Why does "the news" tell the stories of the freed Israeli hostages, but not the freed Palestinian hostages?

What happened to BOTH was terrible.

PS Why were there so many more Palestinian hostages?

#gaza

Modern Monetary Theory (#MMT) explains money is created by govt, not tax "revenue" or "borrowing." Govts do not round up gold before they can spend.

Inflation is controlled by managing economies and directing resources at bottlenecks that are raising prices, not superstitiously spending too little or raising rates to harm the economy and "cut demand."

#MMT

The JOB of government in a democracy is to spend & manage to make people's lives better. It is also to redistribute when excesses occur and that means taxing the wealthiest and their corporations.

Spend for the public good. They do not need to round up gold to do that. They need to manage.

#democracy

US & UK

If you keep telling people your "system" - decisionmaking of, by & for the wealthy - is a democracy, then of course people are going to conclude democracy sucks and turn toward authoritarians who promise a better life.

#democracy

UK austerity shows that eating the seed corn kills long-term prospects.

It makes it seem like politicians are solving problems. But eventually the seed corn runs out - infrastructure breaks down, healthcare system collapses, etc.

And then the costs of fixing things are enormous. NHS destroyed. Infrastructure crumbling. Economy stalled.

#austerity

Inequality is rising with most income gains going to the already-wealthy.

If govt continues to insist spending can only come from tax "revenue" then the choice is obvious. Govt has to increase taxes on the wealthy to "pay for" NHS, pub services, infrastructure, etc.

(That also fights inequality.)

#inequality

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) is an explanation of how money works.

It doesn't have associated "policies" but it does free people up to imagine what governments could do if they'd just drop the scarcity-of-money superstition ideology belief that they have to round up gold to "pay for" things.

#MMT

"Cut taxes for the wealthy and their corporations. They will use the extra money to provide jobs and increase pay and benefits."

The US & UK fell for that. The UK even privatized water, energy, transportation, mail etc.

Now we have massive inequality and political unrest.

#neoliberalism

@dcjohnson Yes, I was firm believer in this market stuff in the 1970s. It seems obvious and appeals to an engineer like me.

But it's false. It's nonsense. Falling for this trick comes from ignorance. Markets are not "free", at all.

McDonald’s USA
— Employee: $15/hr, no benefits
— Big Mac: $5.90

McDonald’s Denmark
— Employee: $22/hr, 6 weeks vacation, 1 year paid maternity leave, life insurance, pension
— Big Mac: $5.66

Tell us more about how raising the minimum wage would affect the cost of hamburgers.

"Market solutions: (neoliberalism) is the ideology that society should be ruled by "markets," not democracy.

But markets are by definition controlled by the wealthy. OF COURSE it pushed all the wealth up to a few. OF COURSE it brought austerity - cuts in govt - for the rest.

#neoliberalism

Enshittification - David Roberts & Cory Doctorow. I want to recommend this excellent podcast episode as the BEST explanation of the corporate power crisis in the US. Absolutely great!!

https://www.volts.wtf/p/can-we-avoid-the-enshittification

#enshittification

Enshittification - David Roberts & Cory Doctorow. I want to recommend this excellent podcast episode as the BEST explanation of the corporate power crisis in the US. Absolutely great!!

https://www.volts.wtf/p/can-we-avoid-the-enshittification

#enshittification

I just checked in on news of what's happening in the US.

The latest Republican hero is a guy who strangled a homeless guy in a subway car, for being annoying.

And, of course, another school shooting.

But I live in the UK now, so...

#USA

"Market solutions: (neoliberalism) is the ideology that society should be ruled by "markets," not democracy.

But markets are by definition controlled by the wealthy. OF COURSE it pushed all the wealth up to a few. OF COURSE it brought austerity - cuts in govt - for the rest.

#neoliberalism

@dcjohnson
Sounds about spot on. 👍💖

@dcjohnson yeah, Australia too!

The JOB of govt in a democracy is to:

Regulate to protect the public from exploitation by wealthy and powerful interests, and

Spend what is needed to make people's lives better.

It's that simple.

#democracy

Here is why budget deficits in the US are bad:

Because Republicans understand money. They create money to help their constituents - the rich.

When Democrats are in office Republicans drive deficit fear to convince Democrats not to help their constituents - the public - which hurts them in elections.

PS Same for the UK.

#MMT

Elon Musk not only provided hundreds of millions of dollars to the Trump campaign, but he did it in ways that were quite underhanded. I explore the extent of his ratf*ckery in today’s piece: https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/the-musk-rat?r=1zr8b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web