Dogmatic subscription to any belief, no matter how well-intentioned, will inevitably lead to abuse. The only philosophy to which I am stubbornly committed is that of having an open mind.

Yes. And we cannot forget about 2008 either. Or the Airline Bailout.

FDR’s depression bailout:

Social security

Minimum wage

15 million Government jobs created

Unemployment insurance

Biden’s bailouts:

2 trillion for corporations to buy back their own stock and fluff the stock market

25 billion airline bailout

Insignificant $1200 checks to the masses

Government should be the employer of last resort. Use that tax money to create jobs, not to boost corporate profits.

Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.

— George Orwell, 1984

A concise explanation of how the US exports inflation to developing countries.

“The… thing about inflation in developing countries … it’s usually the case of external inflation that’s imported when you import food or fuel or whatever resources a particular country has. So, when you look at most developing countries, you realize that the reason they lose their monetary sovereignty is because they have structural economic issues, structural trade deficit issues. And when you zoom in, in most countries, those tend to be two reasons. One is a deficit related to food imports that just don’t have enough food production domestically.

So, they have to import food on a systemic basis. And number two, it’s energy or fuel trade deficit related.

So, they have to import fuel to fuel their economy. And those are things that, no matter what you do as a central bank, you’re not going to eliminate those structural issues unless, as a country, you start investing in renewable energy so that you don’t have to import fossil fuels anymore. Or you invest in a sustainable agricultural policy so that you have food self-sufficiency.

So, if you have that hole in your trade deficit every single year, if you don’t borrow in a foreign currency, as a developing country, if you don’t borrow in dollars or euros, what’s going to happen is that your exchange rate is going to depreciate. And, then, the next morning or the next month, when you as a country try to import food or fuel, you’re going to import it at a higher price. So, you’ll be importing inflation into your domestic economy.”

Fadhel Kaboub

There is no healthcare in the US. There is only a market for the insurance industry and for the hospital systems.

The whole idea behind anesthesia and analgesia is to blunt sensation, alter consciousness and minimize discomfort. That’s sports…common television shows…alcohol…collective tradition…nationalism…pride…

“I’m too invested in this gladiator match right now to be concerned with what my rights are”

💯 Distract the people with monetary policy that keeps them laboring ever harder for a dollar that is worth ever less, with aggressively marketed desires that create need, with sports and games that distract them from politics, and with religion which anesthetizes any desire to improve humanity beyond the useless acts of praying and feeling

I miss the days when Bitcoin speakers had real content to share. Bring back Andreas

The Romans conquered the Middle East to “civilize the barbarians”

The British conquered the world to “spread Christianity”

The Nazis conquered Europe to “spread German ethnicity”

The Americans conquered the world to “spread democracy”

We conquer for money and resources. If you think you’re on the moral side of imperialism, think again.

Ha absolutely. Spread democracy to all the countries that have policies antithetical to our economic interests

Next up: a war on Saudi Arabia for “humanitarian reasons.”

Which one are you?

Dogmatic market worship and government hatred are symptoms of a person who recognizes that a problem is systemic, but who accepts the explanations give to him by the problem’s architects who benefit from the man’s complicity.

A successful parasite convinces the host that it should be there.

“The Distribution of wealth … is a matter of human institution solely. The things once there, mankind, individually or collectively, can do with them as they like. They can place them at the disposal of whomsoever they please, and on whatever terms. Further, in the social state, in every state except total solitude, any disposal whatever of them can only take place by the consent of society, or rather of those who dispose of its active force [i.e. government]. Even what a person has produced by his individual toil, unaided by any one, he cannot keep, unless by the permission of society. Not only can society take it from him, but individuals could and would take it from him, if society only remained passive; if it did not either interfere en masse, or employ and pay people [i.e. police] for the purpose of preventing him from being disturbed in the possession. The distribution of wealth, therefore, depends on the laws and customs of society. The rules by which it is determined are what the opinions and feelings of the ruling portion of the community make them, and are very different in different ages and countries; and might still be more different, if mankind so chose.”

JS Mill. Principles of Political Economy

The United States is not a democratic society. It is not intended to be. It’s a polyarchy. Power resides in the hands of the wealth of the nation.

https://magisterwernegren.com/2017/01/27/the-minority-of-the-opulent/

Though the more I read, the less interested I am in beginning such conversations with others…🤷‍♂️🐿

“The man who would be tranquil in his mind must not engage in many affairs, either private or public.”

Plutarch, Moralia Vol 5

Some property rights began with work. Some property rights began with a theft from the commons.

It’s important that we distinguish between the two. To advocate indiscriminately for property rights above natural rights doesn’t just defend the former type; it defends the property of those who have exploited the poor and weak.

The great theft happens when the corporations are able to convince the people that the original ownership exists, and that reselling is legitimate. It it accepted without question that corporations own the oil they pump, and the lithium they mine, all because they originally wrote a contract with some dictator who spoke for the people.

I cannot sell your air. I cannot sell your water. Biden cannot sell rights to the resources put here for humanity. To defend property rights above natural rights is to defend the ability of one person to sell the common resources out from under humanity, because that one person held power. Privatization of the commons is at the origin of exploitation

Air is a resource commons.

Water is a resource commons.

Trees, land, fish, salt, oil….used to be resource commons.

When corporations learn how to say “this is mine” and can create legal protections so they can sell public resources back to the public, they will.