Nationalize SpaceX. The future of space exploration is too important to be left to the private sector. Furthermore, technologies critical to our national security must not be under the sole control of a mercurial, self-absorbed plutocrat who cares nothing for American interests or values. https://mastodon.social/@kcarruthers/113330496348418607
@aral > the next administration is either going to be neoliberal or fascist
You're going to need to convince me that an administration that's been doing robust anti-monopoly enforcement for the first time since 2001 is "neoliberal".
AFAICT the neoliberal rump of the Dems was shown the error of their ways in 2016, and had to comprise with the left of the party to get Biden elected. Which worked out so well their position is even weaker now.
Neoliberalism means (among other things) freedom to corporations over, and above, freedom to individuals. Monopolies are harmful to the neoliberal freedom as they deepen inequality among corporations. Anti-monopoly moves also give neoliberalism "human face", so people resist less.
The assessment of the robustness I leave to those closer to the US.
Julia Steinberger: Immigrant, Swiss-American-UK ecological economist at the University of Lausanne. Research focus on living well within planetary limits. Opinions my own.
Thanks for the link to Julia Steinberger's essay though @8petros, a relevant quote;
"As Wendy Brown masterfully tells the story ... Hayek’s neoliberal edifice starts, at its foundation, with a determination to destroy society, and democracy, understood as the ability of people to make common claims about their goals and aspirations. The imposition of market absolutism is a merely a means to an end: the goal is the destruction of democracy."
Exposing the secret history of the making of the climate crisis should change everything about how we act to stop it. This has been covered and evidenced over and over, so I will just restate the…
Great to see Julia Steinberger referencing the work of economist Amartya Sen. I still have a copy of Development as Freedom, it's essential reading for everyone who wants to understand the relationships between human freedoms and economics.
"It’s worth noting that neoliberals in the 1950s did not, although they should have, predict that unfettered markets lead to concentrations in monopolies or cartels. They would arguably disapprove of the vast corporations running our current economies, even though their market-above-democracy policies predictably brought them into being."
But she gives them too much credit. I suspect they not only predicted it, it was their goal.
This bit misses the point though. Fascism is the plutocracy's last line of defence against outbreaks of democracy. We have seen a rise of crypto-fascism since 2008, precisely because the GFC dealt a killing blow to neoliberalism's hold on the public imagination. Open fascism is their desperate attempt to hold onto their wealth and power.
Exposing the secret history of the making of the climate crisis should change everything about how we act to stop it. This has been covered and evidenced over and over, so I will just restate the…
Worth noting too that both sides of the Culture War are right that the leader's of the other side are promoting crypto-fascist politics. The plutocrats are smart enough not to take control of only one side, and risk losing. Those who advocate crypto-stalinist(1) tactics like censorship, public shaming and kangeroo courts are just as much a threat to democracy as those they think those they want those tactics to deal with.
(1) Stalin was a fascist, not a socialist by any meaningful definition.
"Rather than allow nameless faceless mega corporations to make predatory & destructive decisions, we should work together and trust each other to come up with better plans. This is true for every organisation, public or private, at any scale. We have a hugely diverse palette of democratic structures and processes to draw upon, from citizen assemblies to worker-user cooperatives."
Exposing the secret history of the making of the climate crisis should change everything about how we act to stop it. This has been covered and evidenced over and over, so I will just restate the…
"We should reapropriate our ability to learn and enact diverse forms of democratic governance, learning from successes and mistakes alike. As we learn how to work together and create different structures through our decision-making, we will learn to threaten the neoliberal hegemons and their power grip on our societies, including the capture and corruption of our states."
Exposing the secret history of the making of the climate crisis should change everything about how we act to stop it. This has been covered and evidenced over and over, so I will just restate the…
"... we now have technologies which would enable us to live well within planetary boundaries, but only if we invest our work in the most efficient ways of using resources (insulated housing, efficient household appliances, public transit & biking, plant-based diets, etc) AND sufficient consumption levels. Sufficiency means no deprivation, but also no major excess."
Exposing the secret history of the making of the climate crisis should change everything about how we act to stop it. This has been covered and evidenced over and over, so I will just restate the…
"If we move our economies and societies towards these measures, we could easily, within a couple of decades or even less, achieve prosperity and, yes, freedom, for all, within planetary boundaries, realising what George Monbiot has called ‘private frugality and public luxury.’ We could have beautiful, lush, safe living spaces, lower working time, more time for family, friends and community care, with greater autonomy and emancipation."
Exposing the secret history of the making of the climate crisis should change everything about how we act to stop it. This has been covered and evidenced over and over, so I will just restate the…
Well, whether they predicted it or not, we may agree, I hope, that what is happening now is detrimental. Let us remember that the main Steinberger's context is the climate change (which I perceive as an aspect of broader ecological succession). However we define the "playing field", this poses a serious risk to wipe out everyone involved.
Granted, my thinking of freedom is obviously self-limited. As for the US aministrations - I am not that focused on your local problems to try to argue. US-originated companies (among others) abroad, in turn, show no signs of demonopolisation, let alone decolonialisation. Think GAFAM, fossil industries and private investment funds for example. It may be, as it happened many times before, that the metropoly sets different standard at home and abroad. As the old saying goes, "a gentleman West of Suez is not responsible for gentleman East of Suez".
Putting aside geopolitics, I've read about big differences in domestic policy. But I've never been to the US so I'm not really qualified to comment on that.
But internet policy? That I know a bit about.
Let's compare and contrast in that area. Because I think the next administration could determine whether the net remains an open and uncapturable network of networks;
< Wspomóż Petroskowo
>
Aral Balkan
in reply to James Gleick • • •Strypey
in reply to Aral Balkan • • •@aral
> the next administration is either going to be neoliberal or fascist
You're going to need to convince me that an administration that's been doing robust anti-monopoly enforcement for the first time since 2001 is "neoliberal".
AFAICT the neoliberal rump of the Dems was shown the error of their ways in 2016, and had to comprise with the left of the party to get Biden elected. Which worked out so well their position is even weaker now.
@gleick
8Petros [Signal: Petros.63]
in reply to Strypey • — (Internet) •Neoliberalism means (among other things) freedom to corporations over, and above, freedom to individuals. Monopolies are harmful to the neoliberal freedom as they deepen inequality among corporations. Anti-monopoly moves also give neoliberalism "human face", so people resist less.
The assessment of the robustness I leave to those closer to the US.
I invite everybody to read an essay here:
What we are up against - Julia Steinberger - Medium
Lydia Conwell likes this.
Strypey
in reply to 8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] • • •@8petros
> Neoliberalism means (mong other things) freedom to corporations
> Monopolies are harmful to the neoliberal freedom
Pick one. The freedom to create and maintain monopolies is one of the most important corporate freedoms protected by neoliberal policy.
> Anti-monopoly moves also give neoliberalism "human face", so people resist less.
The *appearance* of them, sure. Not ones that actually threaten to break monopolies. So not relevant to the Biden administration.
@aral @gleick
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •Thanks for the link to Julia Steinberger's essay though @8petros, a relevant quote;
"As Wendy Brown masterfully tells the story ... Hayek’s neoliberal edifice starts, at its foundation, with a determination to destroy society, and democracy, understood as the ability of people to make common claims about their goals and aspirations. The imposition of market absolutism is a merely a means to an end: the goal is the destruction of democracy."
https://jksteinberger.medium.com/what-we-are-up-against-2290ba8c4b5c
@aral @gleick
What we are up against - Julia Steinberger - Medium
Julia Steinberger (Medium)Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •Great to see Julia Steinberger referencing the work of economist Amartya Sen. I still have a copy of Development as Freedom, it's essential reading for everyone who wants to understand the relationships between human freedoms and economics.
#economics #AmartyaSen #DevelopmentAsFreedom
@8petros @aral @gleick
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •Here's Julia Steinberger again;
"It’s worth noting that neoliberals in the 1950s did not, although they should have, predict that unfettered markets lead to concentrations in monopolies or cartels. They would arguably disapprove of the vast corporations running our current economies, even though their market-above-democracy policies predictably brought them into being."
But she gives them too much credit. I suspect they not only predicted it, it was their goal.
@8petros @aral @gleick
8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] likes this.
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •"The hour is late, both in terms of the triumph of neoliberal economics and its tag-along fascism ..."
#JuliaSteinberger, 2024
https://jksteinberger.medium.com/what-we-are-up-against-2290ba8c4b5c
This bit misses the point though. Fascism is the plutocracy's last line of defence against outbreaks of democracy. We have seen a rise of crypto-fascism since 2008, precisely because the GFC dealt a killing blow to neoliberalism's hold on the public imagination. Open fascism is their desperate attempt to hold onto their wealth and power.
What we are up against - Julia Steinberger - Medium
Julia Steinberger (Medium)Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •Worth noting too that both sides of the Culture War are right that the leader's of the other side are promoting crypto-fascist politics. The plutocrats are smart enough not to take control of only one side, and risk losing. Those who advocate crypto-stalinist(1) tactics like censorship, public shaming and kangeroo courts are just as much a threat to democracy as those they think those they want those tactics to deal with.
(1) Stalin was a fascist, not a socialist by any meaningful definition.
8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] likes this.
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •"Rather than allow nameless faceless mega corporations to make predatory & destructive decisions, we should work together and trust each other to come up with better plans. This is true for every organisation, public or private, at any scale. We have a hugely diverse palette of democratic structures and processes to draw upon, from citizen assemblies to worker-user cooperatives."
#JuliaSteinberger, 2024
https://jksteinberger.medium.com/what-we-are-up-against-2290ba8c4b5c
This!
#democracy
(1/2)
What we are up against - Julia Steinberger - Medium
Julia Steinberger (Medium)8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] likes this.
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •"We should reapropriate our ability to learn and enact diverse forms of democratic governance, learning from successes and mistakes alike. As we learn how to work together and create different structures through our decision-making, we will learn to threaten the neoliberal hegemons and their power grip on our societies, including the capture and corruption of our states."
#JuliaSteinberger, 2024
https://jksteinberger.medium.com/what-we-are-up-against-2290ba8c4b5c
This too!
(2/2)
What we are up against - Julia Steinberger - Medium
Julia Steinberger (Medium)Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •"... we now have technologies which would enable us to live well within planetary boundaries, but only if we invest our work in the most efficient ways of using resources (insulated housing, efficient household appliances, public transit & biking, plant-based diets, etc) AND sufficient consumption levels. Sufficiency means no deprivation, but also no major excess."
#JuliaSteinberger, 2024
https://jksteinberger.medium.com/what-we-are-up-against-2290ba8c4b5c
Onwards to fully automated luxury communism!
(1/2)
What we are up against - Julia Steinberger - Medium
Julia Steinberger (Medium)8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] likes this.
Strypey
in reply to Strypey • • •"If we move our economies and societies towards these measures, we could easily, within a couple of decades or even less, achieve prosperity and, yes, freedom, for all, within planetary boundaries, realising what George Monbiot has called ‘private frugality and public luxury.’ We could have beautiful, lush, safe living spaces, lower working time, more time for family, friends and community care, with greater autonomy and emancipation."
#JuliaSteinberger, 2024
https://jksteinberger.medium.com/what-we-are-up-against-2290ba8c4b5c
(2/2)
What we are up against - Julia Steinberger - Medium
Julia Steinberger (Medium)8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] likes this.
Aral Balkan
in reply to Strypey • • •8Petros [Signal: Petros.63]
in reply to Strypey • •Strypey
in reply to 8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] • • •@8petros
> we may agree, I hope, that what is happening now is detrimental
In case it's not clear from everything else I've said, yes, we agree on that : )
@aral @gleick
8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] likes this.
8Petros [Signal: Petros.63]
in reply to Strypey • — (Internet) •As for the US aministrations - I am not that focused on your local problems to try to argue. US-originated companies (among others) abroad, in turn, show no signs of demonopolisation, let alone decolonialisation. Think GAFAM, fossil industries and private investment funds for example. It may be, as it happened many times before, that the metropoly sets different standard at home and abroad. As the old saying goes, "a gentleman West of Suez is not responsible for gentleman East of Suez".
Strypey
in reply to 8Petros [Signal: Petros.63] • • •@8petros
> US-originated companies (among others) abroad, in turn, show no signs of demonopolisation
You seem to have missed... everything that's been happening in both the EU and the US over the last 5-10 years;
https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/113277014515639131
> I am not that focused on your local problems to try to argue
I'm in Aotearoa not the US. But DataFarming corporations are a global problem.
@aral @gleick
Strypey
2024-10-09 10:34:30
8Petros [Signal: Petros.63]
in reply to Strypey • •I suppose I was watching different fragments of reality.
#BlindMenAndTheElephant.
After browsing your profile, I think we can benefit more from assuming our perspectives are complementary, rather than substitute.
Strypey likes this.