Hey Liberals, don't shame poor people for wanting to feed their families
The other day I posted an essay detailing how tens of thousands of poor people are certain to die from this extended lockdown. To my surprise, some commenters took a very calloused attitude to this news.
One commenter said "the entitled class is just going suffer through getting paid to read the net."
Saying that this is a problem of "the entitled class" has it totally backwards.
The wealthy managerial class has no problem with the lockdown. The working poor are the ones that need a paycheck.
It reminds me of how liberals like to say leftists that won't vote for a corporate Dem are showing "privilege" when in fact it's poor people that usually don't vote.
The commenter also said, "The working class can collect unemployment. Gig workers can go home and live with the folks." This was echoed by someone else who said, "Your statistics referring to the unemployed are actually about people with no money. Nobody despairs from having to stay home, eat pizza, and watch Netflix."
Have none of you ever been unemployed? Do you really not know how stressful that is?
Let me give you an example.
I have roommate who is currently an unemployed bartender due to the lockdown. I paid her rent this month because she's broke. The other day I overheard her telling herself that she was stupid and she messed up everything.
She's scared.
She is also a vet that not long ago taught survival training to Navy Seals!
This is a bad-ass woman and she's scared, despite knowing that I would never let her wind up on the street.
Now think about all of the working poor who were already living on the edge, and now have no real income due to the lockdown. Many liberals have simply not wrapped their heads around the economic reality of the situation that is already beginning, during the pandemic, to lay waste to the working class.
Robert Stephenson’s lawyer says an illegal eviction put the 49-year-old diabetic veteran on the street. Stephenson had been living in a New Orleans guesthouse for four months with his girlfriend, Jade Gribanov, who is known locally as Jade the Tarot Reader from Jackson Square, when COVID-19 hit. Jade’s income disappeared as tourism stopped, and Stephenson was still in the process of applying for disability benefits. When the couple’s savings ran out, the guesthouse told them to leave. They were worried about ending up in jail or clashing with police if they resisted, so they left; Jade and the couple’s two cats went to live with family in Lafayette, Louisiana, and Stephenson ended up sleeping under the Claiborne Avenue Bridge.
Landlords in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma continue to file evictions, with no apparent consequence, in direct violation of the CARES Act.
But don't be fooled into thinking this is just a Red State thing.
When Covid-19 halted California’s economy, state officials promised to prevent evictions and defend tenants’ rights. But a dozen renters and their attorneys told the Guardian that some landlords are proceeding to expel them from their homes despite the new regulations, indicating there are significant gaps in the protections.Those tenants include a pregnant woman, a cancer patient, an elderly woman, a mother of six, several newly unemployed low-wage workers and others vulnerable to Covid-19.
Unable to pay rent in April, they have faced eviction notices on their doors, police officers attempting to remove them, pressure from property owners to immediately vacate and written demands from landlords spreading falsehoods about the emergency laws. Some tenants said they were moving out as a result, becoming homeless amid a pandemic.
Liberals will be rightly outraged at this, and will powerlessly demand someone do something about this. But the root problem is that millions of working people are broke and have no money coming in because they can't work.
If the eviction problem was solved, then the problem would be health care, or utilities, or food. Even if, in the extremely unlikely scenario, you solved all of those problems, these people still want to work.
And we are running out of time.
Governor Whitmer’s executive order putting a moratorium on evictions in Michigan expires Friday.
Michigan is just the leading edge. We could be looking at literally millions of new homeless people in the next few months.
A snapshot study by eviction defense lawyers warns that more than 450,000 Colorado renters are at risk of being evicted from their homes in coming months when guidance against removing tenants expires, putting depth to the economic crater caused by COVID-19 lockdowns and layoffs.
That's just renters in Colorado.
If these numbers are anywhere near reality then we are looking at an economic catastrophe becoming a public health crisis that'll make covid-19 look mild in comparison. Even if the lockdown ends on May 1, the damage is already done for too many.
Even if the lockdown comes off soon, and some people can return to work in a month, they will still have unaffordable, outstanding bills. If these are not forgiven, it is hard to see how there will be any recovery. Landlords will evict millions, and millions will lose water and electricity.
Homeless services are already buckling under the strain.
Comments
I thought/think it was quite callous for the WA Gov..
Inslee to shutter all "non-essential" businesses, immediately putting many, many people out of work, without recompense.
As a resident of WA
I think we are doing a pretty good job of closing down an epicentre. Right now, WA has the longest case doubling rate of any state.
There are limits to what a state government can do because it can't issue its own currency, but there is a state web site full of information, including a ban on evictions that lasts until June 4. We have a lot of health insurance, unemployment insurance and other kinds of aid up there (I haven't perused it in detail, and I'd appreciate any suggestions about where to apply further pressure.) It is somewhat corporate oriented, but it seems more worker focussed than many places.
The City of Seattle has done things like post maps of take out restaurants as part of a larger resource effort. This is not enough, but we are all trying to figure this out as we go along.
This is a tough situation. People were dying here and we had to stop the virus, but that of course ran smack into 40 years of neoliberal brutality. I'm not happy about the economic pain, but I'd be even less happy about looking like northern Italy.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
We owe Kshama Sawant great respect
for her steady, effective fight for working people deeply affected by homelessness and the virus crisis.
Bezos spent at least $150,000 to attempt to defeat her in the last election and failed.
Washington draws huge businesses because their profits go essentially untaxed here.
True dat
Let’s hope the new business tax proposal goes somewhere.
And I have to say having worked at a startup that moved here from the Valley, that those founders didn’t move here for the tax structure. They moved here for the environment and the talent pool. Even that prick Bezos moved here from NYC for the environment.
So every time I hear someone argue that businesses will leave if we tax them, I think about that and about Microsoft being founded by locals. I’m not a big fan of Gates (oddly I like the later version better than the asshat who built his company) I find the idea that he (or the late Paul Allen) or any other tech founder would pick up and leave to be rather unlikely.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
Down the drain
Interestingly enough, my home state of Kansas found out the hard way that cutting taxes on businesses to zero not only doesn't work, it works the opposite way of what idiot libertarians thought it would.
When the Koch brothers boy, Sam Brownback, got elected to governor of Kansas, and with him a legislature almost totally consisting of his like-minded tea-party types, they set up a huge experiment that they just knew would send the Kansas economy into the stratosphere. They actually cut taxes on businesses to zero.
After just a few years, the state was in a shambles.
Schools failed for lack of funding, teachers left the state, roads crumbled, bridges fell, parks closed or sold to rich republicans, libraries closed or sharply curtailed hours, public programs of every type imaginable were cut to the bone or eliminated. The state was on the verge of bankruptcy and it showed.
Rather than businesses flocking to the state to take advantage of no taxes, they started leaving the state. Corporations found that their workers were asking for transfers to other states, if possible, and in many cases simply chose to quit and get out of the state, if for no other reason to allow their children to attend a decent public school system. There was a huge outflow of workers, nearly all of whom had decided that they simply did not want to live in a hell hole of a libertarian wet dream.
In short, the Koch brothers libertarian experiment failed. Spectacularly failed.
Eventually, the people rejected the idiot libertarians and elected enough sensible politicians that they were able to drag themselves out of the mire, although it will take decades to repair the damage, especially to schools. Many of the businesses that left will never even consider returning. All this because of stupid libertarian theory.
Make a place livable and people will want to live there. They might even want to work there. Make it a cesspool and no one will.
At best, "the environment" was window dressing
if you mean the outdoors.
[comment to hawkfish]
I say
What is the point of having a "government" if that government does nothing for you? Actually I copied that from Jimmy Dore...and he was right.
Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin
Why a government?
Actually, you copied that from Thomas Jefferson (as did the French revolutionaries). And they were right, too!
"US govt/military = bad. Russian govt/military = bad. Any politician wanting power = bad. Anyone wielding power = bad." --Shahryar
"All power corrupts absolutely!" -- thanatokephaloides
I wonder why some landlords are in a hurry to evict?
Obviously with the high unemployment rate there will not be a maddening rush to fill the newly created vacancies.
This is my question too
Who do they think is going to be able to afford to rent them if no one is getting paid? Unless they plan on selling them to some more rich people who then can jack up prices just like what happened during Obama's tenure?
I read how many sheriff departments said that they won't help throw people out of their homes? Are banks hiring people to do it like bail bondsman hire bounty hunters? Or are people moving out because they don't know if they have any options? Damn this greed that places the f'cking dollar over people's lives!
Of course congress should have made fast rules against that happening to people who have mortgages with the banks that got bailouts....but of course they didn't because this is just one more feature of it. Everyone knew that a crash was coming soon as did the banks and congress and it looks like they set plans in motion. Socialize the losses...
Joe posted this tonight by Michael Hudson, but ICYMI. It's very long so here is a tiny excerpt.
Due Now
When this is over, there’s not going to be a public sector, because the cities are going to have such low tax revenues. They’re not getting the sales tax revenues from the stores. They’re not getting income taxes from the people. They’re having huge responsibilities to pay unemployment insurance. They’re going to have to balance their budgets by privatizing all sorts of whatever is left in the public domain, from transportation to parks.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
See? The System works.
Orwell: Where's the omelette?
And crime rates will surely skyrocket
People will steal and rob to save surviving family members. And there will be generations of Jean Valjeans.
This is probably the reason the national guard has been
sent to DC. Plans had been made for continuity of government which I posted some links to last week and if anyone is interested I'll dig them out and repost them. Joe also posted a newsweek link yesterday in the evening blues.
But civil unrest of course is going to happen. It is already happening with people from the Tea Party funded right wingers asking to reopen the government, but so far no cops have tried to break them up. Why? Probably because of who is funding them again. DeVos and the Kochs families. Funny how the PTB send out their goons to break up OWS and BLM, but not gun toting ralllies huh?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Unlike BLM, etc. rallies...
gun-toting rallies tend to be peaceful and polite.
"Funny how the PTB send out their goons to break up OWS and BLM, but not gun toting ralllies huh?"
The MSM were so visibly disappointed at the big gun rights rally in Richmond a few months back - when it turned out to be very well-attended, diverse and peaceful - you could *almost* bring yourself to feel sorry for them.
Ducked into DK the other day to check out this essay about an Easter Sunday rally in Idaho held in defiance of the governor's lockdown order - Ammon Bundy was one of the speakers.
Whatever you think of Bundy or the wisdom of holding such an event, they are raising important issues about what the right to peaceably assemble means, and what, if any limits are there or should there be on government emergency powers.
Now check the comment section. Out of a couple hundred comments only two, maybe three address those issues at all.
To me, *that* seems like a problem. Distraction seems to be working all too well.
FWIW - the very last comment there, talking about a small protest in Ohio was somewhat mystified by a flag being carried by the protestors bearing " ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ".
Transliterates to English as "molon labe". Alleged to have been the reply of the Spartan King Leonidas to the Persian Emperor Xerxes' demand for the Greeks to throw down their arms at Thermopylae.
This is true
But do you notice what is usually missing from the gun toting rallies? Cops. They seem to flood into the OWS and BLM protests for no reason that I can see. They were peaceful before the cops and outside agitators showed up. Another feature? I think so. Just why did cops need to rush the parks where people were feeding the homeless and sharing books and other things and turn it into the mess it became. Might it have been because both rallies were protesting the injustices of why they were? Banks and cops? Might be.
I read the Bundy essay too and was as usual not surprised by the comments. Orange state has turned into everything it hated about Red state. The script got flipped during O's tenure. They think it would be quite okay if all the protesters succumbed to COVID and some say it subtly and others outright. Why? Cuz they are Trump supporters and in their eyes that means they are all racist and hate tah gays. They see things in stark black and white. A few will come out and say that if they get sick then they can't have a ventilator if it means a liberal follow the rules person has to die. Red State.
Agree with you here too. Salt Lake City had a return to work rally yesterday as did many cities across the country. The SLC rally doesn't seem to have needed guns to make a point. They had signs talking about the constitution which are just as effective as guns imo. The comments are interesting.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
One of my oh so virtuous
Liberal friends sent some meme last night about following the rules - taking the people shot by cops and the immigrants in cages with the ugly response of how they should "follow the rules" but juxtaposed that against pix of a protest against this lockdown with a caption saying "white people not following the rules." Sigh. It took me a while to realize just why that pissed me off so much. It is in essence using that "follow the rules" shit and telling people who've more than likely already missed one mortgage or rent payment in April with May looming for another miss, that they aren't following the rules and should be shamed for that. The tone deaf. She's all about "why don't they care about their neighbors" while not realizing that most of their neighbors do not give ONE shit about them as long as the "rules" are followed. How on earth does someone working from home get put at risk by someone else who will indeed become homeless if they cannot go back to work? How on earth is that measly $1200 going to make a dent in that? It isn't rocket science, its simple godamned math!
And I'm sorry, this is someone who can work from home and does, and whose family has money and can indeed bail her out if she should happen to miss a couple mortgage payments. Let's talk about privilege, shall we? I haven't confronted her on that but most likely will get around to it fairly soon, especially if she's just dumb enough to send another one, and I am betting she will. This is someone who does see who the real enemy is, but cannot get her head out of the party system no matter how many times the logic of believing in that crap is shown for the fallacy it is. Divide and conquer baby, it works every single time.
Oh and just in case, I am in NO WAY saying that Trump et al are not politicizing this, they certainly are. But so are Democrats and those good Liberals. Shaming never won a convert and it never will, but Americans love them some shaming as long as they're secure in the fact that the behavior they're shaming isn't necessary for them to participate in themselves, which is the very definition of privilege IMHO.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
Yep this
The follow the rules and you won't get shot by a cop puts the blame on the innocent person who wasn't doing anything wrong when some cop got up in your face and when you didn't do exactly what 3-5-10 of them were telling them they got shot. Just follow the rules. Umm what rules did they actually break?
Amen. And yes your friend is show their privilege because she can't recognize that people are in the middle of losing everything they have worked for while she/he isn't because they have no safety net. But what else is happening is that the people who are protesting are also standing up for their right to do so. If we can go into stores without masks and other places then why the hell can't people gather outside? How in hell does that even make sense?
You must have the patience of Job with your friend since they send you so many things that shows just how tribilistic they are. Is that a word? If not it should be. A front pager on DK is blaming the shitty bailout on just the republicans and think that Nancy's shit don't stink. How can they not know that she worked with Mnuchin and McConnell to come up with the turd they laid on the country? Nope. Repubs are bad, Dems are good and as someone there said recently they shit white unicorns and fairy dust. Just saw that if you question Biden's mental health in anyway you will get flagged. It's just a gawd damn stutter!! Right. Blind.
I just read this:
Wow this is right up there with Kos doing a happy dance when Kentucky kicked people of its Medicaid. Morans is right. They just need to looking into an effing mirror.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
LOL on patience.
Me? Patient? Not very, but thanks for that. And yes, tribalistic should be a word. Many times she still wants to blame only Trump and Republicans, and she has a LOT of Republican friends on FB who she follows and gets her outrage on with. And I get her outrage sometimes, I really do. But as we have all seen out here on this site too many times to count, party politics and believing in that is a sucker bet, a tactic our owners have used very successfully to blind us to who the real problem is - THEM. I am at the point now where I know its probably only a matter of time before I lose her, and potentially another one, as a friend due to this. While that breaks my heart I know there is nothing now that I can do to change that. I may not be the brightest bulb in the package but I see now just who the enemy is, and it ain't the other "side" but way up top, the enemy no one dares call out in this country since those with money are smarter and somehow better than the rest of us. Celebrity worship, it's not only for Hollywood types anymore but any politician who'll scream in outrage about the other side while screwing over the voters who put them in office and gave them that platform. On and on it goes while Americans willfully delude themselves that it will change things - we just must be patient, hold their feet to the fire, be reasonable and practical and expect nothing but do it anyway because it is our duty. Good God.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
@lizzyh7
I too can understand her outrage at the GOP because they will tell us to our faces that they don't care if we die. Period. But then democrats feel the same way except they hide behind the republicans and say that they really really tried to get that passed, but it was blocked in the senate. Fine. Then don't reward them and vote for it. Stand your ground until they give you what you want. Except that we know they don't want it. This is why I say they are chickenshits. They pretend that they are our friends, but they hold the same knife to our throats as the GOP do.
Here's more of the tribalism from DK by the front pager. They refuse to look at the facts in front of their faces and see that there is only one party that has two faces. Say that there and boom bammhammer.
First off the funds for hospitals is on par with funds for the banks. Many hospitals were bought out by hedge funds and went the route Bain Capital did. Load them up with debt while stripping their assets including employees' benefits and pensions. Now they get to write off all that debt.
I made a comment earlier on small business loans being handled by the banks. There are 30 million small business and less that 2 million got a loan. Meanwhile he banks charged $17 billion for overseeing them. But wait there's more as there usually is. The banks are selling the loans to the fed and walking away from all the risks if the businesses tank which they will. I have been calling this a heist and corporate coup since I learned about what congress did. Is there a stronger word I should be using?
Another thing I finally woke up to is that congress gave us the measly $1,200 which took over a month to start rolling out. On top of that they sit at home while they watch farmers dump millions of pounds of fruits, vegetables, eggs and milk. Why didn't they find a way to get that food to the food banks? Because they want people to be desperate. This was done intentionally to keep people scared and confused. Look at how long it takes for anything that will help mainstream people to get to them while corporations get their money immediately and lots more of it. This too is the feature, not a bug. It is callous disregard for the people they are supposed to be over seeing if that's the right word. It is evil most foul, but even that needs a harsher word.
Hey... yeah I am ranting today, but I do not tolerate hypocrites and dumb asses kindly. Not when millions of people are hurting as badly as they are because their government has abandoned them. And just how many kids is this affecting? 19 million kids were food insecure before this happened. How much did that number rise after the shut down? This is nothing that a walk won't cure, but dammit I am so tired of seeing so many injustices and people just blaming their party instead of us joining together and using our power against us.
But they are the job creators aren't they?
What this shut down has shown is that no they are not. We are. We are the ones who create the wealth for the parasites at the top of the chain. Bezos didn't make that $24 billion dollars his workers did. And Bezos got to where he is because of how many small mom and pop stores he devoured on his way to where he is. Just like Walmart did and Lowes and Home Depot and countless other big box stores. And they are just going to get even more powerful because they will have the money to buy out even more small businesses. One billionaire has already planned to buy a restaurant chain. I don't remember where it is, but I think it's one down south that people love. This is what Blythe was saying in the Jimmy Dore video I posted yesterday. And this was done on purpose. Congress had the ability to get funds directly to the people who need it. That they didn't.........I will stop here.
Dayan on the banks.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Fw9fw0s-U&list=TLPQMTgwNDIwMjBulHpPNaq...
Comey
McCabe
Mueller
Sessions
McMasters
The other SOS that quit when Trump 'pulled' out of Syria
and George F'ng Bush!
The pussy hat brigade have their hats on too damn tight!
Nah you're a pretty bright bulb imo.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Indeed, tis a word.
My old Mac says tribalistic is indeed a word:
One more thing on this
Remember when 4 states held their primaries over the objections of the CDC and others and in Wisconsin especially they went from 180 polling places to just 5? That put people at risk mor than an outside protest because they were crammed into smaller places and they shared the same objects. DK only blamed the GOP and the GOP court while overlooking how in both cases Biden's campaign were telling people that it was safe to vote. Apparently it wasn't since people who worked the polls have died and who knows how many others have gotten sick?
As always it's the f'cking hypocrisy.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Some landlords are in denial too
I mentioned this approaching tsunami of evictions to my coworker, not knowing he was a landlord.
His response was "Good. Renters don't respect other people's property."
Then I explained how this was bad for everyone, including landlords.
His response was "They won't let it get that bad."
Everyone I speak to is under the same illusion
"Then I explained how this was bad for everyone, including landlords.
His response was "They won't let it get that bad.""
Nah, this is only temporary, things will begin to get better is just a little while.
I always thought denial was a river in Egypt.
My job has slowed down considerably...and I work for the government! Everyone is asleep saying they will "find" work to keep us busy. Yeah right...about that bridge in Brooklyn you wanna buy.
Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin
Well, I guess people need to start whacking their landlords
the greedy fucks already have created a slave state. Time for a slave rebellion.
BoB do you see the trap
you've fallen into with this comment?
I'm not calling you out or picking on you. I truly understand the reasoning and feelings that spawned the comment. It isn't your fault. What I'm going to say next I intend only as perspective. OK?
First, there are definitely heartless bastards who are landlords and slumlords. They don't give two fucks about anything but their money and their property. They'd toss their grandmother if she didn't pay up. There, too, are an increasing number of uncaring corporate and investor groups who took advantage of the losers in the Great Recession and non-recovery recovery that most people lived through. They are the ones who never got their head above water. I'm not talking about those bastard landlords.
There are a whole lot of landlords who have residential properties they couldn't sell but still have to pay for or lose. There are a lot of people who buy property, fix it up or not so much, and rent it as their primary means of making a living. I don't know the proportion of owners/landlords in this category but it used to be a vast majority of house rentals if not apartments. These people are victims of current events too.
I know, they're better off than their tenants because at least they have property, right? Maybe, maybe not. Many of the private entities who haven't built an empire into easy wealth are only a few months away from being in the same boat as those renters of their properties who can't now pay their rent. Renters who don't/can't pay is the same as a landlord losing their job except also being on the hook for servicing debt on their rental property, maintenance, and taxes. Their creditors and tax authorities want theirs too. Everybody in this chain is on the hook and vulnerable to the least powerful and most vulnerable, the renter. That's the perspective I want to reveal.
I'm not asking anyone to feel sorry for anyone along that chain above or below. Each in his/her own way is a victim of increasing inequality (which this shit storm is only going to worsen) and a system designed and built to prey on anyone less fortunate.
Do you see the trap?
The renter is the worthless fuck who is causing the landlord's difficulties and the landlord is always a greedy fuck. Each sees himself as the victim and the other as responsible for the other's failures.
The reality is that all of us are in the shit together unless we're unbelievably wealthy in which case they're not inclined to give a rat's ass about the scum of the earth further down the food chain. The hoarders only see the opportunity to feed on those poor souls and will not think twice about doing so. All up and down the chain is self interest trapping each in place and benefiting those with the power and hoarded resources to stay above the carnage.
This is what the greatest middle class to ever live has been reduced to in my lifetime. The only common thread I see is weaponized self interest on steroids and a fool's faith in rugged individualism that is clearly an illusion. We've forgotten that all we have is each other. We're all in this together. If we only rely on someone to help us and can't be relied upon to help others when they're in need then it doesn't work either. Reliance needs to be peer to peer, neighbor to neighbor and two way.
I remember my mother, who never had a pot to piss in, would give something she had or do what she could for a friend or neighbor even if it hurt her or left her short. She was born when the Great Depression began and lived hand to mouth as a kid. But she never forgot the lessons she learned from life and her parents. My generation in our zeal to succeed forgot how we got there together with lots of help. Many think they did it all by themselves. It's been downhill ever since as more and more only care about their plight in life.
The next several years are not going to be pretty. There's not fuck all we can do to change that path at this point except person to person, family to family, and neighbor to neighbor. Whatever help we get external to that, like a federal government check with tRump's name on it, is buying a little slack. Survival for many of us is going to depend on building alliances with people we know and trust. It's going to be little things. A lot of the things we've become used to having in life are gone for now or maybe forever whether we admit it or not. The sooner we accept reality the better.
The survival thing is a very different game. People can learn to prey on the less powerful or people can band together to find ways to get by. The sooner the most vulnerable among us get our bearings and act the more likely they are to manage to get by.
"Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now..."
Very good synopsis.
I was born probably 3 to 5 years after your mother (1935), but her experience and attitude are identical to mine.
-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962
Same attitude my Depression born parents had,
and the same that my brother and I have.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
good comment
Yeah . . . I need to extend my egg runs. And maybe include my home-sewn masks. So far I have just given to friends, but maybe need to include neighbors as well. And start baking bread as well. Hmmm . . .
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
This seems related to this essay
The "Iron Law" Of Oligarchy - Always Pick The Policy-Makers
We have seen from the Corruption is legal video that in 20 years no action we have taken has changed what the government does. Not one inch was moved in our favor. This article explains why this is. I'm thinking that we aren't going to see a bailout for the 99% and it's going to be up to us to find ways to make it through this. Fight back or roll over?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
No, no bailout. we will carry the water.
I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.
Very clear explanation in Zero Hedge.
Thanks for the easy-to-follow road map in your link. For most of us it is, of course, a road to ruin.
-Greed is not a virtue.
-Socialism: the radical idea of sharing.
-Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.
John F. Kennedy, In a speech at the White House, 1962
'Twas an eye opener for me
This is the video I mentioned of you haven't seen it posted here before.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tu32CCA_Ig]
It's always good to see you. I hope you're doing well?
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
After watching this again I question why we vote at all
Why do we keep voting for people who refuse to address our concerns? The lobbyists are paid for with the money that comes from our pockets because congress keeps bringing pay go. Boy I wonder how much money the corporations will get after this bailout because it's ongoing with no oversight from companies. They gave the banks complete autonomy with Dodd Frank and now the federal has married the banks....feeling a rant coming on so I'll stop here...become otherwise..
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
The oligarchy is very good at manipulating us
That's why the population keeps voting against its own self interest. They use hot button issues, racism, sexism, guns, etc. and they work very hard to keep us from having good candidates to vote for.
Divide and conquer.
And now they have another perfect weapon to do that with, a virus of suspicious origin, and out come the arguments about who "handled" it better, blah, blah, blah, while the FOR PROFIT system should be seen as THE problem. But in America we love to divide ourselves up, fight over utter bullshit, and call it good at the end of the day when one side "wins" over the other and our futures are all flushed right down the shitter. USA, USA, USA!
When I saw gjohnsit's essay the other day I will just say I was shocked at just how many recs the comment he references today got. Funny, I thought most of us out here saw the divide and conquer bullshit for what it is but nope, even here we are not safe from that. SO MUCH easier to argue with each other than to place the blame where it really belongs - an ownership class that is so far above our collective pay grades that we simply cannot fully conceive just how corrupt that ownership class really is. A choice between Trump and Biden for God's sake, you'd think that alone might wake us all up but again, not gonna happen. Let's you and I fight while our owners walk away with it all and laugh their asses off at us attempting to kick each others ass. Idiot America.
Only a fool lets someone else tell him who his enemy is. Assata Shakur
I remember having seen this video before
and knowing that I don't read much elsewhere, it could have only be here or at TOP.
Have I said that you are the cutest dog around here? I am so glad you have a difficult time to 'ending this'.
Be well, stay safe, don't leave us alone.
https://www.euronews.com/
Speaking of rants you guys might enjoy this one
Epic Rant
From moon of Alabama.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
Can't say I'm all that impressed
with MoA
that rant by Brenner does hit on quite a few points, but leading with this?
Please. Even Hillary probably has a redeeming trait or two. And the big problem with many of the people around Trump is not, unfortunately, that they are dumb but that they are Deep State authoritarian swamp creature enablers for the elite. Fauci and Birx being good examples.
Then there is a ridiculous attack on the "dangerous drug" hydroxychloroquine. Presumably because Trump said positive things about it.
Well, *yeah*. Is aspirin not dangerous? Salt? CO2? Or course they are. Too much of any one of them at once will kill you - does that mean we shouldn't use them? Of course not.
HCL is a safer version of chloroquine, which is essentially a synthetic quinine and is used all over the world, most recently and with some success in treating COVID-19.
Telling bit is in the comment section. A number of people expressed disagreement with Brenner on the above points and were pretty rabidly attacked for it - although at least the dissenters' comments were still up, not disappeared and consigned to the memory hole like they would have been on DK...
I saw two documentaries about
Trampelstiltzchen and his family's history. All I can say is that this rant is justified. I saw the German version of those documentaries, but am sure it was produced in the US around 2017.
Can't figure out how to search for the original in English.
Crooks and liars and ruthless characters. Born and raised to be that way. Proud of being raised that way, loving to provoke hate. End of story. If your mileage may vary, I would say try to travel in kilometers. Or change your glasses.
https://www.euronews.com/
That drug has been causing
heart incidents, including fatal heart attacks. At least one doctor is being sued for prescribing it to a patient it killed. That is why it has a bad reputation.
I'm not contending
HCL is without side effects. Too much will definitely kill you, apparently its a popular suicide drug in some countries.
That said, the media spin has been pretty unremittingly negative - and as it has saved people that likely otherwise would have died, it should be an option for doctors and patients.
If this survey is at all representative, most doctors would consider prescribing HCL to a family member with symptoms or who had a known exposure to COVID-19.
If/when they come up with a vaccine for this I wonder how much we'll hear about the people it kills.
For sure we won't be hearing about people suing the doctors or makers as they are completely shielded from that...
Hi gjohnsit, it has to hit your frontyard
for people to get it and even then it is not for sure that they will.
One restricted hours vet still working, not knowing from one day to the next, if he will have hours to work tomorrow. One girl lost all hours due to the shutdown of anything related to tourism, lingering depressed around in her bed. She still doesn't get it. Rent comes due, landlord himself somewhat overwhelmed. There is little incentive to evict folks for not paying the rent, because who will be left to pay the rent, especially if rents are FUBAR over the top. Now one wonders if the landlord doesn't get his rental income, will he be able to pay his bills and mortgage? Tell me, will the real estate prices go down? It looks they won't. Why not? Ok, I wait for the next earth quake to hit. May be that will put everything back in proper order.
FUBAR.
I feel guilty, because for another fucked up reason, I live in Germany these days, and that is considerably more easy than what you have over there. I want my son out of there. But he wants to die over there. So, what to do?
In any case, I am glad you write your essays. They hit the nail on the head.
https://www.euronews.com/
I just took in a foreclosure case.
I will be representing the land owner who is foreclosing in an owner-financed residential property sale.
Before anyone calls out my client as evil and cruel, this is a $350,000 sales deal. Nobody selling is broke, and nobody attempting to buy the home is broke.
It is about willful violations of the contract for payment of insurance, payment of land taxes, and consistent late payments and bounced checks. It is about my client's unusual display of patience that was finally exhausted.
It is a 4 month process.
Evictions here in Texas can take 45 to 60 days to get to a hearing, and if it is appealed, it could take 2 or 3 months to get a new trial.
Every eviction case is different.
It is horrible that poor people will have nowhere to go.
On the other hand, they have been given 90 days to get their belongings out, get to some family member's home, or to a shelter. That is 90 days to figure out Plan B. With a straight up eviction, you may not have 3 weeks before you are physically removed from the premises.
It is interesting that evictions are not a solution to a massive problem, since people are struggling, even if they have job.
Replacement tenants will be scarce.
Landlords are not necessarily evil. Mortgage lenders that are individuals are not necessarily evil. I have represented several landlords who work daily at blue collar jobs.
Who is to say the evictions being filed are for a CV-19 related cause?
The renters might have gotten behind on rent before the shelter in place policies and business closures.
Not every renter is just a CV-19 victim.
Some renters play games with rent payments.
I do not like to paint either landlords nor renters with any broad brush.
All renters in all states can make appointments with a pro bono legal service to help them understand all the fine print before they sign a rental agreement.
Landlords, on the other hand, do not qualify for free legal consultation.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
This is the iceberg we've been steering towards
We have an arbitrary poverty line, criminally low that demands absolute destitution before meager aid will be bestowed. On the other side of that imaginary, arbitrary line are the near poor, $500, $1,500 too rich for any aid. Both sides look at each other with envy over the crumbs they have, all gliding on a slick surface of desperation. Wages, Health care, education, food housing, the new Domino theory in action. This is the true American way.
The worst of it is there are fewer and fewer who can remember when things were stable, as the children of the Reagan diminishment, the Clinton diminishment, the Bush diminishment come of age.
There was this in the Times today. The stories are familiar, but its the comments and reactions that are telling. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/17/opinion/inequality-econom...
Hey fellow peasants, welcome to neofeudalism
Oligarchs and serfs. No need for a pesky middle class.
I'm with Hudson. Let's have a debt jubilee for the people, not the corporations.
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
We must form
neighborhood militias to protect our neighbors and fellow citizens against the tyranny of corporations, and our own government. I'm not advocating using guns or violence, so don't freak out, I'm just saying, we're in this crisis together, and hopefully people are starting to wake up, we actually NEED each other, if we're going to survive this.
To those that have little empathy for others less fortunate, well, your time is coming, so, don't be surprised when people shit on you when your down. Don't be surprised by the helplessness you will feel or the disdain from others you will have heaped upon you, simply because you don't have enough money to get by on. That is the "crime", not enough money. That shows what kind of person you truly are, a fucking piece of shit.
Like "they say", what comes around, goes around.
#WeWillRemember
#WeWillNotForget
#ThereWillBeNoMercy
C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote
Sorry you didn't like my comment, sounds like I about nailed it
Whatever state you are in, you can get unemployment benefits, even self employed people, even gig workers, AND get another $600 a week from the feds, AND that $1200 direct deposit from the CAREs Act or whatever they call it. That's a lot more than I've made most of my life, oh, and I've got kids too.
So what exactly is the problem?
My entire part of town is blue collar, and we all seem to be doing fine, the only whining is from the new part of town where the yuppies lives, they bitch because restaurants, ski areas, bars, gymnasiums, and all their diversions are shut down. Bummer. I could care less, call me callous, I've got calluses all over my hands, from working, not at bars, or reading the net.
I know a lot of people in health care. I'll tell you what, they get pissed off because some idiots think they are entitled to party like nothing is up, then they come to the emergency room and are all worried cause they're sick. Nurses are blue collar too, and health care workers are dying in disproportionate numbers, because they get hit with high viral loads from very sick people.
If I'm going to feel sympathy it's for the grocery store workers who are working, auto parts and the post office. Construction, cops, utility workers, and yes, nurses. We all keep the lights on, mail delivered, repair the roof and come when your house is burgled. We wear masks and take our chances and anything I can do to make someone's day more safe, I will do. All you have to do is file for unemployment and not make our life more dangerous, how about a little help?
So what exactly is the problem?
The fact that unemployment websites have been crashing everywhere or take Florida where it doesn't even work.
The fact that not everyone is receiving this money because it's being garnished by the banks and other institutions. It's also being sent to dead accounts and people can't access it because the accounts are dead. Many, many other programs with that money.
The fact that lots of white and blue collar workers are next in line. Banks are laying off emails as are lawyer offices and many others.
The small business loans were meant for 55 million small businesses, but only 1.7 got them before it ran out of funds. Plus the fact that banks collected more than $6 billion to over see them.
Hospital are not only laying off staff, but they are also firing people who demand protection so they don't get sick.
Many more problems are listed here and will hit the fan soon.
I'm going out on a limb here but I think you missed the drift of the essay topic.
Which AIPAC/MIC/pharma/bank bought politician are you going to vote for? Don’t be surprised when nothing changes.
My guess is that...
a) you've never been unemployed before,
b) have forgotten what it's like to be unemployed,
c) just flat out don't care about the millions of people losing their jobs and soon will be homeless
You need to meet more people.