#lobbying — Public Fediverse posts

https://www.europesays.com/ch/125920/ Swiss invention helps Tibet’s diaspora make election choices #Article #BeatGlobalElections #BeatInformationWars #CitizensInitiativeAndRecall #government #HumanRights #lobbying #Multi #parliament #ProductionTypeAdaptation #Swiss #Switzerland #UserNeedGiveMePerspective

https://www.europesays.com/ch/125780/ Swiss invention helps Tibet’s diaspora make election choices #Article #BeatGlobalElections #BeatInformationWars #CitizensInitiativeAndRecall #government #HumanRights #lobbying #Multi #parliament #ProductionTypeAdaptation #Swiss #Switzerland #UserNeedGiveMePerspective

@crazyeddie @aworkinglibrary
It is probably about car dependency, car-centered areas. Like in the US where in many towns without a car one would struggle to do anything: getting to the grocery store, getting back from the store, reaching the other river bank as many bridges are motor vehicles only.

People can’t live without cars in such places. Even food banks have huge lines of cars, four "lanes". Some homeless people drive cars as well. Imagine the closest grocery store being 1 hour walking distance away, and the weather may be extremely hot/cold.

Many such areas don’t even have sidewalks or anything for walking at all. At the same time so called "jay-walking" is prohibited by law. The term "jaywalking" actually was invented by the cars lobby in the early 20th century. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaywalking
Moving around by walking is extremely inconvenient, dangerous, taking ridiculous amounts of time, basically incompatible with everyday activities.

Also the parking lots, roads, intersections take up huge chunks of the city. Consider how much longer it takes to walk somewhere compared to what it could be without all these. Urban areas could look very different if they were human-centered and Points Of Interest were packed tightly.

And the bigger the city, the more space car infrastructure takes up. More lanes, wider intersections, parking lots can have up to many thousands spots, highways, freeways, interchanges of ridiculous sizes and shapes.

The topic is huge, what I mentioned is just the tip. Think of what you see around every day. Also all the noise. And danger it brings to everyone, not just drivers. The number of so called "accidents", another convenient term for the horrible things that happen everyday.

The areas which are pedestrian-friendly, bicycle friendly, have public transportation tend to have happier residents, more attraction points, more small businesses, more street life, way better air quality, less noise among other benefits.
Also social connections and interaction happen there and not on a 4-lane highway.

#Cars #Car #City #Urban #Streets
#Cities #CarFree #Roads #CarDependancy #StreetLife #Safety #Bycicles #Walking #UrbanSprawl #OneMoreLane #InducedTraffic #PublicTransport #PublicTransit #Access #PublicTransportation #Accessibility #Accessible #PublicSpaces #Socialization #Capitalism #Subsidies #Lobbying #WordsMatter #History #CarsAreDangerous #FuckCars

Andy Burnham: Kick Palantir out of our NHS!

Rumours are Andy #Burnham wants to kick out Palantir from #OurNHS

But Palantir’s army of lobbyists won’t give up without a fight - like when they sued Mayor of London for blocking their £50mil #MetPolice deal

#Petition text

Put patients before #corporate #lobbyists

End #Palantir’s contracts with #NHS & #police. Protect our #private #data

https://act.38degrees.org.uk/act/Kick-Out-Palantir-eoi?utm_medium=mastodon_fediverse

#CorporateTerrorism #privacy #medical #BigData #corruption #lobbying #DemocracyNOW

A quotation from John Adams

Your “ἄρiςτοi” [aristocrats] are the most difficult Animals to manage, of any thing in the whole Theory and practice of Government. They will not Suffer themselves to be governed. They not only exert all their own Subtilty Industry and courage, but they employ the Commonalty, to knock to pieces every Plan and Model that the most honest Architects in Legislation can invent to keep them within bounds.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1813-07-09) to Thomas Jefferson

More about this quote: wist.info/adams-john/84725/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #johnadams #aristocracy #aristocrat #classwarfare #government #lobbying #politicalinfluence #politicaltheory #politics #power #propaganda #ruleoflaw #upperclass

#British and #American #politics has lead to a point where anyone labeled a #terrorist just might be a #protestor and not an actual terrorist.

When #protestors are deemed an enemy of the state, that's when the state no longer represents the people.

In fact, both these States show how #lobbying has let politicians be bought and sold by foreign nation state actors, to the point where neither have #democracy anymore and that they should both be deemed #antidemocratic.

https://thespectaclemag.substack.com/p/the-greatest-injustice-in-modern

@Katika

I do not think we require that. Neither W Social nor Wedium or any other of that crap.

In case you are looking for an interesting business network consider to check

➡️ www.bizzfed.de

Part of the Fediverse, just being built, interesting perspective for everyone who wants to exchance views and opinions in the business field. Incl. job opportunities.

#bizzfed

#wsocial #network #Blick #AnnaZeiter #AliceWeidel #Nazis #socialmedia #platform #Tech #empire #European #Sovereignty #Lobbying #rich #powerful #EuropeanUnion

#wsocial was announcing a top-down approach to get their #network working & they are doing it

In the #Blick article #AnnaZeiter explains why #AliceWeidel & other #Nazis are welcome to her #socialmedia #platform https://www.blick.ch/digital/anna-zeiter-bringt-twitter-alternative-w-social-auch-alice-weidel-ist-willkommen-id22026157.html

wSocial tries to become a new #Tech #empire by pulling on their personal networks & riding the problematic term of #European #Sovereignty

#Lobbying the #rich & #powerful seems to pay out in the #EuropeanUnion ¯\(°_o)/¯

Observatoire des multinationales (ODM)
Lobbying pour Shein : les aveux tardifs de Christophe Castaner
https://mcinformactions.net/lobbying-pour-shein-les-aveux-tardifs-de-christophe-castaner
#Shein #Castaner #lobbying

RE: https://aus.social/@mojo/116453455095944748

Corporate energy giants (mostly foreign not Australian): “endless funding for lobbying and spin, but resistance when asked to pay a fair return on public resources.”
WHY? IS? IT? SO? 🤔

#AusPol #energyCompanies #lobbying #notPayingFairTaxes #AustralianResources #socialLicense #advertising #arrogance

WSJ: Lobbyists Easily Destroyed Any Semi-Serious Antitrust Enforcers Left In MAGA

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2026/04/02/wsj-lobbyists-easily-destroyed-any-semi-serious-antitrust-enforcers-left-in-maga/

Total a obéit aux menaces du Trumpistan, le doigt sur la couture du pantalon.

Le projet du géant français de l'énergie, créer 2 fermes éoliennes capables de produire de l'électricité pour 1 millions d'americains.

Oui mais voilà, BigOil et ses donations/corruption aux politiciens US en avait décidé autrement.
À force de lobbying et de menaces des sanctions US, ,Total a accepté d'abandonner ces 2 projets, déjà entamés, en échange d'un plat de lentilles dorées.
1 milliard, c'est visiblement le coût de la probité de l'entreprise française.

En échange, Total achètera aux USofA du pétrole issu de la fracturation, qui confisque les terres des autochtones et pollue les nappes phréatique au point de rendre l'eau des communautés alentour impropres à la consommation humaine.

Sans l'autorisation de Macrotte, rien de tout cela n'aurait été possible.

Illégitimes, corrompus, autorisant l'armée fasciste US à utiliser ses installation ET pollueurs, le bilan du macronisme fait vraiment rêver, non ?

https://www.franceinfo.fr/replay-radio/le-brief-eco/totalenergies-abandonne-deux-concessions-eoliennes-aux-etats-unis-pour-investir-dans-le-gaz-naturel_7857464.html

#Pollution #Eoliennes #TotalEnergies #BoycottTotal #Chantage #Lobbying #BigOil

Jensen Huang Is Begging You to Stop Being So Negative About AI – Gizmodo

Artificial Intelligence

Jensen Huang Is Begging You to Stop Being So Negative About AI

“[It’s] extremely hurtful, frankly, and I think we’ve done a lot of damage,” he said.

By AJ Dellinger, Published January 12, 2026

Reading time 3 minutes

Comments (50)

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who has seen his net worth skyrocket by nearly $100 billion since the AI boom started a couple of years ago, would really appreciate it if you would stop talking about the potential harms of the technology that’s supercharged his fortune. It’s really harshing his vibe.

In an appearance on the No Priors podcast hosted by Elad Gil and Sarah Guo, Huang took aim at people who have suggested AI may have some significant, detrimental impact, from job displacement to expanding the surveillance state. “[It’s] extremely hurtful, frankly, and I think we’ve done a lot of damage with very well-respected people who have painted a doomer narrative,” he said.

According to Huang, considering the potential existential risks of unleashing AI on society may do more harm than good. “It’s not helpful. It’s not helpful to people. It’s not helpful to the industry. It’s not helpful to society. It’s not helpful to the governments,” he said. He particularly took issue with other people in the industry going to the government and asking for regulation and mandatory safeguards. “You have to ask yourself, you know, what is the purpose of that narrative and what are their intentions,” he asked rhetorically. “Why are they talking to governments about these things to create regulations to suffocate startups?”

Huang isn’t totally off-base about some of what he’s suggesting. Regulatory capture is a real risk, especially as multi-billion-dollar companies look to lock in their lead by using their absurd wealth to sway politicians and cement favorable policy. And there’s no doubt that AI players have been getting into the lobbying business. According to the Wall Street Journal, Silicon Valley firms have already poured more than $100 million into new Super PACs to push pro-AI messaging in the lead-up to midterm elections in 2026. There is also zero doubt that industry players use societal-scale risks as a marketing tactic: it makes their product seem full of endless potential, and it suggests they need to maintain control of it to keep everyone safe rather than letting this powerful tool fall into the wrong hands or be controlled by some government regulator. 

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Jensen Huang Is Begging You to Stop Being So Negative About AI

Europe’s corruption challenge goes beyond an East–West divide.

Petty bribery may be rarer in Western Europe, but influence, lobbying and regulatory capture remain powerful — and often minimised.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20260101-europes-corruption-challenge-goes-beyond-an-eastwest-divide?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

#Corruption #Europe #Bribery #Lobbying #RegulatoryCapture #FedericaMogherini #LePen #Ukraine #Politics #Business

Observatoire des multinationales (ODM)
Pourquoi il faut faire la lumière sur le lobbying de Shein et le rôle de Christophe Castaner
https://mcinformactions.net/pourquoi-il-faut-faire-la-lumiere-sur-le-lobbying-de-shein-et-le-role-de-227455
#Shein #Castaner #lobbying

À lire, c'est édifiant !
INTÉGRISME CATHOLIQUE UN PROBLÈME MAJEUR
Pour que chacune et chacun prenne la mesure de l’influence et de la dangerosité des réseaux #intégristes #catholiques, nous avons cartographié pour vous les principaux groupes actifs et infiltrés en #Europe.
Génération Athée
https://www.generation-athee.fr/2025/11/28/cartographie-des-principaux-groupes-integristes-catholiques-en-europe/
#athée #athéisme #athéalisme #politique #social #Économies #laïcité #religion #secte #Lobbying #entrisme #ingérence

À lire, c'est édifiant !
INTÉGRISME CATHOLIQUE UN PROBLÈME MAJEUR
Pour que chacune et chacun prenne la mesure de l’influence et de la dangerosité des réseaux #intégristes #catholiques, nous avons cartographié pour vous les principaux groupes actifs et infiltrés en #Europe.
Génération Athée
https://www.generation-athee.fr/2025/11/28/cartographie-des-principaux-groupes-integristes-catholiques-en-europe/
#athée #athéisme #athéalisme #politique #social #Économies #laïcité #religion #secte #Lobbying #entrisme #ingérence

À lire, c'est édifiant !
INTÉGRISME CATHOLIQUE UN PROBLÈME MAJEUR
Pour que chacune et chacun prenne la mesure de l’influence et de la dangerosité des réseaux #intégristes #catholiques, nous avons cartographié pour vous les principaux groupes actifs et infiltrés en #Europe.
Génération Athée
https://www.generation-athee.fr/2025/11/28/cartographie-des-principaux-groupes-integristes-catholiques-en-europe/
#athée #athéisme #athéalisme #politique #social #Économies #laïcité #religion #secte #Lobbying #entrisme #ingérence

Observatoire des multinationales (ODM)
Pourquoi il faut faire la lumière sur le lobbying de Shein et le rôle de Christophe Castaner
https://mcinformactions.net/pourquoi-il-faut-faire-la-lumiere-sur-le-lobbying-de-shein-et-le-role-de
#multinationales #Shein #Castaner #lobbying

A recently retired #PublicServant who headed up safety management for Can­ada’s #NuclearRegulator is now #lobbying his former agency on behalf of the #NuclearIndustry. Brian Torrie left his post at the #Canadian #NuclearSafety #Commission #CNSC in October, according to a post on LinkedIn. He spent nearly 18 years at the commission, which regulates the use of #NuclearEnergy and materials, most recently serving as the director general of the directorate of safety management, and then as an acting vice president.

https://theijf.org/former-federal-nuclear-safety-head-starts-lobbying-for-nuclear-industry

#ConflictOfInterest #CDNpoli #DirtyDeeds #ShadyDeals #Corruption #GovernmentOfCanada #BanCorporateLobbyists #NuclearSafety #ExposeLobbyists #PublicTransparency #PublicAccountability #PublicScrutiny #Canadian #NuclearSafety #ShadyMenInSuits #PublicInterest

Aurore Bergé entendue par les juges pour "faux témoignage": la ministre a été placée sous le statut de témoin assistée, plus favorable que celui de mise en examen après son audition par un juge d'instruction, selon l'AFP. L'élue des Yvelines est soupçonnée d'avoir caché ses liens avec le lobby des crèches privées. Les enquêteurs doivent encore exploiter les saisies effectuées lors de la perquisition de son domicile.

#Politique #AuroreBerge #Justice #Creches #Lobbying #DirectAN #Gouvernement

Pourquoi il faut faire la lumière sur le #lobbying de #Shein et le rôle de Christophe #Castaner https://reporterre.net/Christophe-Castaner-conseiller-chez-Shein-la-mode-francaise-outree

L’offensive de lobbying de Shein en France a-t-elle réussi à retarder, puis à vider de sa substance la proposition de loi sur la « #fastfashion » https://www.amisdelaterre.org/communique-presse/loi-fast-fashion-bercy-cede-aux-lobbies/ pourtant adoptée à l’unanimité par l’Assemblée nationale ? Et quel est exactement le rôle de l’ex ministre Christophe Castaner, recruté par le groupe chinois ? https://multinationales.org/fr/enquetes/comment-shein-veut-imposer-son-modele/

"L’offensive de lobbying de Shein en France a-t-elle réussi à retarder, puis à vider de sa substance la proposition de loi sur la « fast-fashion », pourtant adoptée à l’unanimité par l’Assemblée nationale ? Et quel est exactement le rôle de l’ex ministre Christophe Castaner, recruté par le groupe chinois ?"

par @obs_multinationales : https://multinationales.org/fr/enquetes/comment-shein-veut-imposer-son-modele/

#parlement #lobbying #lobbys #Castaner #vêtements #fastFashion #salariat #Shein #multinationales #ObservatoireDesMultinationales

En som är ännu bättre som är direkt applicerbar på Sverige!

#korruption #Klägg #Lobbying

@klagget

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jbSM6trGodE

Tyvärr väldigt relevant även i Sverige nu när vi har ett klägg som fyller mesta av riksdagen.

GenericArtDad - How Does Lobbying Even Work?
Youtube short.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pgC_6XMX6Wg

#SePol #Lobbying #Klägg #Privatisering

The 162 corporations and trade associations which declare EU lobby budgets of over €1 million annually, collectively declare at least €343 million per year.

Five-year growth: Since 2020, these corporate interests have declared nearly €86 million more, marking a one-third increase over five years.

https://corporateeurope.org/en/2025/02/eus-lobby-league-table 🧵

#Tech #Banking #Chemicals #lobbying #Brussels #energy #offsets #Europe #greenCapitalism #electricity #EU #growth #spillovers #transition #lobbies #openData #LobbyControl

"The need for decarbonisation poses an existential threat to the #oilAndGas industry, which is why they have created multiple ‘escape hatches’ to continue fossil fuel burning, including techno-fixes like CCUS and carbon removals. […] Europe is showering public money and policy support on these dangerous distractions designed to keep Big Oil and Gas in business."
https://corporateeurope.org/en/CarbonCoupRevisited

#lobbying #ICM #energy #offsets #Europe #greenCapitalism #EU #carbon #growth #spillovers #transition #lobbies

Lobbyists for a coalition of six groups succeeded in getting changes into a 2021 Portman-Cardin bill governing IRS #oversight of #private #retirement #plans.

Fact sheets provided to POLITICO
— which a Hill staffer said the lobbyists distributed to advocate for their proposal
— sold the changes as fixes that would help elderly Americans, such as retired government and factory workers,
who had inadvertently put too much in their retirement accounts and could face penalties from the IRS.

But the lobbyists were also targeting benefits for a different demographic.

The head of the coalition, according to his biography, specializes in tax planning for🌟 “ultra-high-net-worth clients.” 🌟

The coalition also included an advocacy group that has previously been tied to the #Koch #network
— and which engaged in a massive lobbying campaign against efforts to restructure Puerto Rico’s debt that was owned by hedge fund managers in 2015.

Tax lawyers who reviewed the statutory changes said they would in fact
👉 make it far more difficult for the IRS to penalize supersized retirement accounts where owners avoided millions of dollars in taxes. 👈

“The lobby power of these groups is tremendous,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

“There has been little lobby effort for [low-income taxpayers] and plenty of lobbying from those people in the financial services industry that benefit from those retirement plans

#Secure #financial #services #industry #tax #advantaged #retirement #savings #taxes #Cardin #Portman #Neal #lobbying

Five months before Congress faced a near-catastrophic 2022 standoff over the debt ceiling,
with Republicans demanding restrictions to food and Medicaid programs to rein in spending,
a bill that raised the cost of private retirement savings accounts to $282 billion per year was quietly signed into law.

In this era of deeply divided politics, the 2022 bill known as "#Secure 2.0" was hailed as a bipartisan success — a victory for average Americans.
It had sailed through the House by a whopping 414-5 vote.
It followed four other major bills passed between 1996 and 2019 that 🔸dramatically expanded taxpayer savings 🔸– all equally lauded as bipartisan victories.

But that rare issue that brought a divided Washington together also 💥increased wealth disparities and the federal deficit. 💥

And the victory was most strongly applauded by the burgeoning #financial #services #industry, for whom #tax-#advantaged #retirement #savings has transformed a $7 trillion retirement market in 1995 to a $38.4 trillion behemoth in 2023.

👉Tax-advantaged savings has become a staple of the American retirement system, with 60 million savers squirreling away $6.6 trillion in their 401(k)s, alone.

But a yearlong POLITICO investigation found that Secure 2.0 and its predecessor bills have expanded the system well beyond its goal of helping the middle class.

Today, ⭐️wealthy taxpayers can protect up to $452,500 per year ⭐️in tax-advantaged accounts in a single year, 👉saving up to $203,600 on their #taxes.

And they can keep their money in tax-advantaged accounts far longer.

More striking is how these victories were achieved:
A quarter-century partnership between two senators
— Democrat Ben #Cardin of Maryland and Republican Rob #Portman of Ohio
— joined more recently by the former House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard #Neal (D-Mass.).

Backed by one of the most highly skilled and lavishly funded industry #lobbying teams, and greased by campaign contributions, Portman, Cardin and Neal turned what could have been a deeply controversial giveback to higher-income taxpayers into a staple of the American Dream.

They appealed to core beliefs in both parties
— free enterprise for Republicans, economic security for Democrats
– to enact what is arguably the most costly series of non-Defense bills in recent decades.

Indeed, that success now vexes many retirement experts, alarmed by how easily Congress acquiesces to tax breaks for retirement savings that 🔹disproportionately help the wealthy 🔹while treating the benefits relied upon by most retirees
— Social Security and Medicare
— as "budget-busters ripe for reform".

🔥“The 401(k) industry owns Congress,” 🔥said Daniel Hemel, a professor and tax law scholar based at NYU School of Law.
“Either lawmakers were trying to pull a fast one on the American people or lobbyists were trying to pull a fast one on Congress.
I don’t know which story is better. I don’t know which one I should want to believe.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/13/how-your-401k-ate-the-federal-budget-00150319

A World of Slaves:
Most Americans haven’t seen what’s coming.

Nancy MacLean notes that when the #Kochs’ control of the GOP kicked into high gear after the financial crisis of 2007-08, many were so stunned by the “shock-and-awe” tactics of #shutting #down government, #destroying #labor unions, and #rolling #back #services that meet citizens’ basic necessities that few realized that many leading the charge had been trained in economics at Virginia institutions, especially George Mason University.

Wasn’t it just a new, particularly vicious wave of partisan politics?
It wasn’t.

MacLean convincingly illustrates that it was something far more disturbing.
MacLean is not the only scholar to sound the alarm that the country is experiencing a #hostile #takeover that is well on its way to radically, and perhaps permanently, altering the society.

Peter #Temin, former head of the MIT economics department, INET grantee, and author of "The Vanishing Middle Class", as well as economist Gordon #Lafer of the University of Oregon and author of "The One Percent Solution", have provided eye-opening analyses of where America is headed and why.

MacLean adds another dimension to this dystopian big picture, acquainting us with what has been overlooked in the capitalist right wing’s playbook.

She observes, for example, that many liberals have missed the point of strategies like #privatization.

Efforts to “reform” #public #education and #Social #Security are not just about a preference for the private sector over the public sector, she argues. You can wrap your head around those, even if you don’t agree.

Instead, MacLean contends, the goal of these strategies is to radically alter power relations, #weakening pro-public forces and #enhancing the #lobbying #power and commitment of the corporations that take over public services and resources, thus advancing the plans to #dismantle #democracy and make way for a return to #oligarchy.

The majority will be held captive so that the wealthy can finally be free to do as they please, no matter how destructive.

MacLean argues that despite the rhetoric of Virginia school acolytes, shrinking big government is not really the point.

The #oligarchs require a government with tremendous new powers so that they can bypass the will of the people.
This, as MacLean points out, requires greatly #expanding #police #powers “to control the resultant popular anger.”
The spreading use of pre-emption by GOP-controlled state legislatures to suppress local progressive victories such as living wage ordinances is another example of the right’s #aggressive use of #state #power.

👉Could these right-wing capitalists allow private companies to fill #prisons with helpless citizens—or, more profitable still, right-less undocumented #immigrants? ☑️They could, and have.

👉Might they engineer a #retirement #crisis by moving Americans to inadequate 401(k)s? ☑️Done.

👉Take away the rights of consumers and workers to bring grievances to court by making them sign #forced #arbitration agreements? ☑️Check.

👉Gut #public #education to the point where ordinary people have such bleak prospects that they have no energy to fight back? ☑️Getting it done.

👉Would they even refuse children #clean #water? ☑️Actually, yes.

MacLean notes that in #Flint, Michigan, Americans got a taste of what the emerging oligarchy will look like — it tastes like #poisoned #water. There, the Koch-funded Mackinac Center pushed for legislation that would allow the governor to take control of communities facing emergency and put unelected managers in charge.
In Flint, one such manager switched the city’s water supply to a polluted river, but the Mackinac Center’s lobbyists ensured that the law was fortified by protections against lawsuits that poisoned inhabitants might bring. Tens of thousands of children were exposed to #lead, a substance known to cause serious health problems including brain damage.

Libertarian economist Tyler #Cowen has provided an economic #justification for this kind of #brutality, stating that where it is difficult to get clean water, private companies should take over and make people pay for it. “This includes giving them the right to cut off people who don’t—or can’t—pay their bills,” he explains.

To many this sounds grotesquely #inhumane, but it is a way of thinking that has deep roots in America.

In "Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative" (2005), Buchanan considers the charge of #heartlessness made against the kind of classic liberal that he took himself to be.

MacLean interprets his discussion to mean that people who “failed to foresee and save money for their future needs” are to be treated, as Buchanan put it, “as #subordinate members of the species, akin to…#animals who are dependent.’”

Do you have your education, health care, and retirement personally funded against all possible exigencies?
Then that means #you.

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

A World of Slaves:
Most Americans haven’t seen what’s coming.

Nancy MacLean notes that when the #Kochs’ control of the GOP kicked into high gear after the financial crisis of 2007-08, many were so stunned by the “shock-and-awe” tactics of #shutting #down government, #destroying #labor unions, and #rolling #back #services that meet citizens’ basic necessities that few realized that many leading the charge had been trained in economics at Virginia institutions, especially George Mason University.

Wasn’t it just a new, particularly vicious wave of partisan politics?
It wasn’t.

MacLean convincingly illustrates that it was something far more disturbing.
MacLean is not the only scholar to sound the alarm that the country is experiencing a #hostile #takeover that is well on its way to radically, and perhaps permanently, altering the society.

Peter #Temin, former head of the MIT economics department, INET grantee, and author of "The Vanishing Middle Class", as well as economist Gordon #Lafer of the University of Oregon and author of "The One Percent Solution", have provided eye-opening analyses of where America is headed and why.

MacLean adds another dimension to this dystopian big picture, acquainting us with what has been overlooked in the capitalist right wing’s playbook.

She observes, for example, that many liberals have missed the point of strategies like #privatization.

Efforts to “reform” #public #education and #Social #Security are not just about a preference for the private sector over the public sector, she argues. You can wrap your head around those, even if you don’t agree.

Instead, MacLean contends, the goal of these strategies is to radically alter power relations, #weakening pro-public forces and #enhancing the #lobbying #power and commitment of the corporations that take over public services and resources, thus advancing the plans to #dismantle #democracy and make way for a return to #oligarchy.

The majority will be held captive so that the wealthy can finally be free to do as they please, no matter how destructive.

MacLean argues that despite the rhetoric of Virginia school acolytes, shrinking big government is not really the point.

The #oligarchs require a government with tremendous new powers so that they can bypass the will of the people.
This, as MacLean points out, requires greatly #expanding #police #powers “to control the resultant popular anger.”
The spreading use of pre-emption by GOP-controlled state legislatures to suppress local progressive victories such as living wage ordinances is another example of the right’s #aggressive use of #state #power.

👉Could these right-wing capitalists allow private companies to fill #prisons with helpless citizens—or, more profitable still, right-less undocumented #immigrants? ☑️They could, and have.

👉Might they engineer a #retirement #crisis by moving Americans to inadequate 401(k)s? ☑️Done.

👉Take away the rights of consumers and workers to bring grievances to court by making them sign #forced #arbitration agreements? ☑️Check.

👉Gut #public #education to the point where ordinary people have such bleak prospects that they have no energy to fight back? ☑️Getting it done.

👉Would they even refuse children #clean #water? ☑️Actually, yes.

MacLean notes that in #Flint, Michigan, Americans got a taste of what the emerging oligarchy will look like — it tastes like #poisoned #water. There, the Koch-funded Mackinac Center pushed for legislation that would allow the governor to take control of communities facing emergency and put unelected managers in charge.
In Flint, one such manager switched the city’s water supply to a polluted river, but the Mackinac Center’s lobbyists ensured that the law was fortified by protections against lawsuits that poisoned inhabitants might bring. Tens of thousands of children were exposed to #lead, a substance known to cause serious health problems including brain damage.

Libertarian economist Tyler #Cowen has provided an economic #justification for this kind of #brutality, stating that where it is difficult to get clean water, private companies should take over and make people pay for it. “This includes giving them the right to cut off people who don’t—or can’t—pay their bills,” he explains.

To many this sounds grotesquely #inhumane, but it is a way of thinking that has deep roots in America.

In "Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative" (2005), Buchanan considers the charge of #heartlessness made against the kind of classic liberal that he took himself to be.

MacLean interprets his discussion to mean that people who “failed to foresee and save money for their future needs” are to be treated, as Buchanan put it, “as #subordinate members of the species, akin to…#animals who are dependent.’”

Do you have your education, health care, and retirement personally funded against all possible exigencies?
Then that means #you.

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

A World of Slaves:
Most Americans haven’t seen what’s coming.

Nancy MacLean notes that when the #Kochs’ control of the GOP kicked into high gear after the financial crisis of 2007-08, many were so stunned by the “shock-and-awe” tactics of #shutting #down government, #destroying #labor unions, and #rolling #back #services that meet citizens’ basic necessities that few realized that many leading the charge had been trained in economics at Virginia institutions, especially George Mason University.

Wasn’t it just a new, particularly vicious wave of partisan politics?
It wasn’t.

MacLean convincingly illustrates that it was something far more disturbing.
MacLean is not the only scholar to sound the alarm that the country is experiencing a #hostile #takeover that is well on its way to radically, and perhaps permanently, altering the society.

Peter #Temin, former head of the MIT economics department, INET grantee, and author of "The Vanishing Middle Class", as well as economist Gordon #Lafer of the University of Oregon and author of "The One Percent Solution", have provided eye-opening analyses of where America is headed and why.

MacLean adds another dimension to this dystopian big picture, acquainting us with what has been overlooked in the capitalist right wing’s playbook.

She observes, for example, that many liberals have missed the point of strategies like #privatization.

Efforts to “reform” #public #education and #Social #Security are not just about a preference for the private sector over the public sector, she argues. You can wrap your head around those, even if you don’t agree.

Instead, MacLean contends, the goal of these strategies is to radically alter power relations, #weakening pro-public forces and #enhancing the #lobbying #power and commitment of the corporations that take over public services and resources, thus advancing the plans to #dismantle #democracy and make way for a return to #oligarchy.

The majority will be held captive so that the wealthy can finally be free to do as they please, no matter how destructive.

MacLean argues that despite the rhetoric of Virginia school acolytes, shrinking big government is not really the point.

The #oligarchs require a government with tremendous new powers so that they can bypass the will of the people.
This, as MacLean points out, requires greatly #expanding #police #powers “to control the resultant popular anger.”
The spreading use of pre-emption by GOP-controlled state legislatures to suppress local progressive victories such as living wage ordinances is another example of the right’s #aggressive use of #state #power.

👉Could these right-wing capitalists allow private companies to fill #prisons with helpless citizens—or, more profitable still, right-less undocumented #immigrants? ☑️They could, and have.

👉Might they engineer a #retirement #crisis by moving Americans to inadequate 401(k)s? ☑️Done.

👉Take away the rights of consumers and workers to bring grievances to court by making them sign #forced #arbitration agreements? ☑️Check.

👉Gut #public #education to the point where ordinary people have such bleak prospects that they have no energy to fight back? ☑️Getting it done.

👉Would they even refuse children #clean #water? ☑️Actually, yes.

MacLean notes that in #Flint, Michigan, Americans got a taste of what the emerging oligarchy will look like — it tastes like #poisoned #water. There, the Koch-funded Mackinac Center pushed for legislation that would allow the governor to take control of communities facing emergency and put unelected managers in charge.
In Flint, one such manager switched the city’s water supply to a polluted river, but the Mackinac Center’s lobbyists ensured that the law was fortified by protections against lawsuits that poisoned inhabitants might bring. Tens of thousands of children were exposed to #lead, a substance known to cause serious health problems including brain damage.

Libertarian economist Tyler #Cowen has provided an economic #justification for this kind of #brutality, stating that where it is difficult to get clean water, private companies should take over and make people pay for it. “This includes giving them the right to cut off people who don’t—or can’t—pay their bills,” he explains.

To many this sounds grotesquely #inhumane, but it is a way of thinking that has deep roots in America.

In "Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative" (2005), Buchanan considers the charge of #heartlessness made against the kind of classic liberal that he took himself to be.

MacLean interprets his discussion to mean that people who “failed to foresee and save money for their future needs” are to be treated, as Buchanan put it, “as #subordinate members of the species, akin to…#animals who are dependent.’”

Do you have your education, health care, and retirement personally funded against all possible exigencies?
Then that means #you.

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

A World of Slaves:
Most Americans haven’t seen what’s coming.

Nancy MacLean notes that when the #Kochs’ control of the GOP kicked into high gear after the financial crisis of 2007-08, many were so stunned by the “shock-and-awe” tactics of #shutting #down government, #destroying #labor unions, and #rolling #back #services that meet citizens’ basic necessities that few realized that many leading the charge had been trained in economics at Virginia institutions, especially George Mason University.

Wasn’t it just a new, particularly vicious wave of partisan politics?
It wasn’t.

MacLean convincingly illustrates that it was something far more disturbing.
MacLean is not the only scholar to sound the alarm that the country is experiencing a #hostile #takeover that is well on its way to radically, and perhaps permanently, altering the society.

Peter #Temin, former head of the MIT economics department, INET grantee, and author of "The Vanishing Middle Class", as well as economist Gordon #Lafer of the University of Oregon and author of "The One Percent Solution", have provided eye-opening analyses of where America is headed and why.

MacLean adds another dimension to this dystopian big picture, acquainting us with what has been overlooked in the capitalist right wing’s playbook.

She observes, for example, that many liberals have missed the point of strategies like #privatization.

Efforts to “reform” #public #education and #Social #Security are not just about a preference for the private sector over the public sector, she argues. You can wrap your head around those, even if you don’t agree.

Instead, MacLean contends, the goal of these strategies is to radically alter power relations, #weakening pro-public forces and #enhancing the #lobbying #power and commitment of the corporations that take over public services and resources, thus advancing the plans to #dismantle #democracy and make way for a return to #oligarchy.

The majority will be held captive so that the wealthy can finally be free to do as they please, no matter how destructive.

MacLean argues that despite the rhetoric of Virginia school acolytes, shrinking big government is not really the point.

The #oligarchs require a government with tremendous new powers so that they can bypass the will of the people.
This, as MacLean points out, requires greatly #expanding #police #powers “to control the resultant popular anger.”
The spreading use of pre-emption by GOP-controlled state legislatures to suppress local progressive victories such as living wage ordinances is another example of the right’s #aggressive use of #state #power.

👉Could these right-wing capitalists allow private companies to fill #prisons with helpless citizens—or, more profitable still, right-less undocumented #immigrants? ☑️They could, and have.

👉Might they engineer a #retirement #crisis by moving Americans to inadequate 401(k)s? ☑️Done.

👉Take away the rights of consumers and workers to bring grievances to court by making them sign #forced #arbitration agreements? ☑️Check.

👉Gut #public #education to the point where ordinary people have such bleak prospects that they have no energy to fight back? ☑️Getting it done.

👉Would they even refuse children #clean #water? ☑️Actually, yes.

MacLean notes that in #Flint, Michigan, Americans got a taste of what the emerging oligarchy will look like — it tastes like #poisoned #water. There, the Koch-funded Mackinac Center pushed for legislation that would allow the governor to take control of communities facing emergency and put unelected managers in charge.
In Flint, one such manager switched the city’s water supply to a polluted river, but the Mackinac Center’s lobbyists ensured that the law was fortified by protections against lawsuits that poisoned inhabitants might bring. Tens of thousands of children were exposed to #lead, a substance known to cause serious health problems including brain damage.

Libertarian economist Tyler #Cowen has provided an economic #justification for this kind of #brutality, stating that where it is difficult to get clean water, private companies should take over and make people pay for it. “This includes giving them the right to cut off people who don’t—or can’t—pay their bills,” he explains.

To many this sounds grotesquely #inhumane, but it is a way of thinking that has deep roots in America.

In "Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative" (2005), Buchanan considers the charge of #heartlessness made against the kind of classic liberal that he took himself to be.

MacLean interprets his discussion to mean that people who “failed to foresee and save money for their future needs” are to be treated, as Buchanan put it, “as #subordinate members of the species, akin to…#animals who are dependent.’”

Do you have your education, health care, and retirement personally funded against all possible exigencies?
Then that means #you.

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

A World of Slaves:
Most Americans haven’t seen what’s coming.

Nancy MacLean notes that when the #Kochs’ control of the GOP kicked into high gear after the financial crisis of 2007-08, many were so stunned by the “shock-and-awe” tactics of #shutting #down government, #destroying #labor unions, and #rolling #back #services that meet citizens’ basic necessities that few realized that many leading the charge had been trained in economics at Virginia institutions, especially George Mason University.

Wasn’t it just a new, particularly vicious wave of partisan politics?
It wasn’t.

MacLean convincingly illustrates that it was something far more disturbing.
MacLean is not the only scholar to sound the alarm that the country is experiencing a #hostile #takeover that is well on its way to radically, and perhaps permanently, altering the society.

Peter #Temin, former head of the MIT economics department, INET grantee, and author of "The Vanishing Middle Class", as well as economist Gordon #Lafer of the University of Oregon and author of "The One Percent Solution", have provided eye-opening analyses of where America is headed and why.

MacLean adds another dimension to this dystopian big picture, acquainting us with what has been overlooked in the capitalist right wing’s playbook.

She observes, for example, that many liberals have missed the point of strategies like #privatization.

Efforts to “reform” #public #education and #Social #Security are not just about a preference for the private sector over the public sector, she argues. You can wrap your head around those, even if you don’t agree.

Instead, MacLean contends, the goal of these strategies is to radically alter power relations, #weakening pro-public forces and #enhancing the #lobbying #power and commitment of the corporations that take over public services and resources, thus advancing the plans to #dismantle #democracy and make way for a return to #oligarchy.

The majority will be held captive so that the wealthy can finally be free to do as they please, no matter how destructive.

MacLean argues that despite the rhetoric of Virginia school acolytes, shrinking big government is not really the point.

The #oligarchs require a government with tremendous new powers so that they can bypass the will of the people.
This, as MacLean points out, requires greatly #expanding #police #powers “to control the resultant popular anger.”
The spreading use of pre-emption by GOP-controlled state legislatures to suppress local progressive victories such as living wage ordinances is another example of the right’s #aggressive use of #state #power.

👉Could these right-wing capitalists allow private companies to fill #prisons with helpless citizens—or, more profitable still, right-less undocumented #immigrants? ☑️They could, and have.

👉Might they engineer a #retirement #crisis by moving Americans to inadequate 401(k)s? ☑️Done.

👉Take away the rights of consumers and workers to bring grievances to court by making them sign #forced #arbitration agreements? ☑️Check.

👉Gut #public #education to the point where ordinary people have such bleak prospects that they have no energy to fight back? ☑️Getting it done.

👉Would they even refuse children #clean #water? ☑️Actually, yes.

MacLean notes that in #Flint, Michigan, Americans got a taste of what the emerging oligarchy will look like — it tastes like #poisoned #water. There, the Koch-funded Mackinac Center pushed for legislation that would allow the governor to take control of communities facing emergency and put unelected managers in charge.
In Flint, one such manager switched the city’s water supply to a polluted river, but the Mackinac Center’s lobbyists ensured that the law was fortified by protections against lawsuits that poisoned inhabitants might bring. Tens of thousands of children were exposed to #lead, a substance known to cause serious health problems including brain damage.

Libertarian economist Tyler #Cowen has provided an economic #justification for this kind of #brutality, stating that where it is difficult to get clean water, private companies should take over and make people pay for it. “This includes giving them the right to cut off people who don’t—or can’t—pay their bills,” he explains.

To many this sounds grotesquely #inhumane, but it is a way of thinking that has deep roots in America.

In "Why I, Too, Am Not a Conservative" (2005), Buchanan considers the charge of #heartlessness made against the kind of classic liberal that he took himself to be.

MacLean interprets his discussion to mean that people who “failed to foresee and save money for their future needs” are to be treated, as Buchanan put it, “as #subordinate members of the species, akin to…#animals who are dependent.’”

Do you have your education, health care, and retirement personally funded against all possible exigencies?
Then that means #you.

https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/meet-the-economist-behind-the-one-percents-stealth-takeover-of-america

Veolia et Total sous la loupe 🔍 dans le dernier @socialter (dont le dossier sur l'ère du rationnement est - comme prévu - excellent 👏)
#lobbying #extractivisme #eaupotable #climatechange #pénuries #terrestres #horssols #consummérisme #énergie #carburant #avion

Toyota bet wrong on EVs, so now it’s lobbying to slow the transition - Toyota introduced the Prius Prime in 2016, years after other manufacturers releas... - https://arstechnica.com/?p=1783379 #batteryelectricvehicles #hydrogen-poweredcars #lobbying #toyota #cars