V WaPo:
Inside the battles that shattered Trump and Musk’s alliance

https://wapo.st/3TeoIxy
#GiftLink

5 million student loan borrowers face mandatory collections starting May 5

> Next month, for the first time since student loan payments were paused due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Education Department will collect the debts from borrowers who had defaulted -- which means they hadn’t paid their debts for around nine months or 270 days -- before the pandemic. https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/5-million-student-loan-borrowers-face-mandatory-collections/story?id=121031631 #MAGA

“Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will.”
-- Joseph Goebbels

“The rank and file are usually much more primitive than we imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitive.”
--Joseph Goebbels

“It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas in disguise.”

From a 1934 speech.
--Joseph Goebbels

“Propaganda is not a matter for average minds, but rather a matter for practitioners. It is not supposed to be lovely or theoretically correct. It is supposed to serve its purpose.”
--Joseph Goebbels0

@remixtures
https://tldr.nettime.org/@remixtures/114360285689174062l

Joseph Goebbels (1897–1945) was Nazi Germany’s Propaganda Minister, a master orator, and one of #Hitler’s closest allies. He played a critical role in shaping #Nazi ideology and public perception. After Hitler's death, he briefly served as Chancellor before taking his own life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Goebbels

#History #WWII #NaziGermany #Propaganda #MAGA

“The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly—it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.”
--Joseph Goebbels

European weapons in Sudan (2/5): A €50 million Emirati contract

> How did European #bombs get to a Sudanese battlefield despite an #EU embargo on shipping weapons there? After identifying the Bulgarian company that manufactured the mortar shells, Dunarit, the F24 Observers team tried to trace the history of these weapons. We questioned the Interministerial Commission on Export Control, the Bulgarian authority that oversees arms exportations.https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20250418-investigation-european-weapons-sudan-part-2-emirati-contract #UAE #Sudan #Darfur #Janjaweed

Other countries like #SouthKorea, #Taiwan, and #Singapore have similarly rejected pure #neoliberalism in favor of developmental state models with strong government intervention and strategic industrial policies to foster broad-based growth.

This contrast highlights how #China’s pragmatic, gradualist reforms after the #CulturalRevolution crisis created a successful alternative to #neoliberal orthodoxy, emphasizing state guidance over unfettered markets.
14/14

These reforms built on the industrial and social foundations laid during the Mao era, enabling #China to achieve rapid growth and lift hundreds of millions out of #poverty without the social dislocations typical of #neoliberal reforms elsewhere.

Unlike #neoliberalism, which often erodes state #sovereignty and social protections, #China’s model prioritizes national control, social #stability, and inclusive development.
13/14

Instead, #China adopted a gradual, state-led transition combining market mechanisms with strong government planning and control.

This included de-collectivizing agriculture, creating Special Economic Zones to attract foreign investment, and allowing private enterprise while maintaining political authoritarianism and state ownership in key sectors.
12/14

In stark contrast, #China’s development model—especially after the disastrous #CulturalRevolution (1966–1976), which caused severe economic stagnation, social chaos, and political turmoil—followed a very different path.

When #DengXiaoping came to power in 1978, he launched the Reform and Opening Up policy, which rejected the #neoliberal "shock therapy" approach.
11/14

Stevens emphasized that the majority’s reasoning would damage #democratic institutions and public trust.

Numerous academic studies have linked #neoliberal policies to increased #inequality:

These studies collectively suggest that while #neoliberal policies promised prosperity for all through free markets, they have in practice contributed significantly to wealth concentration and economic #disparity.
10/14

Stevens warned that the decision threatens the integrity of #elections by enabling laws to be "bought and sold." He also contended that the Court improperly decided a constitutional question not raised by the litigants and contradicted longstanding precedents that allowed Congress to regulate campaign spending to prevent #corruption or its appearance.
9/14

#SCOTUS - Justice John Paul Stevens’s dissent in #CitizensUnited sharply criticized the majority for undermining democratic self-government by allowing #corporations to spend unlimited money to influence #elections and directly benefit from their unlimited spending by being gifted generous tax cuts.

He argued the ruling rejected the common sense of the American people who recognize the need to prevent #corporations from dominating politics and corrupting elected institutions.
8/14

How did this happen?

Since the U.S. Supreme Court rulings; Citizens United v. FEC (2010). The Court held that political spending by #corporations, #unions, and individuals is a form of protected free speech under the #FirstAmendment.

Life has not been the same ever since
7/14

#Hayek himself articulated a core #neoliberal principle when he wrote:

"The system of private property is the most important guarantee of freedom, not only for those who own property, but scarcely less for those who do not. It is only because the control of the means of production is divided among many people acting independently that nobody has complete power over us, that we as individuals can decide what to do with ourselves."
— The Road to Serfdom (1944) Friedrich Hayek
6/14

The curve illustrates the relationship between tax rates and government revenue, suggesting that beyond a certain point, raising tax rates actually decreases revenue by discouraging economic activity. This theoretical model became a rationale for tax cuts, especially for the rich.
5/14