Forwarded from The common and his serious political stances
While we usually say the opposite, tonight I'd like to urge you all to get spooked! Happy Halloween my uniques!
SolarHoboism
I was just thinking about how Kamala set a new bar in neoliberal victim-harming during the primaries.
Kamala invented a program to inundate 'disadvantaged communities' — ie, places blacklisted by major banks, with a business type that tends to fail due to lack of capitol, specifically from people whose families lack sufficient income..
This sounds like a way to get disadvantaged communities to sink small community banks that still lend to them, force the most employable youth into more debt, drive up local real estate costs, and force communities to treat debt relief as a zero-sum game.
At up to 20k in debt forgiven, it's not even scratching the surface of the frequently six figure loan debts that are common in the US. It's not much value and it sows discord in the community. Kamala gets to run "Student loan forgiveness" and "Disadvantaged community business stimulus" related headlines when all she's really done is toss a golden apple.
It's also just some awful cult of the entrepreneur neoliberal garbage. Only business owners are eligible because owning capital is the highest moral calling.
This sounds like a way to get disadvantaged communities to sink small community banks that still lend to them, force the most employable youth into more debt, drive up local real estate costs, and force communities to treat debt relief as a zero-sum game.
At up to 20k in debt forgiven, it's not even scratching the surface of the frequently six figure loan debts that are common in the US. It's not much value and it sows discord in the community. Kamala gets to run "Student loan forgiveness" and "Disadvantaged community business stimulus" related headlines when all she's really done is toss a golden apple.
It's also just some awful cult of the entrepreneur neoliberal garbage. Only business owners are eligible because owning capital is the highest moral calling.
"Not a single patient should be forced to fight off medical bankruptcy" - Ok, Good
"In the midst of a global health pandemic" - I was going for ever but thats cool too
"Without a lawyer by their side" - Capitalist hell
Rephrasable as "No one should have to suffer without someone in the finance sector being able to profit off of that suffering. This is our promise to you"
"In the midst of a global health pandemic" - I was going for ever but thats cool too
"Without a lawyer by their side" - Capitalist hell
Rephrasable as "No one should have to suffer without someone in the finance sector being able to profit off of that suffering. This is our promise to you"
SolarHoboism
“Our economic policies failed this man so hard he couldn’t see a way out and jumped off a bridge. The netting we will put under that side of the bridge will assure this never happens again.” It's Foxcongress
This one has the most to unpack. On the surface, this looks like a typical liberal failure to address people in systemic poverty. Behind closed doors though - there was likely a slideshow to some investors in Abu Dhabi on how FOMO is an effective strategy to recoup fines from an already battered population.
See, LA, Houston, Chicago, New York - basically every large municipality and a surprising number of smaller ones across the US sold their infrastructure revenues to middle eastern sovereign wealth funds to cover the funding gap created by the 2008 Goldman-Sachs mortgage crash.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/america-for-sale-an-exclusive-excerpt-from-matt-taibbis-new-book-on-the-economic-meltdown-187168/
It's insidious shit. Toll booths, parking meters, parking fines, massive bits of public infrastructure sold on 75 year leases to what amounts to state-owned hedge funds, only 100 times larger than normal and without regulation, just to cover a one year funding gap.
See, LA, Houston, Chicago, New York - basically every large municipality and a surprising number of smaller ones across the US sold their infrastructure revenues to middle eastern sovereign wealth funds to cover the funding gap created by the 2008 Goldman-Sachs mortgage crash.
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/america-for-sale-an-exclusive-excerpt-from-matt-taibbis-new-book-on-the-economic-meltdown-187168/
It's insidious shit. Toll booths, parking meters, parking fines, massive bits of public infrastructure sold on 75 year leases to what amounts to state-owned hedge funds, only 100 times larger than normal and without regulation, just to cover a one year funding gap.
Forwarded from Anarchopiratism
From the Four Thieves Vinegar Mission Statement:
"Free Medicine for Everyone.
People are disenfranchised from access to medicine for various reasons. To circumvent these, we have developed a way for individuals to manufacture their own medications. We have designed an open-source automated lab reactor, which can be built with off-the-shelf parts, and can be set to synthesize different medications. This will save hundreds of thousands of lives.
The main reasons for people being disenfranchised from medicines are: price, legality, and lack of infrastructure. Medicines like Solvadi which costs $80,000 for a course of treatment, is beyond the reach of most people. Mifepristone and Misoprostal are unavailable in many places where abortion is illegal. Antiretroviral HIV treatments even when provided free, have no way of getting to remote locations in 3rd world countries.
The design will be published online, along with synthesis programs. The system will also have a forum system for users to communicate and contribute to the development of the system. With time, the system will become self-sustaining, much like other open source movements."
https://fourthievesvinegar.org/
"Free Medicine for Everyone.
People are disenfranchised from access to medicine for various reasons. To circumvent these, we have developed a way for individuals to manufacture their own medications. We have designed an open-source automated lab reactor, which can be built with off-the-shelf parts, and can be set to synthesize different medications. This will save hundreds of thousands of lives.
The main reasons for people being disenfranchised from medicines are: price, legality, and lack of infrastructure. Medicines like Solvadi which costs $80,000 for a course of treatment, is beyond the reach of most people. Mifepristone and Misoprostal are unavailable in many places where abortion is illegal. Antiretroviral HIV treatments even when provided free, have no way of getting to remote locations in 3rd world countries.
The design will be published online, along with synthesis programs. The system will also have a forum system for users to communicate and contribute to the development of the system. With time, the system will become self-sustaining, much like other open source movements."
https://fourthievesvinegar.org/
Forwarded from Anarchopiratism
this could be us but you still believe in the legitimacy of reformism
Forwarded from ItemShop