In December 2020, when the pandemic illustrated the extraordinary disadvantage created by the inability of those in low-income households to communicate online with schools and medical professionals, then-president Trump signed into law an emergency program to provide funding to make internet access affordable.
This has been a goal of my own but directed to federal amounts given to WV ( it’s high!)the projects directly affecting , bettering this little lot of poor southern states. It doesn’t make a difference. They still vote RED . The extraction states (According to the U.S. Census Bureau: the national poverty rate was 12.4% in 2022, up from 11.2% in 2021. These states have the highest percentages of poverty in the country: Mississippi, Louisiana, West Virginia, New Mexico, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, and New York) have long been poor, the population ( in most) is mainly black though WV has few, we are mostly just old here. Lots of churches (Thoughts and Prayers) , not much rural health care. I work /post to find facts pointing out why, doesn’t make any difference. The young complain , leave the state, low voting percentages (except 2020 , 67% went to Trump). The coal companies have basically packed their bags and left, high production gas/oil companies/prominent coal barons haven’t paid their taxes (nor definitely fair share) , fines/or been held responsible …but are running for office again! Between 2010 and 2020 WV 65,000 people left. Near 8,000 died of Covid but the highest stats are heart disease…. and suicide 20% vs the Nat average of 14%.
But America has the highest rate of billionaires (756) and…. millionaires (24.4 MILLION).
Comforting?
Some big changes are coming, will it be what’s needed (or wanted) , time is telling , history is repeating itself, many want to rewrite it ( so it SOUNDS BETTER?) , are taking away voting rights , want to listen to FNC/OAN, stacked courts/elected officials…..
It's a real conundrum - how to bring light and shine it onto an issue. I have two high school buddies (Class of 1958), one a die hard Baptist living in Oklahoma and the other a die-hard atheist, living in Florida. Both are MAGA Republicans, but for different reasons. The Okla buddy favors white Protestant Christian Nationalism. The other is a racist who favors White Nationalism. That both have benefitted from the FDR/Frances Perkins New Deal economy is lost on them. I don't know what lies ahead but the Republican effort to replace public education with Charter schools is for the purpose of "Christianizing" the population. My dear departed friend, Jim Buie, believed that religious indoctrination of the young is a form of child abuse. Remember, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini were all Roman Catholics, as is Gov. Ron DeSantis. Hate is religion's other side of the coin, apparently.
I did not know Jim had passed 😞 may blessings rest with his family, and Jim…thanks for your support and wonderful writing. Thank you Richard, I love your commentary too .
I am a spiritual being, Christ’s Path , the red letters (love the song) are far from where many walk/talk/block/got . My state is 52% evangelical , enough said. But, I understand the youth’s protest …and like you point out we differ in our reasonings ,not always badly. Humans are a waring lot , and pointedly the ‘shewing’ fills the pages, history repeating decades after decades.
I will work for peace, patiently protesting as I have done most of my 80 years . As ‘return to normalcy’ so lovingly answered this morning ..we do so for our many grandchildren . In 68 I decided to leave for the woods partially in protest , it was trendy , a lot of dissolution in attempting it for many. Many of these turned about face and ‘fight’ for the too many trod on -yuppies we were named. It’s humorous in ways. I came to WV and applied myself to help those. And “still yet” as the sayings amongst “Bless their hearts” go we ..and the many others ( profound thanks , loves😌)
I hope we can maintain the American Dream improving it as history proved, not as the history wanting to be rewritten would write.
I have done my Yoga today a little early , that and Deuter , my near favorite and classical music, has brought ..along with many of you …me to a better frame .
May your day be filled with inspiration , writings that make the difference, and peace.🥰
Hi Pat ! I'm so pleased to see a Mountaineer on this platform, I could bust ! I'm not so fond to learn of your hardships. I do understand though.
I have so many questions... I was born there, know the culture, geography, etc., etc. It would be lovely to have conversations with you. There now exists a messaging system on this Substack platform. I think you could access it. It might be worth inquiry. I'd love to know 'where' in WVa you're residing, I don't know your comfort level for revealing that. My knowledge might be adequate for generalizations, landmarks.
A ways out in rural Lincoln Co, county seat. Farmer. Retired. OLD! 🤣WV is a beautiful state, poor. WVS alumi. Not really a Mountaineer Fan or Marshall , but they’re fun and popular.
I have often wondered why 45’s lies weren’t broadcasted on streaming platforms to the public such as Time Square and public squares across the country.
Not so far fetched. A nurse colleague I once worked with had a son who died in an ER due to the ER being poorly equipped to care for pediatric patents. They sued and won. Their suit was no money to them, but that the hospital had to upgrade their ER to be able to safely care for kids. It was amazing. So, law suits that hold these corporations accountable in a way to make public amends is a great idea.
Damn right. It’s about time that these lying gits, and Fox, too, learn that they cannot simply throw shit in the world and call it ‘news’ without any consequences. I hope that lying becomes _so_ expensive for them, that they will think twice about doing it again.
The problem is that if they began telling the “truth” - the real truth - then what distinguishes them from the likes of MSNBC, CNN and similar or like news sources? Maybe the cable companies should give us the opportunity to choose which 24-hour news sources we want to receive in our basic service subscription package.
Believe Project 2025 is a real threat. It builds on the premise to dismantle the agencies. For this thread about Social Media Regulation, the FCC deregulated the Cable TV market and paved the way for an unregulated Satellite TV market. No one younger than 50 can even remember the Fairness Doctrine. The billionaires like Elum Musk loves Project 2025. No regulation helps them manage their monopolies.
I do not have cable, I do not have “dish” -feel like I’m starting a Dr Seuss ..no it’s a wish list…..
no public water , I heat with wood..and older now these things are hard , but corporate America has got to be barred ! There are millions being wasted away when spread around it could plain and simply …meet the need. It would change the mindset from steal and greed.
Facebook.(falsebook). Why not take the Tictock opportunity a little further. Does it matter who owns it? Unregulated means any foreign power can miss and dis inform our citizens without them knowing it.
I will never forgive Zuckerberg or Sandler for the part they played in helping get trump elected in 2016. I don't care if they didn't think he could win. I knew he could and he did because of disinformation that wrapped people's minds.
Zuck deleted all the data. 65 million fake accounts reaching over 100 million real American accounts. Bot likes exponentially elevate posts increasing enragement, artificially prostituting popularity fooling everyone including the legislators. Social Media needs regulation.
I wonder Mike, the viewership increased dramatically , as did their advertisers due to that. Are the fines commensurate or does that matter. Being entertained isn’t about the factual …apparently ?
Don't feel bad & no need to apologize. I laid in my bed trying to fall back to sleep & nothing but the news, the worry about a possible coming trump 2.0, the Kristi Noem animal cruelty, & since I tend to watch many documentaries about WWII & Nazi Germany those thoughts burst into my mind as well. I tried to think about the many times I went to Yosemite & enjoyed Nature, or going to the beach in my youth & body surfing or fighting the waves as my Mom used to call it. But they kept being overshadowed by the dark, concerning/terrifying thoughts of "past is prelude". I'm old so want to protect my granddaughter from what could come. I want to impart what little I learned over the years so that she can be prepared & know what to look for as the history of the USA is being written.
The greatest failure of our public schools is now on display: the failure over the past 60 years to teach critical thinking skills along with why it is that we want a democratic form of government, in contradistinction to an autocracy.
An apology is woefully insufficient, another self-serving made-up story. It’s like Gilda Radner’s character Emily Littella, in the early years of SNL, whose tag line was always “never mind.” Fox News shouldn’t get to “never mind” their viewers and proceed to the next lie. They need to be hit where it hurts, repeatedly, until they stop doing it or go bankrupt. They are already there, morally.
Unfortunately, the law gives the defamer the apology defense to reduce damages, even preclude punitive damages. Depends on timing. May bee so late that the damage has been done.
Thank you Lynell ... while we're connecting with our reps, can we please slip these in ... I know it's a bit off topic for tonight, but this is imminent - just a tiny taste of the huge volume of issues our reps have to handle in the course of a day ... I don't know how they can keep track of it all!!
Representative Lauren Boebert’s bill, the “Trust the Science Act” (HR-764) seeks to strip gray wolves of federal Endangered Species Act protections nationwide.
This dangerous bill would allow states to set hunting and trapping seasons, resulting in cruel and senseless wolf killing as we’ve seen in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. This bill could be heard by the full House of Representatives as early as April 29, 2024 and we need your support to stop its progress.
*****
TELL CONGRESS TO KEEP PROTECTIONS IN PLACE FOR WOLVES!
Even after the horror show in Wyoming, where Cody Roberts took advantage of the loss of federal protections for wolves and where Wyoming state lawmakers created a free-for-all kill zone across 85 percent of the state, U.S. House Republican leaders are bringing a bill to the House floor this week to remove federal protections for wolves across the remainder of wolf range in the lower 48 states.
If we don't act today, we may see a replay of what happened in Wyoming in other states, particularly in Wisconsin, where the legislature has mandated all sorts of Draconian policies to kill wolves if the species is removed from the federal protected list. State lawmakers have ordered the use of dogs to attack wolves, neck snares, night-time hunts with night-vision goggles, and more as soon as federal protections for wolves are lifted in the Upper Great Lakes region.
Please urge your U.S. Representative to oppose H.R. 764 and maintain federal protections that have been affirmed time and again by the federal courts. Complete these fields and we'll generate a letter on your behalf targeted directly to your U.S. representative and senators to ask them to oppose Rep. Lauren Boebert's H.R. 764.
Surely, there are better uses for tax dollars than killing native wildlife ...
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And while we're on the subject of caring over killing ...,
The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (S. 1723; H.R. 7227) has been re-introduced in both the Senate and House. We must now ensure the bill is passed in both chambers.
With the help of a pretty strange guy who's ran twice against Buck, got into a shouting match with him, was arrested for violating a court order and when the party wouldn't nominate him alone, went outside the delegation (as is his right) to get on the ballot in June with 1500 signatures. Prior to the vote to nominate candidates his campaign started a rumor that the popular democratic candidate wasn't elegible, which resulted in a lawsuit filed by a "Dem" to contest her eligibility, which was funded by republicans and thrown out last week.
So we have three democrats on the ballot to replace Ken Buck in June, and three running for the Democratic nomination for the general in November where save me baby Jesus Boebert will be the R nominee.
And this "Dem" has raised nearly a million bucks...wonder if it's Koch or Anschutz doing it. Or both.
You actually can, though. The process is called a discharge petition, and since the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension has a majority of the chamber listed as co-sponsors, if all co-sponsors were willing to sign a discharge petition, then we would be all hunky dory. The problem arises when the members of the Speaker's party that enjoy patting themselves on the back by "supporting" this measure that benefits their constituents are not willing to support it enough to use their signature to challenge the Speaker's judgement.
The discharge petition for Ukraine was my go-to for funding before the Speaker had a change of heart. I read somewhere early on that Republicans said they would support the supplemental as soon as there were 200 signatures on the discharge petition. We got to 195 where it stalled; and then the Speaker had an epiphany!
*Sigh* Mike Johnson did not have a change of heart. Sure, he *said* he did, but if anyone actually believes that I don't know what to tell you. Mike Johnson is a bad person who was and is one of the foremost proponents of the plan to end our democracy behind 1/6, is proudly allied with white Christian nationalists at home and abroad, and has done absolutely everything to avoid giving our allies the help they needed for half a year. Like any other politician of the slimy variety, he has an "epiphany" only when it becomes clear public pressure demands it, and the risk of a general election loss is greater than the risk of a primary loss. Period.
Also, the Israel aid had become a big demand for a good chunk of evangelicals, and there is no way that was passing the Senate without Ukraine aid. Oh, and I'm sure the defense contractors and their lobbyists started making more calls. That too!
Yes, Will. Mike is as bad as they get. He should have been prosecuted for his role in the "coup" attempt.
Part of Johnson's "epiphany" was that Trump "allowed" him to bring the bills to a vote. Trump reads the tea leaves and knows that support for Ukraine is right up there with reproductive rights.
It is ALWAYS going to be about Trump, his popularity and his re-election strategies. Observe the "new RNC" and how funding is being stripped away from down ballot contests and funneled to guess who (and his defense expenses).
But back to Johnson. He flies an "Appeal to Heaven" flag outside of his office that proudly refers to his membership in the New Apostolic Reformation — "which is hell-bent on turning America into a religious state".
I also think he waited long enough to do real damage to Ukraine and set them up to not be able to return from the blow no matter what they are supplied with (still slow in coming from all allies), unless is is manpower. I see Russia taking Africans and forcing them into the military. We could consider funding independent contractors from countries in Africa too, with the opportunity to get Ukrainian citizenship from that, with a longer term prospect of EU citizenship.
Having a democracy does not mean we win all the time; it means we get to have a say. Since I am not likely to be protesting in the streets, contacting my representatives in Congress is how I have my say.
Yes, but, in this case My Congressman, Dr. Ami Bera, is one of the 228 in favor. We need to get rid of the damned rule that gives so much power to a single person in the House of
Representatives and in the Senate. I could email Ami every day and get the same reply, as soon as the bill comes to the floor I'll vote yes. Same with Alex Padilla in the Senate. Those rules have to go. There is an alternative - if they get enough signatures they can force a vote. The problem here is the 228 in favor includes up to 20 Republicans. They are so fearful of Trump coming after their election chances in November, they are unwilling to vote against the magats, as long as the vote isn't made public.
"We need to get rid of the damned rule that gives so much power to a single person in the House of Representatives and in the Senate."
I share your frustration. I am the staunchest advocate you will find here for reforming the rules of Congress, many of which which are archaic to a degree that is insulting to every voter. However, the idea that the majority leader of each chamber of Congress decides what goes up for a vote is less a rule and more... uh... simply the only way this could work. Literally every organization with more than a few people needs a boss to moderate and organize. There are thousands of proposals made in Congress each year, many/most of which could theoretically pass a vote, but all of them being thrown onto the floor would be abject chaos. I understand why we are inclined to be uncomfortable with someone having that much power, but we have already accepted the notion that the President can veto any law and hires everyone charged with executing them. Kind of a lot of power for one person, right? But it was decided that having an executive with power was necessary, right? And the legislative branch is actually Article 1, so why would legislative leaders be any less powerful, right?
Look, just as a Presidential veto is rarely overridden but can be, a Speaker can be removed or have their priorities overridden by a majority of legislators. But if that Speaker wasn't admired/respected/feared by the other party members that picked them then they would not have risen to the top of the ladder in the first place, so it is unlikely for their judgement to be rebuked in such a way.
The only way to not have an issue with this is to make sure the people you prefer are in the majority of both chambers of Congress. It doesn't really get any simpler.
My rep, Jennifer Wexton, is also among the 228 in favor. The latest ask of her was to put pressure on the Speaker to bring the bill to the floor. I made the same ask to my Dem Senators.
Getting rid of the rules in both houses of Congress will be an uphill battle and likely to go on for years. I'm up for putting the pressure on when it comes to that. Exhausting? Yes, but, as I see it, a necessary part of the democratic process!
I have tried communicating with the representative who has an "R" after their name that lives just north of where my district is. I remind her she is a state representative and even though I do not live in her district, she does represent my state.
She barely won and it was because voters here in Marion County did not vote for McLeod-Skinner. We see lots of political ads about the D who will be her likely opponent and who has already beaten her in some political contests. In the meantime McLeod-Skinner acts as if she is already the D candidate. I do hope that she will get behind Bynum who likely be the D candidate unlike the DINO Schraeder who did not support M-S. Hopefully, in our district, the 6th, Salinas can prevail again.
Democracy means you can't always get what you want, but you still should be able get what you need. Repubs want to make it winner takes all; when even when somebody wins, they retain responsibilities to the whole society.
What is astonishing is not necessarily how they are still touring at 80, or that they are reportedly still so excellent, but that they are still ALIVE AT ALL after the activities and substances that were partaken in such large quantities over such a long period of time! Maybe the whole getting paid zillions to do your favorite thing has something to do with it? Whoda thunk?
Sort of like the Cato Institute suggestion to use Leninist tactics that I believe came out as the Newt Gingrich/Frank Luntz GoPac memo "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control."
I didn't leave the party as soon as it was published, incorrectly thinking they would come to their senses and reject the denigrating everything the opposition said, tried to accomplish, or derived any credit for even if it was exactly what they would do as long as they got the credit for it (usually with a name change if nothing else). I don't know how well Lenin's soft sabotage of programs compared to my old parties but the idea seemed to slowly smother the opposition without drawing too much unproductive opposition that could make the sabotage less effective.
It seems rather stupid that they are taking something Trump could have received some credit for and cutting it off but then it seems it might have just been like Lucy letting Trump kick the ball half way down the field, but pulling it back so no opposition could keep it moving down the field (favoring Putin's team over our team).
Thank you, Fay, but I'm just sorry about the indignity of having to point out such demeaning truths.
We can only stand by what we truly are and, if others choose to debase their humanity, that must be their problem. We can pity suchlike, we must do all that it takes to defend ourselves from them and their evildoing.
Capitalism is like fire: properly controlled, both have the ability to vastly improve our lives; when allowed to expand with no controls, however, they have unmatched capacities for destruction. For the life of me, I can't understand the notion of little or no government control over capitalism - it's like saying that, since a campfire is a good thing, allowing the fire to grow with no borders or controls is even better. Anti-regulation zealots should consider the difference between a nuclear reactor and a nuclear bomb. Even Adam Smith understood the need for government to control certain aspects of the marketplace, like enforcing contracts and copyrights, and maintaining a civil society that allowed businesses to operate securely. A vastly more complex marketplace mandates vastly more complex regulatory controls.
Unchecked and unregulated, the "invisible hand" will always promote monopolies, as America learned from John D. Rockefeller. Monopolies, by definition, are the antithesis of the competitive, innovative, "free" market that Smith envisioned. Would someone please educate our conservative friends in these basic economic principles so we can restore the fortunes of the middle class as it existed in the mid-20th century?
“ I can't understand the notion of little or no government control over capitalism - it's like saying that, since a campfire is a good thing, allowing the fire to grow with no borders or controls is even better.” As a Colorado mountain resident living in the midst of a ponderosa pine forest, your campfire metaphor resonates well with me. Thank you.
Maintaining a civil society, part of the foundation of capitalism, has a cost. Who should bear that cost? Those who grow wealthy through the system or those who sit on the outer fringes struggling to survive? In other words paying taxes is a privilege and a recognition that the system has benefited many of us, thus we pay to keep it going.
Gary, I am proud to pay my taxes knowing I am contributing to “the commons” from which we all benefit. Economically I am near the fringes, luckily not at the far edges, but still pay near 9% tax rate on my defined-pension/SS income.
Taxes, when we make sure they are responsibly managed, create a safety net (such as fire protection) and an environment of mutual benefit, such as free public parks (a vanishing species) and affordable, subsidized colleges for which there are primary and/or knock-on benefits even if you use neither. Monopolistic Greed-flation is like a tax, but we have little say in it, and the money may wind up in the Grand Cayman Islands, not in our communities.
It seems to me that the enduring malady for human societies is abuse of power, from theft and rape to dictatorships. The cure is mutually crafted and defended boundaries, such as our Constitution. Such a pollution controls. Diversity is not the enemy. It thrives in an environment that protects the individual rights of all to responsibly (not rob others of their guaranteed rights) to pursue happiness, and promote the general welfare. A failed state is not ultimate liberty; it is a nightmare. Solidarity is diverse people watching out for one another. Conformity it the straitjacket of tyranny.
Thomas, I LOVE your analogies of capitalism being like a campfire or cooking fire or like a nuclear reactor, all risk massive destruction unless properly controlled, unless proper safeguards or guardrails keep it working for the benefit of society at large.
One area which concerns me, however, is the effect on our planet on the increasingly successful retail outlets like Amazon which add so much to air pollution with their ubiquitous delivery trucks and to landfills with their endless packaging and to the general problem of microplastics in everything!
In my neighborhood, Amazon's delivery vehicles are all electric. That's one small step in the right direction, but of course we need a great deal more. As for the microplastics and packaging, I do see Amazon making regular efforts to make their packaging more sustainable, which is laudable.
But Amazon represents a great example of what capitalism can accomplish: it began as a bookseller but found a way to sell virtually everything else. Most importantly, Amazon refined the idea of ordering on the Internet by constantly improving the experience for the customer. Few, if any, websites offer a more user-friendly experience - like millions of other Americans, I enjoy shopping there.
On the down side, I would love to see other companies offering more significant competition, I question many of their anti-competitive practices, and I'd really love to see the founder of Amazon taxed more heavily. But overall, I am very impressed with what the company has done. Like Apple, Google, Meta, and other tech giants, it has risen to the top of its field by doing what it does better than anyone else.
Imagine what we could accomplish if startups today have the same opportunities as those from the 1980's and 1990's. Isn't that the point of regulation: to improve things overall for the greatest number of citizens?
Thomas, I heartily agree! I suspect I write from a position as a user of Amazon who feels guilty nearly every day I, or more often my wife, receive a personally delivered package at our door, especially if the item could have been found at a store within (electric) driving distance.
Thomas, you do get that Amazon is the indisputable exemplar of the uncontrolled, destructive wildfire you used as your (intuitive, outstanding) initial example? Just like that wildfire, the business chievements of the tech giants of today are certainly *impressive,* but impressive in no good way. They are directly analagous to the domination of the gilded age oil and steel barons, in that they used some bright ideas/discoveries combined with right-place-right-time luck to ride a technological wave of development... and then used their new place at the top to crush everyone else. Amazon has wrecked absolute havoc on countless other formerly healthy regions of the economy, all with the overt goal of leaving modern civilization as dependent on a few corporations as possible for all our needs. They are as evil as any polluting oil company, only in an even more insidious way.
I know you get this on some level, because you say "I question many of their anti-competitive practices," but then just a sentence later repeat the corporate talking point that "it has risen to the top of its field by doing what it does better." No. It has *stayed* at the top because of crushing competition in a myriad ways (and that is after only rising there on the notion of getting people to sell their soul for convenience). Have you read about the federal government's anti-trust case against Amazon? It was widely publicized when it was being argued incourt a few months ago; it is beyond damning, and really puts the lie to the idea that they improve customer experience. Long story short: they are actually *raising* prices for customers not just on Amazon, but across the ENTIRE U.S. ECONOMY through their web services plans and contracts to sellers, and that is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg of their extortion that this single sector of the DOJ chose to focus the prosecution on!
The idea that someone speaking out about the dangers of uncontrolled capitalism could immediately turn around and use the ultimate example of uncontrolled capitalism as "a great example of what capitalism can accomplish," using arguments from their own marketing canards, is a level of cognitive dissonance I am flabbergasted to find on this forum.
I am a guilt-feeling user of Amazon. Now retired I rarely venture off the property here, and no vendors are within reasonable walking distance on an ongoing basis. But I miss the Internet and World Wide Web before it was so incorporated, built by ordinary people and soon replete with small businesses. They have mostly vanished. Discounts have shrunk, and the big players have way too little competition. That was not inevitable.
"I know you get this on some level, because you say "I question many of their anti-competitive practices," but then just a sentence later repeat the corporate talking point that "it has risen to the top of its field by doing what it does better.""
You've identified the primary conflict when discussing large corporations like Amazon and, a century earlier, "the gilded age oil and steel barons" - and of course, good old Henry Ford. Because of these oil & steel barons, the US built infrastructure that was the envy of the world. Because of Henry Ford's ingenuity, America overtook Germany as the center of automobile production. I - and several others - have already spoken of the convenience that Amazon has provided; I'm serious when I say that shopping at Amazon is a pleasant experience.
And yet - yes, these entrepreneurs not only innovated, but were often bullies and charlatans, as evidenced by their monopolistic tendencies. And so, while their innovations improved lives for many - railways and automobiles and overnight deliveries - they've also caused considerable harm. The question is, who decides where to draw that line between corporate good and corporate evil?
Getting back to our original premise, that is the task that we assign to government regulators. It is they, hopefully with popular support, who determine where to draw the line between innovation and destruction.
Thomas, while I prefer to buy local when I can, living in a rural area I would often have to drive to a number of stores in 3 different towns and still not find what I was after, so would often order thru Amazon—my doggers also loved UPS driver Dan who dispensed treats & knew the sound of his truck!—until, that is, my longtime Prime account was hacked a couple of years ago just before Christmas. Unfortunately I was never able to recover my account (long story & they won’t let you speak to the “resolution team” members directly)…I tried and tried. Cast around and found that Walmart (I know, I know) has a similar service & have used them (or direct ordering) instead. Just recently I read an email from the developer/owner for a product I use & they were informing customers they were no longer using Amazon due to some alarming problems—I wish I could post a link, but it is in email format & long, so I didn’t want to copy ‘n paste. Was an education in how some small businesses struggle with the behemoth Amazon has become, to the detriment to both the business and customers alike.
OMG THANK YOU! It is totally negatively affecting regular businesses and customers on a mammoth scale, in so many ways. People have gotten caught in the trap of using it and refuse to let go, despite all available evidence that it is going to ruin your experience as a consumer in every single other industry.
It's the consumer culture equivalent of crack cocaine. "Hey, I get that this cheap drug has been making you high for long enough that you don't feel so good without it anymore, but you need to break the cycle or it will eat you from the inside out. Please!" But just like the druggie, people are liable to get reeeeeal bitchy and act like your attempt to help is the thing actually causing them hurt. With addicted individuals, you have to let them experience rock bottom themselves, as painful as it is. Unfortunately, you can't leave the Amazon consumers to experience the endgame of their addiction themselves, because by then it will be too late for all the rest of us in our wider society. A pickle, really.
Yeah, Will, reading the two long emails from her—she and her husband own/operate/create information/advice/products & have built up a loyal following for the business Heather’s Tummy Care located in Washington state. Seems like the Amazon experience just might have crippled the business, but they’ve regrouped and are spreading the word to customers. It was alarming, really, to read everything they’d been through…I’d heard some general complaints about Amazon, but nothing this detailed & specific….wow.
I too have used the fire metaphor. The "Chicago Fire", the San Francisco Fire", and many others have illustrated what uncontrolled fire can do to societies. And I appreciate that you have not slandered Adam Smith as Republicans do. The "invisible hand" Republicans speak of is a systemic pickpocket pick-pocket, not a distributive balance. The trick to nudging the profit motive onto the mutual benefit side of the ledger is what "Teddy the Trust Buster" called the "Square Deal", rules of commerce for an exchange environment that discourages ripoffs. Reportedly Alan Greenspan thought that fraud should not be criminalized. Ask Brookley Born.
I see the virtues of contracts and copyrights if once again written in the context of a "Square Deal" for all concerned. Copyrights and patents need to serve the needs of both affected individuals, such as innovators, as well as the needs of society. I would argue that both have often been bent in a plutocratic direction. Some will rob you with a six-gun, some with a fountain pen.
There are tradespeople and vendors I regard as virtual (even actual) friends, and am happy to pay. I also know the side of genuine gratitude to customers. There are businesses I genuinely mourn when closed. Business is how we as humans exchange our varied skills; AND, as in any contest, there are always those who will cheat. Why would we ever decide to let the cheaters prevail?
So, in other words, what we are seeing is a fight in the public consciousness between a prosperous reality and an apocalyptic fantasy.
By and large, liberal policies prioritize helping people with programs and a safety net because their core operative belief is that if regular people are given a helping hand, the vast majority will make good on the opportunity and pay it forward. We do better when we all do better. Conservatives are so obsessed with the notion of discipline that they can't help but look aghast at this proposition, these unholy "handouts," so great is their conviction that the average person will give in to every temptation to be lazy unless forced to be industrious. The evidence is coming in hard and fast that the positive view of human impulse is the accurate reflection of the character of the American people, and far too many of those people would rather this upswing end than their pessimism be proved wrong.
Pathetic, but not my problem. Let the good times roll!
Well said. As a fairly recent subscriber to this substack, I've noticed that a large number of commenters here (like me) appear to have grown up during the era of post-WW2 prosperity, witnessed and/or experienced the successes and failures of the Reagan and post-Reagan eras, and have developed the historical perspective to look at our current situation realistically. I share your view that the positive view reflects our character accurately. The only thing that needs to be "given" to people is the opportunity to perform meaningful work. This opportunity is what the deliberate evisceration of our industrial manufacturing economy by Reaganite policies has taken away from so many of our countrymen.
James, in my 40+ year career, I became deeply involved with the experiences of thousands of people who could not work. Some were traumatized by abuse or war. Some had physical or mental health struggles. Many had been caught in the vise grip of low-paid jobs (without healthcare benefits) and rising rents…and once you lose your housing because you were $400 short on the rent, how will you come up with $4000 for security deposits, first/last months rent, utility hookups, etc etc.?
Often I don’t know whether to cry or scream. People have so little understanding of this invisible population. Sadly, we do know how to assist people to live safe, healthy lives that allow them to contribute to their communities. We just prefer to let the billionaires pay little or no taxes. We have a Party that believes in unrestrained Capitalism and wants to abolish the safety net completely.
I’m not saying you hold these beliefs. Many people just need to learn more. Hopefully more will be willing to listen and learn.
My beloved uncle Bob on my Mom's side has suffered from severe diabetes his whole life, and now in his 60s had had to live for many years in a care home as a result of having both legs amputated. On top of that he is mostly deaf and has never been the "sharpest knife in the block." Yet he is a person of kindness and good character who would give anything to go back to his simple old life of running the local pizza shop and attending local games. We are not allowed to give him any money to get anything nice just for himself because if he has a penny over barely anything he forfeits his care from the state. Ridiculous! Even then, my Mom has had to call on numerous occassions and practically beg the home not to move him from the one room he feels comfortable in and can look out the window at the gazebo. And this is the GOOD care home!
This is where much of people's anger at the current state of things comes from. You can only put "fiscal responsibility" on so high a pedestal before it turns to miserliness and you end up stripping innocent people of dignity. We DO have a responsibility, but to each other and not just ourselves.
And “fiscal responsibility” is the cudgel Republicans use to shred the safety net.
Yet they will not admit their own quasi-immoral use of that safety net. In my years of service, I became aware of extremely wealthy people who had their disabled adult children placed in the most expensive care options, costing up to $500/day, and made sure Medicaid paid the entire bill. It was and is legal as families cannot be forced to support the adult child. Yet a millionaire who could easily afford to pay for first-class care decides not to pay a penny. And I’m betting that same millionaire rails against government assistance for poor people. Immoral in my book.
I second Will’s blessing for your comments. I worked for over 40 years in a Univ student financial aid and advised/helped many students work toward achieving their goal to better their lives & lives of their families (some were parents, some planned to eventually help support their younger sibling & parents) via higher ed. A number of students were on some type of state/county aid (AFDC if they had kids, MediCal, Foodstamps, etc.); sometimes I would have to encourage students to seek these benefits despite the onerous application process to help them reach their goal—I would tell them that accepting such assistance will help reduce their financial stress AND once they graduated and entered the workforce, they would then be paying back INTO the system that helped them. I’d share with them that as a young student my then husband and I were low income and gratefully accepted Foodstamps (the snarky comments other shoppers would give when they saw me pull out the “stamps” from the booklet…I tried not to feel ashamed) & Medical for the period we needed/qualified and since then I gladly paid my fair share in taxes to support just these benefits to “the commons”. Are there loafers and n’er do wells who will scam, yeah, but I do think those are in the minority…most folks want (if they are able) to have a job they can do to be self supporting. So many look down on “social services”, I think we should provide more and better support to our society.
Barbara, my belief after decade of work in the system is that fraud/abuse runs about 2% and that it costs more to obsessively try to uncover it than the fraud itself. I am talking about fraud by the actual beneficiaries of government assistance, not fraud by the providers - especially healthcare.
Yet Republicans will find a case or two and bray that this is the norm, that anyone who receives assistance is gaming the system.
We don’t provide too much assistance, we provide too little.
That 2% or less fraud has been my experience, too. We ran a program at our elementary school to "give and get close to home." We held a cake auction, I secured a "flexible fund" grant from social services, and set up a closet for donations. Magic things began to happen! One day a mother dropped off a no longer used trombone. The next day a music teacher asked if we knew where she could get a trombone for a student! Close to the holidays, a girl scout troup leader came to the front desk and asked if we knew where to get treats for a holiday party for her troup so the (liiterally) poor parents wouldn't have to. While she was talking, the local baker came in and dropped off 2 dozen pink cookies and treats from a just cancelled "girl's holiday party." We had one parent who every month quietly asked for $20 from our fund to pay for gas. I gave it without question. We always looked to other social services for resources first, but this single mom didn't qualify for them. My "I-CAN" Board had set up these guidelines, but the principal was concerned. Then, almost 2 years after her first request, the mother walked in to my office and gave me an envelope full of $20 bills, with a tattered notebook page where she had kept track of every date and dollar we gave her. How proud she was to give back.
Will & James, I recognize the validity of your "seeing is a fight in the public consciousness between a prosperous reality and an apocalyptic fantasy," however, I fear that is an incomplete description of the fight. What we are seeing beneath that fight is the fight between made-up facts and innuendo vs supportable, verifiable truths; the fight between science and feelings, the fight between short-term benefits vs long term global health.
Yes, innuendo vs. truths and science vs. feelings were indeed what I meant when I wrote that we are between reality and fantasy. What I trying to point out is the absurdism of people choosing fantasy over reality when that fantasy is actually more distressing than the reality. I could more readily understand the impulse if it was the other way around.
“The big money spent on lobbying and campaigns by corporate agriculture has played a major role in resisting stronger regulation – despite clear signals such as high levels of nitrates in our groundwater and cancers in rural communities that we need more oversight for farmers across the board,” said Geis
JL, working for the state of CA at a Univ during Reagan’s Governorship, I watched how the gutting of education, particularly higher ed, as well as mental health and other health related support from the state to residents. It was not a good trajectory & I was sorely disappointed when he was elected—twice!—as POTUS, only to see these policies applied nationwide on steroids. Maybe, just maybe, we are starting to turn this large ship of state around to replace the unworkable “Reaganomics” to something that is workable for all of us.
Hope this link works. The article is a clearly-written summary of how we got to where we are, and how we might yet get out of it. I've just bought the book from which it was extracted, and am looking forward to reading it. The table of contents left me giddy. :-) BTW, the book is called "The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society" (W.W. Norton & Co, 2024)
Thanks, James, I’m a subscriber so it’s accessible to me & have just “saved” it on their site to read tomorrow (near 1:30 a.m. here, so not right now!!)….so much incoming information that I can’t quite keep up and actually have a “real” life too! As a nerdy, dig deep kinda person, it’s too easy for me to spend too much time on the online rabbit hole sussing out factual/vetted information to be informed instead of out in the garden, along the river, at the beach, walking/playing with by dogger, or hanging with my friends….I have to pause and reflect on what I want my “one wild and precious life to be” (thanks poet Mary Oliver). IMHO, we are in perilous times so vigilance and being informed is especially important so we can actually be free to experience/enjoy our precious lives and advocate the same for others.
For over four decades a sizable portion of voters have believed that enriching the rich and shafting the poor will make all of our lives better, that the next round of tax cuts for the rich, or removal of environmental protections will be the one that unlocks the promised land. But maybe it just doesn't work. Maybe sacrificing the middle class to enrich billionaires was never about anything beyond sacrificing the middle class to enrich billionaires. Maybe it was just a nasty and dangerous social detour. Maybe it's past due time for a look-see and a course-correction. May we are seeing that we are smack-up against where "The Reagan Revolution" was headed all along.
Just read that article. That's some scary stuff, the scale of which is much worse than I had imagined. Not only are we killing ourselves, we're killing the very land that supports us.
Will, the beauty of the bills passed by the Biden administration is that they address underemployment /unemployment with jobs, not more “handouts”, so that low-income people are assisted while allowing them to keep their dignity.
George Lakoff, in his book Moral Politics, does a great job of explaining the two concepts (conservative and liberal) of how to best assist poor people. It helps to explain why, far too often, pride prevents parents from accepting help for their children.
IMHO, helping unhoused people to exit homelessness; helping mothers with small children to obtain daycare so they can work; helping young adults “graduating” from foster care to make the transition from family abuse/neglect to independence; etc etc really shouldn’t be considered a “handout.”
We have lost our feelings of responsibility for our fellow humans. We allow rich people to receive enormous tax cuts when they are already paying a lower rate than middle class families. Some want to criminalize homelessness rather than do what we know would prevent or resolve their homelessness.
Marge, I’m in agreement with you. It’s a shame that so many things (including free school lunches and food stamps) are considered “handouts” while industry subsidies and bailouts are not. The difference seems to be the recipient: recipient is wealthy person or corporation, money is considered a subsidy; recipient is poor, money is considered a “handout”.
Wow! Thanks for that link. The article was written 25 years ago and I will bet that corporate welfare has only increased since then. Do you think unless we end Citizens United, politicians will continue to be in the pockets of corporations?
No, Marge, keep using your voice—even screaming at the top of your lungs—to say this. If you have a pan you can bang with a wooden spoon at the same time, all the better!!! We need to vote local, state and Fed for those who support these ideas….they need to hear our voices!
Will, their "apocalyptic fantasy" is in their fictional history book, the Bible and appears to be the foundational theme of their belief structure. The "obsession with the notion of discipline" stems, in my mind, from the inability for complex reasoning, and the need to be forced to "behave" by some vengeful god.
Odd how they seem to lack any understanding of the New Testament. It’s all punishment, enslavement, women’s roles and polygamy. Nothing about love or Good Samaritans…
Oh, Ally, reading your comment all I could think of is these folks sure are sort of kinky in wanting to “be spanked” by an authority…lol…not responsible for the weird thoughts that spring to my mind!!!!
As always, Heather thank you. As usual, the magats are determined to end any program that helps The People, instead of corporations and the ultra rich. Good grief, how could Elon live if he was only paid 40 billion dollars instead of 46 billion..
228 to 207 in the House makes ACP a winner, except for the insane House rule that allows the Speaker to shelve any piece of legislation he/she doesn't want, same in the Senate. Those anti-democracy rules mean the House Speaker and the Senate majority have more power than the Presidency.
When will WE The People recognize the Constitution set up THREE Coequal branches deliberately We fought the 8 year 4 month Revolutionary War to escape forever the authoritarianism of Monarchy. The Electoral College was supposed to save us from the tyranny of the majority - they failed there instead we have the tyranny of the minority.
We desperately need to return to a Nation Under LAW and the Supreme Law of this land is the Constitution of the United States. Not the rules of the Houses of Congress.
"...The differences between the parties’ apparent positions on the ACP illustrates the difference in their political ideology. Republicans object to government investment in society and believe market forces should be left to operate without interference in order to promote prosperity. Democrats believe that economic prosperity comes from the hard work of ordinary people and that government investment in society clears the way for those people to succeed..."
Enabling citizens to have access to broadband Internet service should be treated as a public utility, like streets and sanitation. It is not a luxury. Internet access has become essential to our modern way of life, similar in many ways to how telephone landline service was for many of us who grew up in the 1950s and '60s.
The important point about the Republican attitude toward government subsidizing Internet access is that the private sector is unable and unwilling to do the work because it is not profitable to extend service to everyone. In high-density areas, such as cities and suburbs, the cost of building physical infrastructure can be spread across a high number of households and businesses. But in low-density rural areas, especially in farming regions, the cost of building physical infrastructure must be spread across relatively few people, which makes it prohibitive as a profit center for an Internet provider. If that were not true, we would already have universal broadband Internet access for every citizen.
Anyone who says that broadband Internet access should be a job for the private sector is either ignorant, or deceitful. Internet access is a perfect fit for the federal government. The feds can probably get the job done, but the states seem to have a very difficult time of it, for whatever reason. I asked the all-knowing google if Wisconsin has universal broadband for all citizens. Here is the result: "Wisconsin's goal is to provide universal broadband service to all residents by 2030. The state's Five-Year Action Plan, administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), outlines strategies to improve broadband access, adoption, and affordability. The plan includes funding for infrastructure deployment, planning, and adoption programs." This has been going on for years, but it has not yet happened. The feds are already involved, but nobody can get the job done. A cynic might say that the Republican-gerrymandered Wisconsin Legislature didn't want to provide broadband Internet service to poor rural folks, or any rural folks. And the NTIA can't get it together either.
In any case, the Republican insistence on giving the broadband rollout to the private sector is either whimsy or ignorance. It's going to require serious and persistent effort on the part of the federal government to make it happen.
“… the private sector is unable and unwilling to do the work because it is not profitable to extend service to everyone.” My mom lives within the National Seashore on Cape Cod, on a road to the beach with 4 or 5 other full-time residents. She has been unable to get cable TV installed, (as well as broadband internet service,) because there are too few customers for the cable company to make a profit. 13 utility poles stand between her house and the Regional High School at the other end of the road which has had full cable and internet access for at least 20 years.
The cable company has an exclusive contract with the town to provide access to municipal entities, such as the Town Hall, Transfer Station, Schools, etc. The cable company has consistently raked in billions of dollars in profit nation-wide, yet can’t find a few hundred thousand dollars to provide service to a retired woman whose only lifeline is the internet and for whom TV is a major source of entertainment. I’ve butted my head against the local government (who is sympathetic, but powerless,) the National Parks Service (on whose land the utility poles stand), and the cable company, with no resolution.
Most towns are powerless because they sign contracts allowing for one or two cable/internet companies to have a monopoly. And then that company "owns the pipes" (wiring). David is spot on suggesting that the internet should be a public utility - a basic service.
We are still enthralled as a society with private enterprise. And a well regulated capitalism with lots of small businesses is terrific. But it is long overdue that some sort of regional effort is in charge of life's basics like internet - not Comcast, etc.
The town next door to us has had its own electric company for many years. And a few years ago it wired the town for cable TV and internet. The "people" own the pipes to deliver essential services. The revenue from the subscriptions goes back into maintaining the infrastructure - not lining the pockets of shareholders and the oligarchs. Many towns are too small and poor to do that. But it could be done on a multi-town regional basis.
The internet shouldn't be in private hands. Nor should prisons, education or health care. American society has fallen for the capitalist con. It's great if you are affluent.
David, Derek & Bill, I am reminded of the tremendous yet succinct wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, perhaps THE most challenged president in our history when he opined that "the legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves—in their separate, and individual capacities."
Bill and Derek, I read what you've written, and I draw a parallel to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which brought (among other things) electricity to rural sections of the country, specifically Tennessee, but other areas as well. Internet access has become as critical today as electric access was nearly 100 years ago.
Bill, the Biden Admin’s infrastructure plan has broadband as one of its components….hopefully time will tell how effective it will be (and that an “R” admin might quash the whole thing). At least they are putting the effort in! Click on “Broadband” in the index & it will take you to the page outlining what they are trying to achieve: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BUILDING-A-BETTER-AMERICA-V2.pdf#page384
My view is that the Internet should become a public utility, owned by the people (we citizens of our self-governing nation), with infrastructure and operating costs derived from federal tax revenue, spread across the entire population.
Thank you for another informative update. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) seems like a worthwhile program to help those who qualify, including many who are disadvantaged. Access to the Internet is vital to the well-being of families across the spectrum. It appears that the annual budget for this program is $14.2 billion, which is about 1.7% of the $820 billion defense budget. Considering all of the tangible and intangible benefits of the ACP, the return on investment would seem to be well worth the funding. It's almost a no-brainer.
Mark, during the pandemic when schools went "on line", one of our poorer local school districts (in "conservative" Springfield, OR) had school busses, which had the ability to use mobile "hotspots" park in neighborhoods where internet access was limited so that students could get on line.
It is a "no-brainer" but there seems to be rot in the area of the MAGAt brain that precludes recognizing this. Just like when they cry about "poor people having smart phones instead of paying their rent"; you cannot navigate modern society without internet access.
That's a great, real-life example related to why we all should support this initiative. Thanks for enlightening me.
By the way, similar to "Obamacare," it seems like the potential elimination of this program would disproportionately affect rural areas with a relatively large population of MAGA supporters. Thus, on the surface wouldn't it be in MAGA's best interest to want to continue this program? (It's a rhetorical question with the obvious answer of "Yes!") Of course, the collective MAGA position on all sorts of issues often seems to defy logic.
Everything backfired on the idiot Republicans and their many committees for "let's get Joe Biden."
Love the way Heather describes it here. A colossal joke.
What other great joke are we enjoying now? Answer (all bright boys and girls know it) -- university campuses in turmoil over the group-labeling sides in the Hamas/Gaza and Israel/Netanyahu/(and Biden?)
Yes, an uproarious joke. Don't need to be bright boy or girl to know that group labeling goes nowhere, except into the anger from natural frustration at having no better literacy than categorically abstracting all life. Even boy or girl with simple common sense knows you need to see "others" as individuals, not emblems.
Here's the greater joke: all the bigger idiots who run universities lack the common-sense imagination to know we need essay writing programs to see others as people -- personally, in perspective of the complicated contexts, social and natural, they can say for themselves they inhabit.
Hey. Neither Israel nor Arab universities have any such program. No do any American schools, given all have willingly sunk into the silo conceits corporate America calls for as part of its mass commodification programs. Packaging vulgarity all. Labels. Blindness to any not in our assigned demographic.
Funny as Heather on those stupid Republican committees? No, funnier. Deliberate, repeat choices by today's "best and brightest" to be even more insane than those David Halberstam described exactly 50 years ago.
I like Phil, but he is particularly fixated on this idea that all the ills of our global human condition are the result of a lack of rigorous school writing programs, the institution of which would immediately lead us back to a higher plane. I've tried to have him explain it to me and I still don't get it at all, but that is just me.
A big reason to love this forum is that everyone is such a character!
No, Will -- result of all feigning being neutered, untouched by anything personal, human.
We could use not "rigorous school writing programs," but some that "others" have something personal in them, and we do (or may) ourselves. Programs may teach better to see others as individuals, and analogize to them. As individuals inhabiting personally vexing, complicated, difficult situations.
Next step, analogize to humanities -- in our own culture, and then in that of "others."
Rigorous, Will? No, human.
No schools in the world even try. All hide in neutered, dehumanized specialization silos, all mutually intentionally isolated from all others in theirs.
We had a fascinating discussion on this a while back, which I genuinely valued. I share your desire for more humanism in all walks of life. However, I don't recognize the specific problems you are describing or believe in the specific form of solution offered, so with respect I think we should just leave it there.
Out of respect for each of you Will and Phil, I point to a book that comes to mind: "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World." by David Epstein.
That's cute, but I don't write every day or even every week and still manage to make it out the front door lol. Reading, talking, experimentation, etc can all trigger the grey matter, pen unnecessary.
I feel like it has also been made clear from, well, all of the rest of the Internet that writing fingers don't always connect to that grey matter before they do their bizness.
I know, Jerry, early in the war (like October 8 or 9) police arrested an Israeli instructor.
His "crime"? Asking fellow Israelis to see neighboring Arabs, Palestinians, as individuals, fellow humans in their culture.
I almost went to Israel 55 years ago (exactly). I was accepted at Hebrew University as a grad student, then interested in the regional poets in the old shtetl at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century, when modern Hebrew was emerging.
I've since taught (several times with tenure) at universities in many countries.
Nowhere in the world does any school teach essaying to see "others" as individuals. Just war. More war. Intellectuals hiding in neutered silo specializations. Serving the billionaire classes commodifying the world, whether for oligarchs and dictators or corporate elites.
A friend of our family taught at the University in Gaza City. He was fired by Hamas for teaching students to see, and weigh, both sides of issues. He sued and got his job back. He was killed by IDF bombing when he went out in his car looking for water early in the war. He and his wife built and ran a kindergarten about 30 years ago.. The kindergarten was bombed about the same time Fathi was killed.. His wife survived and with money raised by family (some of their children living in Sweden and elsewhere) she was able to cross into Egypt from Rafah.
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back".
Carl Sagan, "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark"
Mark, I just received a book I’d ordered by Sagan, Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Live and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1997), the last book he’d written & while he was dreadfully ill. I imagine his wisdom may be bittersweet.
Lots of things to be FOR in this Letter. Now, his Party needs to be promoting this content harder and getting onto mainstream media so that more prospective voters are hearing information new to them. If they keep Trump in the spotlight like they did in 2016 instead of issues to be FOR, that terrible outcome may repeat.
Lots of good stuff in today's newsletter from Dr. Richardson. To me, the key paragraph was this:
"The differences between the parties’ apparent positions on the ACP illustrates the difference in their political ideology. Republicans object to government investment in society and believe market forces should be left to operate without interference in order to promote prosperity. Democrats believe that economic prosperity comes from the hard work of ordinary people and that government investment in society clears the way for those people to succeed."
This is the way the differences used to be, before the Republican Party descended into MAGA-madness and Putin worship. Vestiges of that philosophy remain sufficiently strong within the party to impede useful government projects like the ACP.
I also think that the Republican idea Dr. Richardson cites is based on a false premise. "Market forces" do not exist outside of human constructs that allow them to work. There is no such thing as The Free Market. In a similar way, nuclear energy, other than natural radiation, cannot be released on our planet without human beings creating the conditions for its use, either in bombs or in reactors. Unregulated market forces destroy societies. Uncontrolled nuclear energy can destroy all life on earth.
James Comer (KY -1) is such a pathetic tool. His quest for fame led him and Hannity to use Fox to manufacture fake news. In addition to atrocious judgment, I can't believe what a complete black hole he must have in his heart and mind to have devoted the past 4 years to tearing down the Bidens out of complete and utter lies. Have Hannity and Comer no shame at all? Is there no flickering light of decency within them?
The R’s take their usual stance and that is from the good ole Reagan years when he wanted government out of the pockets of man. Of course, what he meant was that the rich didn’t want to pay any taxes so they shielded their monies by establishing offshore accounts where their assets couldn’t be traced. who is affected by these dastardly deeds but the middle and poor classes. I thank all of us everyday for voting Biden in. He and Kamala are sincere in lifting people out of poverty by providing jobs in industries that have long been stale. Look at the transportation sector now. We are rebuilding Baltimore’s bridge in record time and soon the port will accept more ships with goods through. With this admin, there is always an alternative. The Internet is essential and it is a right for everyone to have access to information. But see, that’s what the R’s fear. They are terrified the poor will rise up and take over. Lord knows, I sure hope that happens!
Thank you Professor. I am hoping that Sean Hannity and the FNC have to pay Hunter Biden's lawyer, that OAN has to pay Michael Cohen, that James Comer isn't reelected and that they wrap him up in a defamation suit too! What a SH*T show! I know that it is a dream but, hope springs eternal!
Another wonderful informative article from HCR! Thank you so much! I do hope OAN has to pay Michael Cohen millions of dollars in punitive damages.
Or better yet, give those millions to someone who deserves them more than Michael Cohen, which would be... most people!
How about a PSA campaign informing the public about all the things right-wing media has misinformed them about? Hey, a guy can dream!
Perhaps use those millions in OAN punitive damages to fund high speed internet access to underfunded communities.
This has been a goal of my own but directed to federal amounts given to WV ( it’s high!)the projects directly affecting , bettering this little lot of poor southern states. It doesn’t make a difference. They still vote RED . The extraction states (According to the U.S. Census Bureau: the national poverty rate was 12.4% in 2022, up from 11.2% in 2021. These states have the highest percentages of poverty in the country: Mississippi, Louisiana, West Virginia, New Mexico, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, and New York) have long been poor, the population ( in most) is mainly black though WV has few, we are mostly just old here. Lots of churches (Thoughts and Prayers) , not much rural health care. I work /post to find facts pointing out why, doesn’t make any difference. The young complain , leave the state, low voting percentages (except 2020 , 67% went to Trump). The coal companies have basically packed their bags and left, high production gas/oil companies/prominent coal barons haven’t paid their taxes (nor definitely fair share) , fines/or been held responsible …but are running for office again! Between 2010 and 2020 WV 65,000 people left. Near 8,000 died of Covid but the highest stats are heart disease…. and suicide 20% vs the Nat average of 14%.
But America has the highest rate of billionaires (756) and…. millionaires (24.4 MILLION).
Comforting?
Some big changes are coming, will it be what’s needed (or wanted) , time is telling , history is repeating itself, many want to rewrite it ( so it SOUNDS BETTER?) , are taking away voting rights , want to listen to FNC/OAN, stacked courts/elected officials…..
And oh yea…and Democracy is on the line.
💙💙VOTE💙💙
I am
It's a real conundrum - how to bring light and shine it onto an issue. I have two high school buddies (Class of 1958), one a die hard Baptist living in Oklahoma and the other a die-hard atheist, living in Florida. Both are MAGA Republicans, but for different reasons. The Okla buddy favors white Protestant Christian Nationalism. The other is a racist who favors White Nationalism. That both have benefitted from the FDR/Frances Perkins New Deal economy is lost on them. I don't know what lies ahead but the Republican effort to replace public education with Charter schools is for the purpose of "Christianizing" the population. My dear departed friend, Jim Buie, believed that religious indoctrination of the young is a form of child abuse. Remember, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini were all Roman Catholics, as is Gov. Ron DeSantis. Hate is religion's other side of the coin, apparently.
I did not know Jim had passed 😞 may blessings rest with his family, and Jim…thanks for your support and wonderful writing. Thank you Richard, I love your commentary too .
I am a spiritual being, Christ’s Path , the red letters (love the song) are far from where many walk/talk/block/got . My state is 52% evangelical , enough said. But, I understand the youth’s protest …and like you point out we differ in our reasonings ,not always badly. Humans are a waring lot , and pointedly the ‘shewing’ fills the pages, history repeating decades after decades.
I will work for peace, patiently protesting as I have done most of my 80 years . As ‘return to normalcy’ so lovingly answered this morning ..we do so for our many grandchildren . In 68 I decided to leave for the woods partially in protest , it was trendy , a lot of dissolution in attempting it for many. Many of these turned about face and ‘fight’ for the too many trod on -yuppies we were named. It’s humorous in ways. I came to WV and applied myself to help those. And “still yet” as the sayings amongst “Bless their hearts” go we ..and the many others ( profound thanks , loves😌)
I hope we can maintain the American Dream improving it as history proved, not as the history wanting to be rewritten would write.
I have done my Yoga today a little early , that and Deuter , my near favorite and classical music, has brought ..along with many of you …me to a better frame .
May your day be filled with inspiration , writings that make the difference, and peace.🥰
What lovely thoughts and word pictures.
I am humbled , Kathy🫶
Hi Pat ! I'm so pleased to see a Mountaineer on this platform, I could bust ! I'm not so fond to learn of your hardships. I do understand though.
I have so many questions... I was born there, know the culture, geography, etc., etc. It would be lovely to have conversations with you. There now exists a messaging system on this Substack platform. I think you could access it. It might be worth inquiry. I'd love to know 'where' in WVa you're residing, I don't know your comfort level for revealing that. My knowledge might be adequate for generalizations, landmarks.
A ways out in rural Lincoln Co, county seat. Farmer. Retired. OLD! 🤣WV is a beautiful state, poor. WVS alumi. Not really a Mountaineer Fan or Marshall , but they’re fun and popular.
Don't forget SCOTUS' 6 Catholics
I know about the SCOTUS 6. It's a national tragedy.
Amen
hope you watch the segment from Washington state GOP convention.......Rachel Maddow 4/29.
Thank you, Rickey.
oooh, I like that idea... a PSA listing every right-wing media lie.
I have often wondered why 45’s lies weren’t broadcasted on streaming platforms to the public such as Time Square and public squares across the country.
That is a cool idea.
And disinformed! Knowingly dis informed.
Not so far fetched. A nurse colleague I once worked with had a son who died in an ER due to the ER being poorly equipped to care for pediatric patents. They sued and won. Their suit was no money to them, but that the hospital had to upgrade their ER to be able to safely care for kids. It was amazing. So, law suits that hold these corporations accountable in a way to make public amends is a great idea.
Damn right. It’s about time that these lying gits, and Fox, too, learn that they cannot simply throw shit in the world and call it ‘news’ without any consequences. I hope that lying becomes _so_ expensive for them, that they will think twice about doing it again.
Seems to me lies knowingly designed to harm are in no way free speech. The false cry of "Fire" for example.
Very well put. The hard right always cries "free speech!" when someone tries to tell them they are lying.
But not when non-Republicans protest violations of human rights.
No, it always works in just one way. "Double standards", remember? That's a very important principle for the hard right camp...
Excellent point.
The problem is that if they began telling the “truth” - the real truth - then what distinguishes them from the likes of MSNBC, CNN and similar or like news sources? Maybe the cable companies should give us the opportunity to choose which 24-hour news sources we want to receive in our basic service subscription package.
Believe Project 2025 is a real threat. It builds on the premise to dismantle the agencies. For this thread about Social Media Regulation, the FCC deregulated the Cable TV market and paved the way for an unregulated Satellite TV market. No one younger than 50 can even remember the Fairness Doctrine. The billionaires like Elum Musk loves Project 2025. No regulation helps them manage their monopolies.
I do not have cable, I do not have “dish” -feel like I’m starting a Dr Seuss ..no it’s a wish list…..
no public water , I heat with wood..and older now these things are hard , but corporate America has got to be barred ! There are millions being wasted away when spread around it could plain and simply …meet the need. It would change the mindset from steal and greed.
Thomas Frank's book, "What's the Matter with Kansas?" The lies have a purpose and they work.
When Fox reported that Biden won, MAGAs jumped to OAN.
"True Believers" to the end, and beyond.
Yes please cable companies
Sue National Enquirer, too. How many evil mis-media do we have?
Facebook.(falsebook). Why not take the Tictock opportunity a little further. Does it matter who owns it? Unregulated means any foreign power can miss and dis inform our citizens without them knowing it.
I will never forgive Zuckerberg or Sandler for the part they played in helping get trump elected in 2016. I don't care if they didn't think he could win. I knew he could and he did because of disinformation that wrapped people's minds.
Zuck deleted all the data. 65 million fake accounts reaching over 100 million real American accounts. Bot likes exponentially elevate posts increasing enragement, artificially prostituting popularity fooling everyone including the legislators. Social Media needs regulation.
It needs regulation quickly. Democracy depends on it.
I prefer the term evil dis-media :)
I wonder Mike, the viewership increased dramatically , as did their advertisers due to that. Are the fines commensurate or does that matter. Being entertained isn’t about the factual …apparently ?
Geez, it’s Tuesday….and my outlook is terrible!
Sorry folks
Don't feel bad & no need to apologize. I laid in my bed trying to fall back to sleep & nothing but the news, the worry about a possible coming trump 2.0, the Kristi Noem animal cruelty, & since I tend to watch many documentaries about WWII & Nazi Germany those thoughts burst into my mind as well. I tried to think about the many times I went to Yosemite & enjoyed Nature, or going to the beach in my youth & body surfing or fighting the waves as my Mom used to call it. But they kept being overshadowed by the dark, concerning/terrifying thoughts of "past is prelude". I'm old so want to protect my granddaughter from what could come. I want to impart what little I learned over the years so that she can be prepared & know what to look for as the history of the USA is being written.
The greatest failure of our public schools is now on display: the failure over the past 60 years to teach critical thinking skills along with why it is that we want a democratic form of government, in contradistinction to an autocracy.
🫶
The reason that OAN made the apology was probably to mitigate their damage exposure.
Hunter Biden is suing Fox. Time will tell. If Fox wants to minimize any future exposure, they'll apologize.
An apology is woefully insufficient, another self-serving made-up story. It’s like Gilda Radner’s character Emily Littella, in the early years of SNL, whose tag line was always “never mind.” Fox News shouldn’t get to “never mind” their viewers and proceed to the next lie. They need to be hit where it hurts, repeatedly, until they stop doing it or go bankrupt. They are already there, morally.
Unfortunately, the law gives the defamer the apology defense to reduce damages, even preclude punitive damages. Depends on timing. May bee so late that the damage has been done.
“Violins on Television!!!!!”
"Flea erections in India!!!"
What’s the status of all the voting defamation lawsuits? Fox settled, but what about Rudy? Sydney Powell, and the others?
Another Emily tagline I love…”it’s always something”…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7REI-kBlyQ8 Which, btw, is the title of her book (an excellent, poignant, read): https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/248170.It_s_Always_Something
..these entities don’t care about morality…..just $$ all.the.way.across.the.board.
Apologize AND cease to exist.
Amen, Donna. Time to sweep these tired old liars and their tired old lies into the great dust-bin of history.
💙💙VOTE ALL THE COMPLICIT OUT💙💙
Cohen isn't suing. Hunter Biden is. Because of the voting company win, OAN is having to temper itself and apologize, occasionally.
Excellent news for the most part, Professor!
Contact your Senators to prioritize passing S. 3565, the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension Act.
https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
You can do the same for your House Rep for H.R. 6929.
https://www.house.gov/representatives
Thank you Lynell ... while we're connecting with our reps, can we please slip these in ... I know it's a bit off topic for tonight, but this is imminent - just a tiny taste of the huge volume of issues our reps have to handle in the course of a day ... I don't know how they can keep track of it all!!
Representative Lauren Boebert’s bill, the “Trust the Science Act” (HR-764) seeks to strip gray wolves of federal Endangered Species Act protections nationwide.
This dangerous bill would allow states to set hunting and trapping seasons, resulting in cruel and senseless wolf killing as we’ve seen in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana. This bill could be heard by the full House of Representatives as early as April 29, 2024 and we need your support to stop its progress.
*****
TELL CONGRESS TO KEEP PROTECTIONS IN PLACE FOR WOLVES!
Even after the horror show in Wyoming, where Cody Roberts took advantage of the loss of federal protections for wolves and where Wyoming state lawmakers created a free-for-all kill zone across 85 percent of the state, U.S. House Republican leaders are bringing a bill to the House floor this week to remove federal protections for wolves across the remainder of wolf range in the lower 48 states.
If we don't act today, we may see a replay of what happened in Wyoming in other states, particularly in Wisconsin, where the legislature has mandated all sorts of Draconian policies to kill wolves if the species is removed from the federal protected list. State lawmakers have ordered the use of dogs to attack wolves, neck snares, night-time hunts with night-vision goggles, and more as soon as federal protections for wolves are lifted in the Upper Great Lakes region.
Please urge your U.S. Representative to oppose H.R. 764 and maintain federal protections that have been affirmed time and again by the federal courts. Complete these fields and we'll generate a letter on your behalf targeted directly to your U.S. representative and senators to ask them to oppose Rep. Lauren Boebert's H.R. 764.
https://secure.everyaction.com/0l2dSxZSL0WLYb6AuiCrDQ2
https://action.wildearthguardians.org/page/66965/action/
Surely, there are better uses for tax dollars than killing native wildlife ...
*********
And while we're on the subject of caring over killing ...,
The Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies Act (S. 1723; H.R. 7227) has been re-introduced in both the Senate and House. We must now ensure the bill is passed in both chambers.
https://fcnl.quorum.us/campaign/44488/
https://www.fcnl.org/updates/2024-04/quaker-voices-truth-healing-and-justice-resources
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cZNOJFqHDgs&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fcnl.org%2F&feature=emb_imp_woyt
*********
Ok thank you ... just had to jump in ... loose ends and all ... 🌊🐬✨🐳✨🐬🌊
So Booboo's bill is called "Trust the Science".
That's rich, coming from a Republican.
Geez, what is it with Republicans and cruelty to animals?!?
The cruelty is the point of everything they do...
Will do. Hate that she moved to an ultra conservative area here in CO. She may win again. Ugh
With the help of a pretty strange guy who's ran twice against Buck, got into a shouting match with him, was arrested for violating a court order and when the party wouldn't nominate him alone, went outside the delegation (as is his right) to get on the ballot in June with 1500 signatures. Prior to the vote to nominate candidates his campaign started a rumor that the popular democratic candidate wasn't elegible, which resulted in a lawsuit filed by a "Dem" to contest her eligibility, which was funded by republicans and thrown out last week.
So we have three democrats on the ballot to replace Ken Buck in June, and three running for the Democratic nomination for the general in November where save me baby Jesus Boebert will be the R nominee.
And this "Dem" has raised nearly a million bucks...wonder if it's Koch or Anschutz doing it. Or both.
Thanks, Kathleen! I'm all in to contact my reps about this and will do so.
The problem Lynell, We can't pass a law the House Speaker refuses to assign.
You actually can, though. The process is called a discharge petition, and since the Affordable Connectivity Program Extension has a majority of the chamber listed as co-sponsors, if all co-sponsors were willing to sign a discharge petition, then we would be all hunky dory. The problem arises when the members of the Speaker's party that enjoy patting themselves on the back by "supporting" this measure that benefits their constituents are not willing to support it enough to use their signature to challenge the Speaker's judgement.
The discharge petition did not go so well for Ukrainian Aid. So, while it exists we could see that in action it was hard to implement.
That needs to change. In too many instances a single individual has the power to gum up the works while the rest of the nation suffers.
"There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty."
-John Adams (and yes, no woman with autocratic powers as well)
The discharge petition for Ukraine was my go-to for funding before the Speaker had a change of heart. I read somewhere early on that Republicans said they would support the supplemental as soon as there were 200 signatures on the discharge petition. We got to 195 where it stalled; and then the Speaker had an epiphany!
*Sigh* Mike Johnson did not have a change of heart. Sure, he *said* he did, but if anyone actually believes that I don't know what to tell you. Mike Johnson is a bad person who was and is one of the foremost proponents of the plan to end our democracy behind 1/6, is proudly allied with white Christian nationalists at home and abroad, and has done absolutely everything to avoid giving our allies the help they needed for half a year. Like any other politician of the slimy variety, he has an "epiphany" only when it becomes clear public pressure demands it, and the risk of a general election loss is greater than the risk of a primary loss. Period.
Also, the Israel aid had become a big demand for a good chunk of evangelicals, and there is no way that was passing the Senate without Ukraine aid. Oh, and I'm sure the defense contractors and their lobbyists started making more calls. That too!
Yes, Will. Mike is as bad as they get. He should have been prosecuted for his role in the "coup" attempt.
Part of Johnson's "epiphany" was that Trump "allowed" him to bring the bills to a vote. Trump reads the tea leaves and knows that support for Ukraine is right up there with reproductive rights.
It is ALWAYS going to be about Trump, his popularity and his re-election strategies. Observe the "new RNC" and how funding is being stripped away from down ballot contests and funneled to guess who (and his defense expenses).
But back to Johnson. He flies an "Appeal to Heaven" flag outside of his office that proudly refers to his membership in the New Apostolic Reformation — "which is hell-bent on turning America into a religious state".
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/mike-johnson-christian-nationalist-appeal-to-heaven-flag-1234873851/
I also think he waited long enough to do real damage to Ukraine and set them up to not be able to return from the blow no matter what they are supplied with (still slow in coming from all allies), unless is is manpower. I see Russia taking Africans and forcing them into the military. We could consider funding independent contractors from countries in Africa too, with the opportunity to get Ukrainian citizenship from that, with a longer term prospect of EU citizenship.
100%, Will. Oops, my snark was not evident. I should have put quotation marks around "change of heart" and "epiphany."
He's McConnell's successor waiting in the wings.
Having a democracy does not mean we win all the time; it means we get to have a say. Since I am not likely to be protesting in the streets, contacting my representatives in Congress is how I have my say.
Yes, but, in this case My Congressman, Dr. Ami Bera, is one of the 228 in favor. We need to get rid of the damned rule that gives so much power to a single person in the House of
Representatives and in the Senate. I could email Ami every day and get the same reply, as soon as the bill comes to the floor I'll vote yes. Same with Alex Padilla in the Senate. Those rules have to go. There is an alternative - if they get enough signatures they can force a vote. The problem here is the 228 in favor includes up to 20 Republicans. They are so fearful of Trump coming after their election chances in November, they are unwilling to vote against the magats, as long as the vote isn't made public.
"We need to get rid of the damned rule that gives so much power to a single person in the House of Representatives and in the Senate."
I share your frustration. I am the staunchest advocate you will find here for reforming the rules of Congress, many of which which are archaic to a degree that is insulting to every voter. However, the idea that the majority leader of each chamber of Congress decides what goes up for a vote is less a rule and more... uh... simply the only way this could work. Literally every organization with more than a few people needs a boss to moderate and organize. There are thousands of proposals made in Congress each year, many/most of which could theoretically pass a vote, but all of them being thrown onto the floor would be abject chaos. I understand why we are inclined to be uncomfortable with someone having that much power, but we have already accepted the notion that the President can veto any law and hires everyone charged with executing them. Kind of a lot of power for one person, right? But it was decided that having an executive with power was necessary, right? And the legislative branch is actually Article 1, so why would legislative leaders be any less powerful, right?
Look, just as a Presidential veto is rarely overridden but can be, a Speaker can be removed or have their priorities overridden by a majority of legislators. But if that Speaker wasn't admired/respected/feared by the other party members that picked them then they would not have risen to the top of the ladder in the first place, so it is unlikely for their judgement to be rebuked in such a way.
The only way to not have an issue with this is to make sure the people you prefer are in the majority of both chambers of Congress. It doesn't really get any simpler.
Either that or do what most countries do and have a prime minister instead of a president.
My rep, Jennifer Wexton, is also among the 228 in favor. The latest ask of her was to put pressure on the Speaker to bring the bill to the floor. I made the same ask to my Dem Senators.
Getting rid of the rules in both houses of Congress will be an uphill battle and likely to go on for years. I'm up for putting the pressure on when it comes to that. Exhausting? Yes, but, as I see it, a necessary part of the democratic process!
Good for you Lynell, I'll join you gladly and will email my Congressman and Senator too.
Good on you, Fay...Push! Push! Push!
Ah…Dem senators…a responsive Dem representative…I could only dream here in TN.
Small comfort, I know, ML, but I would contact them even if they had an R after their name. Wish I could say/do more.
I have tried communicating with the representative who has an "R" after their name that lives just north of where my district is. I remind her she is a state representative and even though I do not live in her district, she does represent my state.
She barely won and it was because voters here in Marion County did not vote for McLeod-Skinner. We see lots of political ads about the D who will be her likely opponent and who has already beaten her in some political contests. In the meantime McLeod-Skinner acts as if she is already the D candidate. I do hope that she will get behind Bynum who likely be the D candidate unlike the DINO Schraeder who did not support M-S. Hopefully, in our district, the 6th, Salinas can prevail again.
I’ve donated to Byrum.
Democracy means you can't always get what you want, but you still should be able get what you need. Repubs want to make it winner takes all; when even when somebody wins, they retain responsibilities to the whole society.
My favorite Stones song!!
Responsibilities without accountability. Thanks, JL.
Just read this yesterday (?) about their latest tour: https://apnews.com/article/rolling-stones-tour-houston-f0de46c85a29d132e716009f927d6431 Hmmm…what is all that kerfuffle about “old” people not being competent?
What is astonishing is not necessarily how they are still touring at 80, or that they are reportedly still so excellent, but that they are still ALIVE AT ALL after the activities and substances that were partaken in such large quantities over such a long period of time! Maybe the whole getting paid zillions to do your favorite thing has something to do with it? Whoda thunk?
Willie Nelson is doing festival shows this year again... at 90! Ridley Scott (86) just finished directing his 4th big-budget film in 3.5 years, with 3 more projects in development. Then you get this guy: https://www.muscleandfitness.com/athletes-celebrities/news/100-year-old-man-breaks-5-olympic-world-records/
These people are obviously outliers, but it really is just a number.
I heard the tune in my head!
me too.
...but when you heard it in your head, did you hear Mick's parts or the freaky children's chorus from the opening?
Not the children!!!
👏👏 Lynell ! And it only takes minutes, far less time than it takes me to read and comment here.😉
Love your point of view, Kathy...thanks!
The party of sabotage-it-then-complain-it-doesn't-work...
I always find it hard to believe that so many people haven’t figured out their game!
Sort of like the Cato Institute suggestion to use Leninist tactics that I believe came out as the Newt Gingrich/Frank Luntz GoPac memo "Language: A Key Mechanism of Control."
I didn't leave the party as soon as it was published, incorrectly thinking they would come to their senses and reject the denigrating everything the opposition said, tried to accomplish, or derived any credit for even if it was exactly what they would do as long as they got the credit for it (usually with a name change if nothing else). I don't know how well Lenin's soft sabotage of programs compared to my old parties but the idea seemed to slowly smother the opposition without drawing too much unproductive opposition that could make the sabotage less effective.
It seems rather stupid that they are taking something Trump could have received some credit for and cutting it off but then it seems it might have just been like Lucy letting Trump kick the ball half way down the field, but pulling it back so no opposition could keep it moving down the field (favoring Putin's team over our team).
Great name and description Peter
Thank you, Fay, but I'm just sorry about the indignity of having to point out such demeaning truths.
We can only stand by what we truly are and, if others choose to debase their humanity, that must be their problem. We can pity suchlike, we must do all that it takes to defend ourselves from them and their evildoing.
Thank You, Lynell!
Both bills have bipartisan support:⬇️
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3565/cosponsors
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6929/cosponsors
📲Please call your elected officials and Mike Johnson’s office : (202) 225-4000
My elected officials are all GOP/MAGA and I’ve had only pleasant exchanges.
“YOU CAN'T WRING YOUR HANDS AND ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES AT THE SAME TIME.”
Patricia Schroeder '64, Former United States Representative
💙
Thanks for the detail, Kathy, and Speaker Johnson's phone number...
Love that quote, she said as she was rolling up her sleeves!
Done. Thank you, Lynell.
😉
Capitalism is like fire: properly controlled, both have the ability to vastly improve our lives; when allowed to expand with no controls, however, they have unmatched capacities for destruction. For the life of me, I can't understand the notion of little or no government control over capitalism - it's like saying that, since a campfire is a good thing, allowing the fire to grow with no borders or controls is even better. Anti-regulation zealots should consider the difference between a nuclear reactor and a nuclear bomb. Even Adam Smith understood the need for government to control certain aspects of the marketplace, like enforcing contracts and copyrights, and maintaining a civil society that allowed businesses to operate securely. A vastly more complex marketplace mandates vastly more complex regulatory controls.
Unchecked and unregulated, the "invisible hand" will always promote monopolies, as America learned from John D. Rockefeller. Monopolies, by definition, are the antithesis of the competitive, innovative, "free" market that Smith envisioned. Would someone please educate our conservative friends in these basic economic principles so we can restore the fortunes of the middle class as it existed in the mid-20th century?
“ I can't understand the notion of little or no government control over capitalism - it's like saying that, since a campfire is a good thing, allowing the fire to grow with no borders or controls is even better.” As a Colorado mountain resident living in the midst of a ponderosa pine forest, your campfire metaphor resonates well with me. Thank you.
Maintaining a civil society, part of the foundation of capitalism, has a cost. Who should bear that cost? Those who grow wealthy through the system or those who sit on the outer fringes struggling to survive? In other words paying taxes is a privilege and a recognition that the system has benefited many of us, thus we pay to keep it going.
Gary, I am proud to pay my taxes knowing I am contributing to “the commons” from which we all benefit. Economically I am near the fringes, luckily not at the far edges, but still pay near 9% tax rate on my defined-pension/SS income.
Taxes, when we make sure they are responsibly managed, create a safety net (such as fire protection) and an environment of mutual benefit, such as free public parks (a vanishing species) and affordable, subsidized colleges for which there are primary and/or knock-on benefits even if you use neither. Monopolistic Greed-flation is like a tax, but we have little say in it, and the money may wind up in the Grand Cayman Islands, not in our communities.
It seems to me that the enduring malady for human societies is abuse of power, from theft and rape to dictatorships. The cure is mutually crafted and defended boundaries, such as our Constitution. Such a pollution controls. Diversity is not the enemy. It thrives in an environment that protects the individual rights of all to responsibly (not rob others of their guaranteed rights) to pursue happiness, and promote the general welfare. A failed state is not ultimate liberty; it is a nightmare. Solidarity is diverse people watching out for one another. Conformity it the straitjacket of tyranny.
Thomas, I LOVE your analogies of capitalism being like a campfire or cooking fire or like a nuclear reactor, all risk massive destruction unless properly controlled, unless proper safeguards or guardrails keep it working for the benefit of society at large.
One area which concerns me, however, is the effect on our planet on the increasingly successful retail outlets like Amazon which add so much to air pollution with their ubiquitous delivery trucks and to landfills with their endless packaging and to the general problem of microplastics in everything!
In my neighborhood, Amazon's delivery vehicles are all electric. That's one small step in the right direction, but of course we need a great deal more. As for the microplastics and packaging, I do see Amazon making regular efforts to make their packaging more sustainable, which is laudable.
But Amazon represents a great example of what capitalism can accomplish: it began as a bookseller but found a way to sell virtually everything else. Most importantly, Amazon refined the idea of ordering on the Internet by constantly improving the experience for the customer. Few, if any, websites offer a more user-friendly experience - like millions of other Americans, I enjoy shopping there.
On the down side, I would love to see other companies offering more significant competition, I question many of their anti-competitive practices, and I'd really love to see the founder of Amazon taxed more heavily. But overall, I am very impressed with what the company has done. Like Apple, Google, Meta, and other tech giants, it has risen to the top of its field by doing what it does better than anyone else.
Imagine what we could accomplish if startups today have the same opportunities as those from the 1980's and 1990's. Isn't that the point of regulation: to improve things overall for the greatest number of citizens?
Thomas, I heartily agree! I suspect I write from a position as a user of Amazon who feels guilty nearly every day I, or more often my wife, receive a personally delivered package at our door, especially if the item could have been found at a store within (electric) driving distance.
Thomas, you do get that Amazon is the indisputable exemplar of the uncontrolled, destructive wildfire you used as your (intuitive, outstanding) initial example? Just like that wildfire, the business chievements of the tech giants of today are certainly *impressive,* but impressive in no good way. They are directly analagous to the domination of the gilded age oil and steel barons, in that they used some bright ideas/discoveries combined with right-place-right-time luck to ride a technological wave of development... and then used their new place at the top to crush everyone else. Amazon has wrecked absolute havoc on countless other formerly healthy regions of the economy, all with the overt goal of leaving modern civilization as dependent on a few corporations as possible for all our needs. They are as evil as any polluting oil company, only in an even more insidious way.
I know you get this on some level, because you say "I question many of their anti-competitive practices," but then just a sentence later repeat the corporate talking point that "it has risen to the top of its field by doing what it does better." No. It has *stayed* at the top because of crushing competition in a myriad ways (and that is after only rising there on the notion of getting people to sell their soul for convenience). Have you read about the federal government's anti-trust case against Amazon? It was widely publicized when it was being argued incourt a few months ago; it is beyond damning, and really puts the lie to the idea that they improve customer experience. Long story short: they are actually *raising* prices for customers not just on Amazon, but across the ENTIRE U.S. ECONOMY through their web services plans and contracts to sellers, and that is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg of their extortion that this single sector of the DOJ chose to focus the prosecution on!
The idea that someone speaking out about the dangers of uncontrolled capitalism could immediately turn around and use the ultimate example of uncontrolled capitalism as "a great example of what capitalism can accomplish," using arguments from their own marketing canards, is a level of cognitive dissonance I am flabbergasted to find on this forum.
I am a guilt-feeling user of Amazon. Now retired I rarely venture off the property here, and no vendors are within reasonable walking distance on an ongoing basis. But I miss the Internet and World Wide Web before it was so incorporated, built by ordinary people and soon replete with small businesses. They have mostly vanished. Discounts have shrunk, and the big players have way too little competition. That was not inevitable.
"I know you get this on some level, because you say "I question many of their anti-competitive practices," but then just a sentence later repeat the corporate talking point that "it has risen to the top of its field by doing what it does better.""
You've identified the primary conflict when discussing large corporations like Amazon and, a century earlier, "the gilded age oil and steel barons" - and of course, good old Henry Ford. Because of these oil & steel barons, the US built infrastructure that was the envy of the world. Because of Henry Ford's ingenuity, America overtook Germany as the center of automobile production. I - and several others - have already spoken of the convenience that Amazon has provided; I'm serious when I say that shopping at Amazon is a pleasant experience.
And yet - yes, these entrepreneurs not only innovated, but were often bullies and charlatans, as evidenced by their monopolistic tendencies. And so, while their innovations improved lives for many - railways and automobiles and overnight deliveries - they've also caused considerable harm. The question is, who decides where to draw that line between corporate good and corporate evil?
Getting back to our original premise, that is the task that we assign to government regulators. It is they, hopefully with popular support, who determine where to draw the line between innovation and destruction.
Thomas, while I prefer to buy local when I can, living in a rural area I would often have to drive to a number of stores in 3 different towns and still not find what I was after, so would often order thru Amazon—my doggers also loved UPS driver Dan who dispensed treats & knew the sound of his truck!—until, that is, my longtime Prime account was hacked a couple of years ago just before Christmas. Unfortunately I was never able to recover my account (long story & they won’t let you speak to the “resolution team” members directly)…I tried and tried. Cast around and found that Walmart (I know, I know) has a similar service & have used them (or direct ordering) instead. Just recently I read an email from the developer/owner for a product I use & they were informing customers they were no longer using Amazon due to some alarming problems—I wish I could post a link, but it is in email format & long, so I didn’t want to copy ‘n paste. Was an education in how some small businesses struggle with the behemoth Amazon has become, to the detriment to both the business and customers alike.
OMG THANK YOU! It is totally negatively affecting regular businesses and customers on a mammoth scale, in so many ways. People have gotten caught in the trap of using it and refuse to let go, despite all available evidence that it is going to ruin your experience as a consumer in every single other industry.
It's the consumer culture equivalent of crack cocaine. "Hey, I get that this cheap drug has been making you high for long enough that you don't feel so good without it anymore, but you need to break the cycle or it will eat you from the inside out. Please!" But just like the druggie, people are liable to get reeeeeal bitchy and act like your attempt to help is the thing actually causing them hurt. With addicted individuals, you have to let them experience rock bottom themselves, as painful as it is. Unfortunately, you can't leave the Amazon consumers to experience the endgame of their addiction themselves, because by then it will be too late for all the rest of us in our wider society. A pickle, really.
Yeah, Will, reading the two long emails from her—she and her husband own/operate/create information/advice/products & have built up a loyal following for the business Heather’s Tummy Care located in Washington state. Seems like the Amazon experience just might have crippled the business, but they’ve regrouped and are spreading the word to customers. It was alarming, really, to read everything they’d been through…I’d heard some general complaints about Amazon, but nothing this detailed & specific….wow.
Teaching economics in school is dangerous to Republican Billionaires
Great minds….. We posted almost the same idea using the same metaphors just a few minutes apart 😉
I saw that! I read yours a few moments after posting mine.
I've been using these metaphors for years, but I certainly can't claim them!
Well stated!
Thomas, those GOPers know. They also know that they make a lot more money stoking the fire than putting it out.
Best analogy for capitalism I've heard.
I too have used the fire metaphor. The "Chicago Fire", the San Francisco Fire", and many others have illustrated what uncontrolled fire can do to societies. And I appreciate that you have not slandered Adam Smith as Republicans do. The "invisible hand" Republicans speak of is a systemic pickpocket pick-pocket, not a distributive balance. The trick to nudging the profit motive onto the mutual benefit side of the ledger is what "Teddy the Trust Buster" called the "Square Deal", rules of commerce for an exchange environment that discourages ripoffs. Reportedly Alan Greenspan thought that fraud should not be criminalized. Ask Brookley Born.
I see the virtues of contracts and copyrights if once again written in the context of a "Square Deal" for all concerned. Copyrights and patents need to serve the needs of both affected individuals, such as innovators, as well as the needs of society. I would argue that both have often been bent in a plutocratic direction. Some will rob you with a six-gun, some with a fountain pen.
There are tradespeople and vendors I regard as virtual (even actual) friends, and am happy to pay. I also know the side of genuine gratitude to customers. There are businesses I genuinely mourn when closed. Business is how we as humans exchange our varied skills; AND, as in any contest, there are always those who will cheat. Why would we ever decide to let the cheaters prevail?
So, in other words, what we are seeing is a fight in the public consciousness between a prosperous reality and an apocalyptic fantasy.
By and large, liberal policies prioritize helping people with programs and a safety net because their core operative belief is that if regular people are given a helping hand, the vast majority will make good on the opportunity and pay it forward. We do better when we all do better. Conservatives are so obsessed with the notion of discipline that they can't help but look aghast at this proposition, these unholy "handouts," so great is their conviction that the average person will give in to every temptation to be lazy unless forced to be industrious. The evidence is coming in hard and fast that the positive view of human impulse is the accurate reflection of the character of the American people, and far too many of those people would rather this upswing end than their pessimism be proved wrong.
Pathetic, but not my problem. Let the good times roll!
Well said. As a fairly recent subscriber to this substack, I've noticed that a large number of commenters here (like me) appear to have grown up during the era of post-WW2 prosperity, witnessed and/or experienced the successes and failures of the Reagan and post-Reagan eras, and have developed the historical perspective to look at our current situation realistically. I share your view that the positive view reflects our character accurately. The only thing that needs to be "given" to people is the opportunity to perform meaningful work. This opportunity is what the deliberate evisceration of our industrial manufacturing economy by Reaganite policies has taken away from so many of our countrymen.
James, in my 40+ year career, I became deeply involved with the experiences of thousands of people who could not work. Some were traumatized by abuse or war. Some had physical or mental health struggles. Many had been caught in the vise grip of low-paid jobs (without healthcare benefits) and rising rents…and once you lose your housing because you were $400 short on the rent, how will you come up with $4000 for security deposits, first/last months rent, utility hookups, etc etc.?
Often I don’t know whether to cry or scream. People have so little understanding of this invisible population. Sadly, we do know how to assist people to live safe, healthy lives that allow them to contribute to their communities. We just prefer to let the billionaires pay little or no taxes. We have a Party that believes in unrestrained Capitalism and wants to abolish the safety net completely.
I’m not saying you hold these beliefs. Many people just need to learn more. Hopefully more will be willing to listen and learn.
Bless you, Marge.
My beloved uncle Bob on my Mom's side has suffered from severe diabetes his whole life, and now in his 60s had had to live for many years in a care home as a result of having both legs amputated. On top of that he is mostly deaf and has never been the "sharpest knife in the block." Yet he is a person of kindness and good character who would give anything to go back to his simple old life of running the local pizza shop and attending local games. We are not allowed to give him any money to get anything nice just for himself because if he has a penny over barely anything he forfeits his care from the state. Ridiculous! Even then, my Mom has had to call on numerous occassions and practically beg the home not to move him from the one room he feels comfortable in and can look out the window at the gazebo. And this is the GOOD care home!
This is where much of people's anger at the current state of things comes from. You can only put "fiscal responsibility" on so high a pedestal before it turns to miserliness and you end up stripping innocent people of dignity. We DO have a responsibility, but to each other and not just ourselves.
Will, I’m agnostic/atheist (haven’t figured out which), but Amen! to what you say!!!
And “fiscal responsibility” is the cudgel Republicans use to shred the safety net.
Yet they will not admit their own quasi-immoral use of that safety net. In my years of service, I became aware of extremely wealthy people who had their disabled adult children placed in the most expensive care options, costing up to $500/day, and made sure Medicaid paid the entire bill. It was and is legal as families cannot be forced to support the adult child. Yet a millionaire who could easily afford to pay for first-class care decides not to pay a penny. And I’m betting that same millionaire rails against government assistance for poor people. Immoral in my book.
I second Will’s blessing for your comments. I worked for over 40 years in a Univ student financial aid and advised/helped many students work toward achieving their goal to better their lives & lives of their families (some were parents, some planned to eventually help support their younger sibling & parents) via higher ed. A number of students were on some type of state/county aid (AFDC if they had kids, MediCal, Foodstamps, etc.); sometimes I would have to encourage students to seek these benefits despite the onerous application process to help them reach their goal—I would tell them that accepting such assistance will help reduce their financial stress AND once they graduated and entered the workforce, they would then be paying back INTO the system that helped them. I’d share with them that as a young student my then husband and I were low income and gratefully accepted Foodstamps (the snarky comments other shoppers would give when they saw me pull out the “stamps” from the booklet…I tried not to feel ashamed) & Medical for the period we needed/qualified and since then I gladly paid my fair share in taxes to support just these benefits to “the commons”. Are there loafers and n’er do wells who will scam, yeah, but I do think those are in the minority…most folks want (if they are able) to have a job they can do to be self supporting. So many look down on “social services”, I think we should provide more and better support to our society.
Barbara, my belief after decade of work in the system is that fraud/abuse runs about 2% and that it costs more to obsessively try to uncover it than the fraud itself. I am talking about fraud by the actual beneficiaries of government assistance, not fraud by the providers - especially healthcare.
Yet Republicans will find a case or two and bray that this is the norm, that anyone who receives assistance is gaming the system.
We don’t provide too much assistance, we provide too little.
That 2% or less fraud has been my experience, too. We ran a program at our elementary school to "give and get close to home." We held a cake auction, I secured a "flexible fund" grant from social services, and set up a closet for donations. Magic things began to happen! One day a mother dropped off a no longer used trombone. The next day a music teacher asked if we knew where she could get a trombone for a student! Close to the holidays, a girl scout troup leader came to the front desk and asked if we knew where to get treats for a holiday party for her troup so the (liiterally) poor parents wouldn't have to. While she was talking, the local baker came in and dropped off 2 dozen pink cookies and treats from a just cancelled "girl's holiday party." We had one parent who every month quietly asked for $20 from our fund to pay for gas. I gave it without question. We always looked to other social services for resources first, but this single mom didn't qualify for them. My "I-CAN" Board had set up these guidelines, but the principal was concerned. Then, almost 2 years after her first request, the mother walked in to my office and gave me an envelope full of $20 bills, with a tattered notebook page where she had kept track of every date and dollar we gave her. How proud she was to give back.
Lovely examples. I wish those who have contempt for people with lower incomes could be touched by stories like these!
Agree, Marge, 100%!
Will & James, I recognize the validity of your "seeing is a fight in the public consciousness between a prosperous reality and an apocalyptic fantasy," however, I fear that is an incomplete description of the fight. What we are seeing beneath that fight is the fight between made-up facts and innuendo vs supportable, verifiable truths; the fight between science and feelings, the fight between short-term benefits vs long term global health.
Yes, innuendo vs. truths and science vs. feelings were indeed what I meant when I wrote that we are between reality and fantasy. What I trying to point out is the absurdism of people choosing fantasy over reality when that fantasy is actually more distressing than the reality. I could more readily understand the impulse if it was the other way around.
I was just reading of Reaganite policies come to fruition in the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/30/tyson-foods-toxic-pollutants-lakes-rivers
“The big money spent on lobbying and campaigns by corporate agriculture has played a major role in resisting stronger regulation – despite clear signals such as high levels of nitrates in our groundwater and cancers in rural communities that we need more oversight for farmers across the board,” said Geis
JL, working for the state of CA at a Univ during Reagan’s Governorship, I watched how the gutting of education, particularly higher ed, as well as mental health and other health related support from the state to residents. It was not a good trajectory & I was sorely disappointed when he was elected—twice!—as POTUS, only to see these policies applied nationwide on steroids. Maybe, just maybe, we are starting to turn this large ship of state around to replace the unworkable “Reaganomics” to something that is workable for all of us.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/neoliberalism-freedom-markets-hayek/678124/
Hope this link works. The article is a clearly-written summary of how we got to where we are, and how we might yet get out of it. I've just bought the book from which it was extracted, and am looking forward to reading it. The table of contents left me giddy. :-) BTW, the book is called "The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society" (W.W. Norton & Co, 2024)
Thanks, James, I’m a subscriber so it’s accessible to me & have just “saved” it on their site to read tomorrow (near 1:30 a.m. here, so not right now!!)….so much incoming information that I can’t quite keep up and actually have a “real” life too! As a nerdy, dig deep kinda person, it’s too easy for me to spend too much time on the online rabbit hole sussing out factual/vetted information to be informed instead of out in the garden, along the river, at the beach, walking/playing with by dogger, or hanging with my friends….I have to pause and reflect on what I want my “one wild and precious life to be” (thanks poet Mary Oliver). IMHO, we are in perilous times so vigilance and being informed is especially important so we can actually be free to experience/enjoy our precious lives and advocate the same for others.
For over four decades a sizable portion of voters have believed that enriching the rich and shafting the poor will make all of our lives better, that the next round of tax cuts for the rich, or removal of environmental protections will be the one that unlocks the promised land. But maybe it just doesn't work. Maybe sacrificing the middle class to enrich billionaires was never about anything beyond sacrificing the middle class to enrich billionaires. Maybe it was just a nasty and dangerous social detour. Maybe it's past due time for a look-see and a course-correction. May we are seeing that we are smack-up against where "The Reagan Revolution" was headed all along.
JL, I’ve long thought that the “trickle down” theory was just a misnomer for a “tinkle down” theory….you know, being pissed on from above!🤣
Just read that article. That's some scary stuff, the scale of which is much worse than I had imagined. Not only are we killing ourselves, we're killing the very land that supports us.
Will, the beauty of the bills passed by the Biden administration is that they address underemployment /unemployment with jobs, not more “handouts”, so that low-income people are assisted while allowing them to keep their dignity.
George Lakoff, in his book Moral Politics, does a great job of explaining the two concepts (conservative and liberal) of how to best assist poor people. It helps to explain why, far too often, pride prevents parents from accepting help for their children.
IMHO, helping unhoused people to exit homelessness; helping mothers with small children to obtain daycare so they can work; helping young adults “graduating” from foster care to make the transition from family abuse/neglect to independence; etc etc really shouldn’t be considered a “handout.”
We have lost our feelings of responsibility for our fellow humans. We allow rich people to receive enormous tax cuts when they are already paying a lower rate than middle class families. Some want to criminalize homelessness rather than do what we know would prevent or resolve their homelessness.
Ok, I’m going to stop screaming now. ❤️
Marge, I’m in agreement with you. It’s a shame that so many things (including free school lunches and food stamps) are considered “handouts” while industry subsidies and bailouts are not. The difference seems to be the recipient: recipient is wealthy person or corporation, money is considered a subsidy; recipient is poor, money is considered a “handout”.
https://www.hoover.org/research/welfare-well-how-business-subsidies-fleece-taxpayers
Wow! Thanks for that link. The article was written 25 years ago and I will bet that corporate welfare has only increased since then. Do you think unless we end Citizens United, politicians will continue to be in the pockets of corporations?
Marge, Citizens United is one SCOTUS decision I’d LIKE to see overturned! Oh, and the Voting Rights Act reinstated en toto.
You betcha!
No, Marge, keep using your voice—even screaming at the top of your lungs—to say this. If you have a pan you can bang with a wooden spoon at the same time, all the better!!! We need to vote local, state and Fed for those who support these ideas….they need to hear our voices!
You are one of my role models. Thanks for the support!
Will, their "apocalyptic fantasy" is in their fictional history book, the Bible and appears to be the foundational theme of their belief structure. The "obsession with the notion of discipline" stems, in my mind, from the inability for complex reasoning, and the need to be forced to "behave" by some vengeful god.
Odd how they seem to lack any understanding of the New Testament. It’s all punishment, enslavement, women’s roles and polygamy. Nothing about love or Good Samaritans…
Oh, Ally, reading your comment all I could think of is these folks sure are sort of kinky in wanting to “be spanked” by an authority…lol…not responsible for the weird thoughts that spring to my mind!!!!
As always, Heather thank you. As usual, the magats are determined to end any program that helps The People, instead of corporations and the ultra rich. Good grief, how could Elon live if he was only paid 40 billion dollars instead of 46 billion..
228 to 207 in the House makes ACP a winner, except for the insane House rule that allows the Speaker to shelve any piece of legislation he/she doesn't want, same in the Senate. Those anti-democracy rules mean the House Speaker and the Senate majority have more power than the Presidency.
When will WE The People recognize the Constitution set up THREE Coequal branches deliberately We fought the 8 year 4 month Revolutionary War to escape forever the authoritarianism of Monarchy. The Electoral College was supposed to save us from the tyranny of the majority - they failed there instead we have the tyranny of the minority.
We desperately need to return to a Nation Under LAW and the Supreme Law of this land is the Constitution of the United States. Not the rules of the Houses of Congress.
Constitution Article 1, Section 5, Paragraph 2: "Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceeding"
So the rules ARE a part of the Supreme Law. But only a part and obviously I agree with your gist.
We Do Better With Biden!
That and arncha' getting sick of the unending food fight? (You are now leaving ketchup-hazard zone).
Let's get back to work.
"...The differences between the parties’ apparent positions on the ACP illustrates the difference in their political ideology. Republicans object to government investment in society and believe market forces should be left to operate without interference in order to promote prosperity. Democrats believe that economic prosperity comes from the hard work of ordinary people and that government investment in society clears the way for those people to succeed..."
Enabling citizens to have access to broadband Internet service should be treated as a public utility, like streets and sanitation. It is not a luxury. Internet access has become essential to our modern way of life, similar in many ways to how telephone landline service was for many of us who grew up in the 1950s and '60s.
The important point about the Republican attitude toward government subsidizing Internet access is that the private sector is unable and unwilling to do the work because it is not profitable to extend service to everyone. In high-density areas, such as cities and suburbs, the cost of building physical infrastructure can be spread across a high number of households and businesses. But in low-density rural areas, especially in farming regions, the cost of building physical infrastructure must be spread across relatively few people, which makes it prohibitive as a profit center for an Internet provider. If that were not true, we would already have universal broadband Internet access for every citizen.
Anyone who says that broadband Internet access should be a job for the private sector is either ignorant, or deceitful. Internet access is a perfect fit for the federal government. The feds can probably get the job done, but the states seem to have a very difficult time of it, for whatever reason. I asked the all-knowing google if Wisconsin has universal broadband for all citizens. Here is the result: "Wisconsin's goal is to provide universal broadband service to all residents by 2030. The state's Five-Year Action Plan, administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), outlines strategies to improve broadband access, adoption, and affordability. The plan includes funding for infrastructure deployment, planning, and adoption programs." This has been going on for years, but it has not yet happened. The feds are already involved, but nobody can get the job done. A cynic might say that the Republican-gerrymandered Wisconsin Legislature didn't want to provide broadband Internet service to poor rural folks, or any rural folks. And the NTIA can't get it together either.
In any case, the Republican insistence on giving the broadband rollout to the private sector is either whimsy or ignorance. It's going to require serious and persistent effort on the part of the federal government to make it happen.
“… the private sector is unable and unwilling to do the work because it is not profitable to extend service to everyone.” My mom lives within the National Seashore on Cape Cod, on a road to the beach with 4 or 5 other full-time residents. She has been unable to get cable TV installed, (as well as broadband internet service,) because there are too few customers for the cable company to make a profit. 13 utility poles stand between her house and the Regional High School at the other end of the road which has had full cable and internet access for at least 20 years.
The cable company has an exclusive contract with the town to provide access to municipal entities, such as the Town Hall, Transfer Station, Schools, etc. The cable company has consistently raked in billions of dollars in profit nation-wide, yet can’t find a few hundred thousand dollars to provide service to a retired woman whose only lifeline is the internet and for whom TV is a major source of entertainment. I’ve butted my head against the local government (who is sympathetic, but powerless,) the National Parks Service (on whose land the utility poles stand), and the cable company, with no resolution.
Most towns are powerless because they sign contracts allowing for one or two cable/internet companies to have a monopoly. And then that company "owns the pipes" (wiring). David is spot on suggesting that the internet should be a public utility - a basic service.
We are still enthralled as a society with private enterprise. And a well regulated capitalism with lots of small businesses is terrific. But it is long overdue that some sort of regional effort is in charge of life's basics like internet - not Comcast, etc.
The town next door to us has had its own electric company for many years. And a few years ago it wired the town for cable TV and internet. The "people" own the pipes to deliver essential services. The revenue from the subscriptions goes back into maintaining the infrastructure - not lining the pockets of shareholders and the oligarchs. Many towns are too small and poor to do that. But it could be done on a multi-town regional basis.
The internet shouldn't be in private hands. Nor should prisons, education or health care. American society has fallen for the capitalist con. It's great if you are affluent.
David, Derek & Bill, I am reminded of the tremendous yet succinct wisdom of Abraham Lincoln, perhaps THE most challenged president in our history when he opined that "the legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves—in their separate, and individual capacities."
Perfect.
Bill and Derek, I read what you've written, and I draw a parallel to the Tennessee Valley Authority, which brought (among other things) electricity to rural sections of the country, specifically Tennessee, but other areas as well. Internet access has become as critical today as electric access was nearly 100 years ago.
Like a combo of the TVA & WPA…put us working w/ Fed support to make a better country for ALL of us!
Bill, the Biden Admin’s infrastructure plan has broadband as one of its components….hopefully time will tell how effective it will be (and that an “R” admin might quash the whole thing). At least they are putting the effort in! Click on “Broadband” in the index & it will take you to the page outlining what they are trying to achieve: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/BUILDING-A-BETTER-AMERICA-V2.pdf#page384
Thank you. One more reason to renew the Biden/Harris contract!
My view is that the Internet should become a public utility, owned by the people (we citizens of our self-governing nation), with infrastructure and operating costs derived from federal tax revenue, spread across the entire population.
👍👍👍
Thank you for another informative update. The Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) seems like a worthwhile program to help those who qualify, including many who are disadvantaged. Access to the Internet is vital to the well-being of families across the spectrum. It appears that the annual budget for this program is $14.2 billion, which is about 1.7% of the $820 billion defense budget. Considering all of the tangible and intangible benefits of the ACP, the return on investment would seem to be well worth the funding. It's almost a no-brainer.
Mark, during the pandemic when schools went "on line", one of our poorer local school districts (in "conservative" Springfield, OR) had school busses, which had the ability to use mobile "hotspots" park in neighborhoods where internet access was limited so that students could get on line.
It is a "no-brainer" but there seems to be rot in the area of the MAGAt brain that precludes recognizing this. Just like when they cry about "poor people having smart phones instead of paying their rent"; you cannot navigate modern society without internet access.
That's a great, real-life example related to why we all should support this initiative. Thanks for enlightening me.
By the way, similar to "Obamacare," it seems like the potential elimination of this program would disproportionately affect rural areas with a relatively large population of MAGA supporters. Thus, on the surface wouldn't it be in MAGA's best interest to want to continue this program? (It's a rhetorical question with the obvious answer of "Yes!") Of course, the collective MAGA position on all sorts of issues often seems to defy logic.
MAGA and “defies logic” are quite a pairing.
Everything backfired on the idiot Republicans and their many committees for "let's get Joe Biden."
Love the way Heather describes it here. A colossal joke.
What other great joke are we enjoying now? Answer (all bright boys and girls know it) -- university campuses in turmoil over the group-labeling sides in the Hamas/Gaza and Israel/Netanyahu/(and Biden?)
Yes, an uproarious joke. Don't need to be bright boy or girl to know that group labeling goes nowhere, except into the anger from natural frustration at having no better literacy than categorically abstracting all life. Even boy or girl with simple common sense knows you need to see "others" as individuals, not emblems.
Here's the greater joke: all the bigger idiots who run universities lack the common-sense imagination to know we need essay writing programs to see others as people -- personally, in perspective of the complicated contexts, social and natural, they can say for themselves they inhabit.
Hey. Neither Israel nor Arab universities have any such program. No do any American schools, given all have willingly sunk into the silo conceits corporate America calls for as part of its mass commodification programs. Packaging vulgarity all. Labels. Blindness to any not in our assigned demographic.
Funny as Heather on those stupid Republican committees? No, funnier. Deliberate, repeat choices by today's "best and brightest" to be even more insane than those David Halberstam described exactly 50 years ago.
I love your word sequence, "....silo conceits corporate America calls for as part of its mass commodification programs".
The living dead, Joan. They are the living dead.
In "August, 1968," Auden referred to one species of them as "the ogre":
"The ogre does as ogres can / deeds quite impossible for man."
Phil, I'm sure you know what kinds of curricula are available in Israeli universities.
I like Phil, but he is particularly fixated on this idea that all the ills of our global human condition are the result of a lack of rigorous school writing programs, the institution of which would immediately lead us back to a higher plane. I've tried to have him explain it to me and I still don't get it at all, but that is just me.
A big reason to love this forum is that everyone is such a character!
No, Will -- result of all feigning being neutered, untouched by anything personal, human.
We could use not "rigorous school writing programs," but some that "others" have something personal in them, and we do (or may) ourselves. Programs may teach better to see others as individuals, and analogize to them. As individuals inhabiting personally vexing, complicated, difficult situations.
Next step, analogize to humanities -- in our own culture, and then in that of "others."
Rigorous, Will? No, human.
No schools in the world even try. All hide in neutered, dehumanized specialization silos, all mutually intentionally isolated from all others in theirs.
We had a fascinating discussion on this a while back, which I genuinely valued. I share your desire for more humanism in all walks of life. However, I don't recognize the specific problems you are describing or believe in the specific form of solution offered, so with respect I think we should just leave it there.
Out of respect for each of you Will and Phil, I point to a book that comes to mind: "Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World." by David Epstein.
Excellent recommendation, Joan. Thanks bunches!
Someone I admired once said: If you are not writing, you are not thinking.
That's cute, but I don't write every day or even every week and still manage to make it out the front door lol. Reading, talking, experimentation, etc can all trigger the grey matter, pen unnecessary.
I feel like it has also been made clear from, well, all of the rest of the Internet that writing fingers don't always connect to that grey matter before they do their bizness.
I know, Jerry, early in the war (like October 8 or 9) police arrested an Israeli instructor.
His "crime"? Asking fellow Israelis to see neighboring Arabs, Palestinians, as individuals, fellow humans in their culture.
I almost went to Israel 55 years ago (exactly). I was accepted at Hebrew University as a grad student, then interested in the regional poets in the old shtetl at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century, when modern Hebrew was emerging.
I've since taught (several times with tenure) at universities in many countries.
Nowhere in the world does any school teach essaying to see "others" as individuals. Just war. More war. Intellectuals hiding in neutered silo specializations. Serving the billionaire classes commodifying the world, whether for oligarchs and dictators or corporate elites.
A friend of our family taught at the University in Gaza City. He was fired by Hamas for teaching students to see, and weigh, both sides of issues. He sued and got his job back. He was killed by IDF bombing when he went out in his car looking for water early in the war. He and his wife built and ran a kindergarten about 30 years ago.. The kindergarten was bombed about the same time Fathi was killed.. His wife survived and with money raised by family (some of their children living in Sweden and elsewhere) she was able to cross into Egypt from Rafah.
💔
Phil, thank you for your explanation. I respect that.
"One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back".
Carl Sagan, "The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark"
I so miss Carl. He was so insightful about the cosmos and everyday life.
Mark, I just received a book I’d ordered by Sagan, Billions & Billions: Thoughts on Live and Death at the Brink of the Millennium (1997), the last book he’d written & while he was dreadfully ill. I imagine his wisdom may be bittersweet.
I have not read it.
Lots of things to be FOR in this Letter. Now, his Party needs to be promoting this content harder and getting onto mainstream media so that more prospective voters are hearing information new to them. If they keep Trump in the spotlight like they did in 2016 instead of issues to be FOR, that terrible outcome may repeat.
Lots of good stuff in today's newsletter from Dr. Richardson. To me, the key paragraph was this:
"The differences between the parties’ apparent positions on the ACP illustrates the difference in their political ideology. Republicans object to government investment in society and believe market forces should be left to operate without interference in order to promote prosperity. Democrats believe that economic prosperity comes from the hard work of ordinary people and that government investment in society clears the way for those people to succeed."
This is the way the differences used to be, before the Republican Party descended into MAGA-madness and Putin worship. Vestiges of that philosophy remain sufficiently strong within the party to impede useful government projects like the ACP.
I also think that the Republican idea Dr. Richardson cites is based on a false premise. "Market forces" do not exist outside of human constructs that allow them to work. There is no such thing as The Free Market. In a similar way, nuclear energy, other than natural radiation, cannot be released on our planet without human beings creating the conditions for its use, either in bombs or in reactors. Unregulated market forces destroy societies. Uncontrolled nuclear energy can destroy all life on earth.
James Comer (KY -1) is such a pathetic tool. His quest for fame led him and Hannity to use Fox to manufacture fake news. In addition to atrocious judgment, I can't believe what a complete black hole he must have in his heart and mind to have devoted the past 4 years to tearing down the Bidens out of complete and utter lies. Have Hannity and Comer no shame at all? Is there no flickering light of decency within them?
Short answer: No.
Longer answer: Hell no.
👍🤣
Thank you Dr Richardson. When republicans are getting in their own way, stand back and watch.
SPW, I’d amend that to “stand back and duck & cover”….just sayin’.
Consider it so amended; at least in thought.
The R’s take their usual stance and that is from the good ole Reagan years when he wanted government out of the pockets of man. Of course, what he meant was that the rich didn’t want to pay any taxes so they shielded their monies by establishing offshore accounts where their assets couldn’t be traced. who is affected by these dastardly deeds but the middle and poor classes. I thank all of us everyday for voting Biden in. He and Kamala are sincere in lifting people out of poverty by providing jobs in industries that have long been stale. Look at the transportation sector now. We are rebuilding Baltimore’s bridge in record time and soon the port will accept more ships with goods through. With this admin, there is always an alternative. The Internet is essential and it is a right for everyone to have access to information. But see, that’s what the R’s fear. They are terrified the poor will rise up and take over. Lord knows, I sure hope that happens!
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Thank you Professor. I am hoping that Sean Hannity and the FNC have to pay Hunter Biden's lawyer, that OAN has to pay Michael Cohen, that James Comer isn't reelected and that they wrap him up in a defamation suit too! What a SH*T show! I know that it is a dream but, hope springs eternal!