evonomics.com/america-regressing-developing-nation-people/
In one of these countries live members of what Temin calls the “FTE sector” (named for finance, technology, and electronics). These are the 20% of Americans who enjoy college educations, have good jobs, and sleep soundly knowing that they have not only enough money to meet life’s challenges, but also social networks to bolster their success. (...) The citizens of this country see economic growth all around them and exciting possibilities for the future. They make plans, influence policies, and count themselves as lucky to be Americans.
The FTE citizens rarely visit the country where the other 80 percent of Americans live: the low-wage sector. Here, the world of possibility is shrinking, often dramatically. People are burdened with debt and anxious about their insecure jobs if they have a job at all. Many of them are getting sicker and dying younger than they used to. They get around by crumbling public transport and cars they have trouble paying for. Family life is uncertain here; people often don’t partner for the long-term even when they have children. If they go to college, they finance it by going heavily into debt. They are not thinking about the future; they are focused on surviving the present. The world in which they reside is very different from the one they were taught to believe in. While members of the first country act, these people are acted upon.
evonomics.com/america-regressing-developing-nation-people/
Evonomics
America is Regressing into a Developing Nation for Most People - Evonomics
The U.S. is no longer one country, but dividing into two separate economic and political worlds
To that end, I very humbly propose the following three points as an outline for future work in propaganda:
- This crisis is not your fault.
- It IS the fault of an industrial complex.
- We can change this if we all work together.
You can work this into any kind of propaganda you like, and I can guarantee it will work better than saying “socialism” really loud at people who have already considered and rejected the word “socialism” as a political identifier to associate with themselves.
dsa-lsc.org/2020/04/24/its-propaganda-time/
- This crisis is not your fault.
- It IS the fault of an industrial complex.
- We can change this if we all work together.
You can work this into any kind of propaganda you like, and I can guarantee it will work better than saying “socialism” really loud at people who have already considered and rejected the word “socialism” as a political identifier to associate with themselves.
dsa-lsc.org/2020/04/24/its-propaganda-time/
Democratic Socialists of America's Libertarian Socialist Caucus
It's Propaganda Time
PDF This text was written as part of the LSC Pamphlet Program. It reflects only the opinions of the author(s) and not the consensus of the Libertarian Socialist Caucus. by Ben C The arrival of the global COVID-19 pandemic looks to be the opening act in the…
Community-supported agriculture (CSA), is an alternative approach based on the core idea that food is social: food expresses how much we rely on each other and on our environment, and it is up to us to make that relationship as resilient and sustainable as possible. CSAs can be social enterprises, member co-operatives, or non-profit organisations, and they often rely on volunteers for growing and distributing their produce. The different approach taken by CSAs is clear from the language that they use: CSAs don't cater to consumers, they have members, and growers and members take part together in the good times and the bad. As the lockdown came into force in the UK, CSAs found themselves having to adapt to new rules and find different ways of working together. In a happy exception to the rule, they have been swift to adapt.
www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/no-alternative-sustainable-agriculture-how-community-supported-farms-show-way-food-security-uncertain-world/
www.opendemocracy.net/en/can-europe-make-it/no-alternative-sustainable-agriculture-how-community-supported-farms-show-way-food-security-uncertain-world/
openDemocracy
No alternative to sustainable agriculture: how community-supported farms show the way to food security in an uncertain world
“It's easy for many people to run with the idea that we don't need neighbours. The cynicism in some people is the feeling that there's a default position that we will go back to. I'm not so sure about that.”
Forwarded from 📰 Indygram 🔥
CNBC
US GDP shrank 4.8% in the first quarter amid biggest contraction since the financial crisis
This marked the first negative GDP reading since the 1.1% decline in the first quarter of 2014 and the worst level since the 8.4% plunge in Q4 of 2008 during the worst of the financial crisis
Forwarded from IWW
The May 1 strike is the latest in a wave of actions led by union and nonunion front-line workers. (...)
“These workers have been exploited so shamelessly for so long by these companies while performing incredibly important but largely invisible labor,” said Stephen Brier, a labor historian and professor at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. “All of a sudden, they’re deemed essential workers in a pandemic, giving them tremendous leverage and power if they organize collectively.”
The workers coalition will unveil a set of demands. Among them are:
- compensation for all unpaid time off used since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in March
- hazard pay or paid sick leave to be provided for the duration of the pandemic
- protective equipment and all cleaning supplies to be provided at all times by the company
- full corporate transparency on the number of cases in facilities.
The workers chose May 1, International Workers Day, as a signal to workers everywhere that collectively, they can take on corporate behemoth
theintercept.com/2020/04/28/coronavirus-may-1-strike-sickout-amazon-target-whole-foods/
“These workers have been exploited so shamelessly for so long by these companies while performing incredibly important but largely invisible labor,” said Stephen Brier, a labor historian and professor at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. “All of a sudden, they’re deemed essential workers in a pandemic, giving them tremendous leverage and power if they organize collectively.”
The workers coalition will unveil a set of demands. Among them are:
- compensation for all unpaid time off used since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in March
- hazard pay or paid sick leave to be provided for the duration of the pandemic
- protective equipment and all cleaning supplies to be provided at all times by the company
- full corporate transparency on the number of cases in facilities.
The workers chose May 1, International Workers Day, as a signal to workers everywhere that collectively, they can take on corporate behemoth
theintercept.com/2020/04/28/coronavirus-may-1-strike-sickout-amazon-target-whole-foods/
The Intercept
As Amazon, Walmart, and Others Profit Amid Coronavirus Crisis, Their Essential Workers Plan Unprecedented Strike
“If someone dies, they have blood on their hands.”
#podcast
theintercept.com/2020/04/29/viral-injustice-how-the-pandemic-is-unmasking-the-u-s-economic-racial-and-immigration-systems/
theintercept.com/2020/04/29/viral-injustice-how-the-pandemic-is-unmasking-the-u-s-economic-racial-and-immigration-systems/
The Intercept
Viral Injustice: How the Pandemic is Unmasking the U.S. Economic, Racial, and Immigration Systems
Writer Zak Cheney-Rice and journalist John Washington are this week’s guests.