Will Shetterly's Blog, page 25

Things shared on March 17ths

Censors think you silence a whistling tea kettle by putting a cap on it. - If you dont think capitalists will ignore the consequences of any profitable thing if they can, read about the Irish Famine and the Congo Free State. - There is no freedom that capitalists cannot pervert. Their freedom of movement is a way to move cheap labor. Their free speech is a way for rich speakers to drown poor

Things shared on March 16ths

A worry about a Jobs Guarantee: it could create a work pool of scabs, ready to go wherever anyone threatens to strike. The only way to prevent that would be if JG workers unionize. - Realist: the name defeatists prefer.

Things shared on the Ides of March: Job Guarantee, more

Two points about a Job Guarantee: 1. "Work gives you purpose" does not apply to bullshit jobs. 2. "Work will make you free" was the sign over Auschwitz. - The eternal lament of the elite: Why don't the people we sneer at know their place? - Two women on Facebook wanted to friend me this morning. I didn't take up their offer, but I am worried about whether they have enough clothes to stay

Things shared on March 14ths: Basic Income thoughts, more

Dear people who say Basic Income would be a disincentive to work: If you got $1000 a month and Medicare4All, would you stop working and survive on that, or would you work to earn more? Basic Income would result in more people moving to the country, not because they had to, but because they wanted to. - Bailing out the basement is satisfying, but I can't really recommend it. - Absolute

Things shared on March 13ths

Conservatives are necessary: They ask if we might lose something important whenever we change. Reactionaries are worse than useless. - Our criminal system is designed to punish people who are poor or mentally ill.

Things shared on March 12ths: problems with reparations, more

Problems with #reparations: 1. Programs would primarily benefit their administrators, who would come from the richest 15% of black folks. 2. Cash payments would make a new racial hierarchy: the poorest black person would be richer than 3/4 of people currently in poverty. - Dear everyone who says the Scandinavian countries aren't socialist: Okay. Let's have that kind of capitalism. -

Things shared on March 11ths: Is a country socialist? daylight savings insanity, and more

If you're confused about whether a country is socialist or capitalist: Are there capitalists, as there are in places like Norway and Venezuela? It's a form of capitalism. Are there no capitalists because the people control the economy? Then it's a form of socialism. - Identitarianism is no threat to capitalism. Log Cabin Republicans, black conservatives, and equity feminists care as much

Things shared on March 10ths: idpol, reparations, more

The fight in the American left is between idpol and classpol. Idpolers believe identity disparities in wealth will end when racism and sexism do. Classpolers believe all wealth disparities will end when we share the wealth. - The strangest cultural side effect of monetary reparations for slavery: the creation of a government registry for #ADOS. The second strangest: white people would

Things shared on March 9ths

From 2019: American health care hoops: Emma went to get her medicines, but couldn't because her insurance declined her card. She'll spend time on the phone now, and with any luck, we'll be covered before she needs them. But if we had #M4A, she wouldn't have to deal with this nonsense. - Nationalizing a big company would be easy. It just requires making the government the main shareholder and

Things shared on March 8ths

Everyone is below average at something. - I'm tired of the middle-aged dissing the under-30's politics. I'm a Boomer. All my life, I've seen kids paying more attention than adults. - Most of us love confirmation more than facts. - It's odd—but not surprising—when people say an American's prison sentence is too light rather than that most American sentences are too long. (Sentences were