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A few excerpts here from a beautifully written, deeply insightful, and ultimately inspiring essay by Chris Hedges…
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In the end, the election was about despair.
Despair over futures that evaporated with deindustrialization. Despair over the loss of 30 million jobs in mass layoffs. Despair over austerity programs and the funneling of wealth upwards into the hands of rapacious oligarchs. Despair over a liberal class that refuses to acknowledge the suffering it orchestrated under neoliberalism. Despair over the futile, endless wars, as well as the genocide in Gaza, where generals and politicians are never held accountable. Despair over a democratic system that has been seized by corporate and oligarchic power.
Donald Trump is a symptom of our diseased society. He is not its cause. He is what is vomited up out of decay.
Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party live in their own non-reality-based belief system. Harris, who was anointed by party elites and never received a single primary vote, proudly trumpeted her endorsement by Dick Cheney, a politician who left office with a 13% approval rating.
The smug, self-righteous “moral” crusade against Trump stokes the national reality television show that has replaced journalism and politics. It reduces a social, economic, and political crisis to the personality of Trump. It refuses to confront and name the corporate forces responsible for our failed democracy.
The American dream has become an American nightmare.
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FULL ESSAY ➡️ chrishedges.substack.com/p/the…
#USA #Politics #History #Economics #Israel #Gaza
The Politics of Cultural Despair
It is despair that is killing us. It fosters what Roger Lancaster calls “poisoned solidarity,” the intoxication forged from the negative energies of fear, envy, hatred and a lust for violence.Chris Hedges (The Chris Hedges Report)
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Here’s Barack Obama, speaking in 2012...
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“My administration has approved dozens of new oil and gas pipelines over the last three years. And as long as I’m President, we’re going to keep on encouraging oil development and infrastructure.
“Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. Over the last three years, I’ve directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states.
“We’re opening up more than 75 percent of our potential oil resources offshore. We’ve quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We’ve added enough new oil and gas pipeline to encircle the Earth and then some.”
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➡️ obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/t…
As I said above, when it comes to our climate and environment, we can't blame either the Democrats or the Republicans. We have to blame both. We have to blame capitalism.
#Politics #History #Economics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual
Remarks by the President on American-Made Energy
Cushing Pipe Yard Cushing, Oklahoma 10:22 A.M. CDTwhitehouse.gov
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From the Washington Post…
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The Biden administration has now outpaced the Trump administration in approving permits for drilling on public lands, and the United States is producing more oil than any country ever has. The unplanned fossil fuel boom reflects an uncomfortable truth for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris: It is difficult for any president to stop the spigot of U.S. oil production, a leading driver of both the economy and climate change.
“If you were to show someone who came from Mars the line of U.S. oil and gas production over the last 15 years, they probably would not be able to tell whether a Republican or Democrat was in the White House,” said Jason Bordoff, founding director of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
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#Politics #History #Economics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual
It’s obvious that a second Trump administration will be worse in almost every conceivable way from what a Harris administration might have been.
But let's not fool ourselves into believing that a Harris victory would have been *good* for our climate and environment. We've been going in the wrong direction for at least 20 years under Presidents from both parties — and there's no reason to think that Kamala Harris would have charted a different course.
SEE ➡️ archive.ph/VnlWF
When it comes to our climate and environment, we can't blame either the Democrats or the Republicans. We have to blame both. We have to blame capitalism.
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#Politics #History #Economics #Environment #Climate #ClimateChange #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual
In the six years between 2016 and 2021, according to data published in the most recent Circularity Gap Report, the global economy consumed 582 billion tonnes of materials — nearly as much as the 740 billion consumed in the *entire* 20th century.
REPORT ➡️ circularity-gap.world/2024
That’s very bad! But I wonder, do you think the world has been doing better since 2021? 🤔
I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that global consumption has NOT declined during the past three years. In fact, the level almost certainly has increased. But let’s just say it has remained steady.
If that’s true, it means another three years of the world annually consuming ~97 billion tonnes of materials. So the total over the past nine years is now at least 873 billion tonnes — or about 18% MORE than all the materials consumed in the 20th century!
Driven by capitalism’s incessant demand for profits at any cost, we are consuming ourselves to death. But who cares about that? As long as billionaires keep getting richer, that’s all that matters, right?
Business As Usual must go on.
#History #Economics #Capitalism #BusinessAsUsual
@economics-that-works @Npars01
Tracking the connections and interests of plutocratic appointments in Trump2.0 will be a next level sport. Can’t wait for the epic confrontation of competing billionaires interests played out in the cabinet.
I have to wonder how the prospective tariffs are playing with the Waltons.
But there is competition between Bezos and Musk with respect to aerospace subsidies.
(Paywalled)
ft.com/content/298a5fe6-8d4e-4…
Billionaire hedge fund manager lines himself up for Treasury secretary role
Top Trump fundraiser Scott Bessent canvasses for deputiesDemetri Sevastopulo (Financial Times)
To see all politicians trading, check Unusual Whales.
You can see when they buy and sell as they disclose.
See more: t.co/e9bnW7AFKV
#news #finance #economics #stocks #options
Market Portfolios
A description and breakdown of different market portfolios. Follow your favorite politician as their portfolio changes, follow legendary celebrity investors, and more.t.co
As a second Trump term looks more likely, the Brexiters hope/aim to (re)align the UK with the Atlanticist economy instead of looking across the channel to Europe appears ever more like a major mistake in national economic strategy.
If Trump wins (as now looks likely) & imposes the tariffs he 'promises' then the NIESR suggest the UK's already meagre growth rates will be halved, presenting a further economic headache for Govt. & country!
theguardian.com/us-news/2024/n…
Trump tariffs would halve UK growth and push up prices, says thinktank
NIESR warns Republican nominee’s protectionist policies, including against Britain, would harm domestic economyLarry Elliott (The Guardian)
BYD sales are almost all China, so BYD sells half a million EVs every month.
Astounding. Any understanding of history marks this as mind numbing.
Humanity is rich beyond knowledge.
"BYD sold over 500,000 vehicles for the first time in October: Is it enough to take the EV crown?"
electrek.co/2024/11/01/byd-sal…
#climate #economics #democracy #progress
BYD sold over 500,000 vehicles for the first time in October: Is it enough to take the EV crown?
BYD sales topped the 500,000 mark in October, its first time achieving the feat. After its fifth consecutive record sales...Peter Johnson (Electrek)
Blame Capitalism: for putting at risk not just your retirement savings but the entire fate of humanity.
theguardian.com/business/2024/…
#capitalism #neoliberalism #classwar #vulnerable #economics #bosses #workers #humanrights #environment #war #BlameCapitalism #livingwage #tax #taxburden #neoliberalism #trickledown #censorship #fossilfuels #mining #retirement
Private equity firms ploughing billions into fossil fuels, analysis reveals
US public sector workers’ retirement savings invested in projects that pump out a billion tonnes of emissions a yearDamien Gayle (The Guardian)
So-called Nobel Prize in Economics is NOT a Nobel prize!!
"To quote Alfred’s great-grandnephew Peter Nobel, “Nobel despised people who cared more about profits than society’s well-being. There is nothing to indicate that he would have wanted such a prize”, and deliberate association of Nobel prizes in Economics is “a PR coup by economists to improve their reputation” "
#Economics
#Nobel
developingeconomics.org/2024/1…
The Nobel Illusion: Why the Nobel Prize in Economics Needs to be Abolished
Every year the Nobel Prize is awarded to different disciplines including Economics. And each year it generates a wave of euphoria and hype. But unlike literature and natural sciences, economics is …Developing Economics