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notices and features - Date published:
6:00 am, May 5th, 2024 - 17 comments
Categories: open mike -
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The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
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Now this makes a lot of sense.
”In the book, Blakeley asserts that rather than failing, capitalism is working exactly as intended – allowing corporate and political elites to advance their own interests at the expense of the rest of us.”
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/515987/nobody-s-coming-to-save-us-how-capitalism-became-a-vulture
Great link. Thank you Stephen.
It is a reminder that we have the power, we have simply forgotten.
While joining a union is a simple, straight forward gesture, to get real gains we need to experience the uplift gained by direct, organised, community action.
That is partly why I couldn't pour scorn on the Wellies occupation of Parliament grounds. Two of the folk I know that were involved have been energised. The increase of their mahi and enthusiasm, in the groups they belong to, has been remarkable.
According to Michael Hudson* "free markets" to earlier capitalists meant freedom from rentier interests such as rent and interest rather than markets governed entirely by “market forces”. Rentier interests were taking a slice of the pie without contributing in any way to the production of output.
I started reading this book earlier this week: Blakely pulls together key debate floating round in economics circles, but which are not accessible to the general public. Instead we hear ad nauseum the simplistic 'free market, free market, free market', which is a complete misrepresentation of the actual market we have when global corps snaffle the machinery of government and central planning to benefit corporate, vs social, welfare.
Feminism update: https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/05/04/a-groundswell-of-women-are-decentering-men-what-does-that-mean/
The basic idea seems to be a riff on planetary gravitation: the woman ought not to feel obliged to orbit the man. Since planetary orbitals are ellipses with 2 focii that makes sense – the man & woman in mutual attraction would orbit each other. Somehow. Bit of a stretch, that analogy. Don't feel bad if you can't see it happening, I can't either.
"Decentering men"! – don't make me laugh – us Lesbians have been doing it most of our lives. It is not hard.
And this "Project Gender" is about making $$$ while kissing up to the homophobia and misogyny of Gender Ideology. They don't even know what a woman is.
"PG Innovation takes an intersectional feminist approach when designing and delivering research, campaigns, and product innovation. We work in collaboration with all women, wāhine, trans, intersex and non-binary people and are committed to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi"
For those who don't know – "Intersectional" these days means the exact opposite of "decentering men"
fucking hell. I'm only a 1/3 of the way through the article and then I detoured to look at Project Gender. I despair.
Liberal feminism, neoliberalism, no class analysis, probably misapplication of intersectionality, minimising 2nd wave feminism. It's classic 'let's lift some women into equity with men under the patriarchy'. It's got nothing to do with dismantling the patriarch and replacing it with egalitarian systems where women are inherently valued (and children, nature, men).
I've been saying to international GCFs online for while now, where is the feminism in NZ? I know who the GCFs are, but where are all the other feminist organisations? I literally don't even know any more. I guess this answers part of that question.
Unfortunately most – like NCW, are thoroughly "captured" and wave their "intersectionality" around saying how "inclusive" they are.
I'm delighted to be informed by somebody or other that "[m]en aren’t socialised to have social and emotional skills". Obviously I must be delighted because I lack the emotional skills to be upset by it. In fact, my appalling and brutalist lack of such skills makes me treat worthless, middle-class lifestyle claptrap with hilarity.
Beyond parody.
https://news.sky.com/story/donald-trump-supporters-wear-nappies-13129050
[resized]
Ta.
(resizing remains beyond me)
Lozza's having a moment.
/
Laurence Fox
@LozzaFox
·
5h
The Mayor of London is a Muslim.
The mayor of Birmingham is a Muslim.
The Mayor of Leeds is Muslim.
Mayor of Blackburn – Muslim.
The mayor of Sheffield is a Muslim.
The mayor of Oxford is a Muslim.
The mayor of Luton is a Muslim.
The mayor of Oldham is Muslim.
The mayor of Rochdale is Muslim
All this was achieved by only 4 million Muslims out of 66 million people in England:
[…]
Has anyone ever been given an opportunity to vote for this?
https://twitter.com/LozzaFox/status/1786809682574586151
Captured by a-holes.
Lets not let this shit roll on.
Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession [28 April 2024]
Surprise: Landlord Tax Cuts Don’t Trickle Down [30 April 2024]
Our CoC government is a landLord government.
One of my kids today said she looked at Luxons Tik Tok & the comments are full of comments like "I'm sending this from my phone while at school baldy". Made me chuckle.
Ahh tourism and holiday homes.
From my bedroom window, I can see a house that sleeps 10 which sits empty all winter, and two houses which sleep four and sit empty all winter. From my kitchen window, I see five other houses. All of which are second homes. Only one is a short-term let. I’d put money on it that every owner would tell me how much they love Tiree.
https://www.thenational.scot/comment/24299754.people-love-islands-killing-housing-crisis/