#Poverty Politics and Profit

[queerism1969]

[feckcops]

Meet the Robin Hood-style activists ‘shoplifting’ for food banks

“Activists are ‘shoplifting’ from supermarket shelves and dumping the proceeds straight into the stores’ food bank bins in a ‘redistributive action’ to protest the cost of living and the climate crisis.

“Xander Cloudsley, 29, a community food co-ordinator and member of This Is Rigged, the campaign group behind the actions, said: ‘In my job, I’ve seen the lived reality of the cost of living crisis […] while corporate giants like Tesco are boasting astonishing profits year in and year out. I’m taking action because this disparity is sickening and profoundly unfair.’

“The protest comes as food bank usage – already prevalent following austerity – has surged alongside spiralling inflation ...

“The top three supermarkets – Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda – have taken advantage of increased food costs and doubled their profits to £3.32bn in 2021, up 97% on 2019. Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham has called this ‘greedflation’ – something supermarket bosses deny ...

“The group’s ‘Robin Hood’ supermarket action was inspired by British farmers who took milk off supermarket shelves in 2015 to protest the low prices they were getting paid for their produce, and by the French energy workers who send cheap electricity to schools, hospitals and working class communities.”

[raffaellopalandri]

Beyond Names: A Disagreement with Ideologies

Daily writing promptWhat public figure do you disagree with the most?View all responses The question of which public figure I disagree with most feels like a loaded question. Disagreement, in my view, is less about personalities and more about the underlying ideas they champion. Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com So, instead of singling out a single person, I’d like to delve into the…

[earhartsease]

the utter fucking gall

Campaigners criticised the move arguing that energy companies continue to rake in billions in profits, while many consumers are struggling with their bills.

[gaasubap]

Eviction Causes Global Warming

We all want to do something about how bad things are getting.

But we can't.

We'll be thrown out of our homes if we stop working.

Thrown into deadly heat or cold.

Allowed to starve to death.

[thelandofbritain]

Look out, rich people... we're coming for you very soon.

"I used to be able to afford the cost of living. What happened?"

It's actually quite simple. Rich people ideally would have everything while everyone else has nothing. But if they did that, society would riot.

So they instead tried to get as close as possible to that ideal without causing people to riot. They made sure most people could afford the cost of living. A few people couldn't, but those people were easily dismissed as being lazy or making bad decisions.

Then, rich people slowly got greedier. They carefully experimented with increasing their greed and seeing how much they can get away with. The number of people who struggle to pay their bills slowly increased. And eventually, the people who struggle to pay their bills began including you.

[eaglesnick]

“When the rich and the powerful rise they leave the powerless and the poor without possibility.” ― Auliq Ice

It comes as no surprise that a recent report by the EU Tax Observatory found that:

“...most people pay a higher rate than the super-rich, who, it said, are able to use complex business structures for avoidance.”  (BBC News: 24/010/23)

Taxes pay for public services, from military defence to social welfare, from education to essential infrastructure.  Our Tory government (and Labour under Starmer is no better) repeatedly tell us there is no money to fund public services. Before ANY public services are improved we “must grow the economy"

“Keir Starmer: I don’t want to raise income tax for top earners. Labour leader says ‘driving principle’ is to lower taxes and encourage economic growth if party wins next election.” (Telegraph: 23/06/23)

And on the Tory side we have: 

“Rishi Sunak has pledged to boost the economy." (Sky news: 04/01/23)

There is little point in “boosting the economy” if the main benefactors are the rich who pay little or no tax. We can have the fasters growing and biggest economy in the world but it will not do us any good if the rich and super-rich do not pay their fair share of taxes.

Commenting on the EU Tax Observatory Report and tax evasion, Joseph Stiglitz, a Nobel prize-winning economist stated:

“Tax evasion, and, more broadly, tax avoidance, is not inevitable; it is the result of policy choices – or the failure to make policy choices that act to stop it.” (Guardian: 22/10/23)

There is the crux of the matter. Tax evasion is NOT inevitable. It is the decisions of governments to allow tax evasion by the rich and superrich to continue that leads to under spending on our vital public services. It is the false suppression of wages so that corporations can maximise  profits at the expense of their workers that leads to increasing poverty. And it is greed-inflation that leads to artificially high prices wherein it is ordinary workers  who shoulder the burden of a cost of living crisis created by immoral profiteering.

I am not a great believer in conspiracy theories but it does seem odd that various  governments across the democratic capitalist world are all suffering the same problem: not enough revenue from taxes to maintain adequate public services.

Here in Britain, our very own pro-free market capitalist government has just announced it is ending the cap on banker’s bonuses.

“UK financial regulators scrap cap on bankers’ bonuses. Bonus cap to end on 31 October, a move condemned by unions as an ‘insult to working people’.”  (Guardian:24/10/23)

It’s good to know our multi-millionaire, unelected Prime Minister Rishi Sunak  is doing everything he can to look after the rich during our cost of living crisis. How on earth would they survive without his support?

[nando161mando]

Evolution is the "impending change for betterment" - Systemic Evolutions

Change for the betterment of all.

#StitchedInkMedia #Politics #UK #World #USA #Evolution #Change #Union #BBC #SystemicEvolutions #Generations #Profit #Business #CostOfLiving #Value #Work #Time

[repostedpoliticalarts]

I’ve got news for you, Berger. Poverty has almost never been about “natural scarcity”. Since the dawn of agriculture you’ve had “haves” and “have-nots”. And the “haves” always want more of what little the “have-nots” actually possess.

[apas-95]

unless you're gonna grab a gun yourself and start this so-called "revolution", your politics and activism are performative. shut the fuck up and vote, and then spend the next 4 years actually doing something to change the system rather than whining about it online. grow up

As a communist, I'm entirely fine with the notion of engaging, myself, in revolutionary war for the sake of the people, there's no hypocrisy there.

Revolution is not something I just personally wish to happen, neither is it something communists as a whole are necessarily the driving force of - revolution is an inevitability, given the collapse of the existing system into economic, political, and environmental crisis. World war is on the horizon, and the consumate repression and deprivation of all peoples international and domestic that comes with it means that civil unrest, insurrection, and revolution are an inevitability. WW1 ended with the creation of the first socialist state, WW2 ended with the emergence of a global socialist bloc, and a third world war (which is as clearly on the horizon as the first world war was, as the imperialist states are forced by waning profits to aggress upon both competitors and their own allies for gains) will only end in either revolution in the imperial core, or the annihilation of humanity.

Said war, crisis, and revolution are imminent, but not yet upon us. Revolution is not something initiated by communists in a time of peace (which is why all the 'what about hospitals bwuh bwuh' takes are moronic), it is a mass popular response to unimaginable poverty and violence, which communists take up a leading role in. The current task is to build up the networks and political organs to establish a mass base among the people, represent their genuine interests, and be ready to lead them in not just class struggle, but open class warfare. The electoral system of another class, of an enemy class is completely irrelevant to any sort of proletarian political action.

I live in the People's Republic of China.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Shinra is having a Victorian style ball (that will be filmed and reported about) in order to raise the city’s morale. Big name celebrities are invited, athletes, etc., and at the center of it all are the Turks and SOLDIER, who are obligated to make sure everyone has a good time- including dancing when asked.

(Rufus, President Shinra, and the other directors are also there to make sure everyone’s doing what they’re supposed to. Rufus had the “pleasure” of being put in charge of the whole thing.)

What happens?

The Victorian Ball From Hell

• Everyone dutifully adheres to the strict dress code—era-appropriate ball gowns, suits tailored to the occasion, and behavior befitting the Victorian-themed ball in the main event area of the Shinra building. Each guest is dressed accordingly... except for Sephiroth, who's wearing simple working class attire and has dirt on his face. Angeal quickly notices him as he enters the ballroom with Genesis, who despite donning a waistcoat and jacket, also sports a skirt with a crinoline.

Angeal: What planet did you two escape from??

Sephiroth: It would be wrong to partake in this gross display of wealth that serves only to mask the inherent inequalities and injustices of that era.

Angeal: And you, Genesis, couldn't make up your mind?

Genesis: Of course I could. They said we had to show up in clothes that match the Victorian era. They didn't say the clothes had to fit the gender norms of the time as well.

Angeal: Why is it that any time they host themed parties, neither of you can dress normally?

*Director Lazard walks up to them, donning an elegant suit*

Angeal: Look at Lazard. Why can't you be more like him? He's dressed in theme, he followed the rules.

*Tseng appears out of nowhere, looks at Lazard, blows a whistle, and 12 Turks tackle him to the ground before handcuffing and hauling him away*

Angeal: What was that??

Sephiroth: In the Victorian era, women did not have the right to vote, sue, and own property. It marked the early stages of the feminist political movement, advocating for equality in education, work, and electoral rights.

Tseng, ignoring him: In an effort to ensure that all of our guests follow the dress code, we have decided to arrest and remove any guests who do not adhere to it.

Genesis: But Lazard was in theme, was he not?

Tseng: He was, but he and I are wearing the same suit. I couldn't possibly be seen in competition with the Vice President's brother.

Angeal:

Genesis:

Sephiroth: The industrial revolution saw a surge in poverty and the exploitation of children.

Tseng: Enjoy your night.

*Tseng walks away*

Angeal: That was odd.

Genesis: Tell me about it.

• A SOLDIER taps Genesis on the shoulder, hands him some gil and extends an empty champagne flute. Genesis wordlessly reaches into the layers of his skirt and pulls out a champagne bottle before pouring it into the SOLDIERs glass. The SOLDIER walks away. Genesis stuffs the bottle back into his skirt.

Angeal:

Sephiroth: Cholera, tuberculosis and scarlet fever preyed on the poor and vulnerable during a time where medicine had a limited understanding of the correlation between infectious diseases and hygiene.

Genesis: What?

Angeal: What do you mean 'what'? You just pulled a bottle of champagne from your ass.

Genesis: Oh. Well, the Vice President decided that the ball remain alcohol-free to ensure our guests uphold an air of refinement suitable for the public's perception.

Sephiroth: Men, women and especially children were forced into labor and subjected to dehumanizing working conditions. Why? They were scammed, forced to work to pay their debts. They were thrown in poverty and then incarcerated.

Angeal, ignoring him: So you're risking getting tackled-arrested by the Turks all for the sake of profit??

Genesis: Yes? I've spread the word, I've pre-mixed drinks and brought my collection of fine liqueurs. People know where to come to for their fixes. Aren't I brilliant? I'll be five thousand gil richer by the end of the night.

• Zack taps Genesis on the shoulder and hands him the gil. Genesis reaches into his skirt, pulls out a bottle of hairspray, then shakes it before spraying Zack's spikes.

Sephiroth: Every home in the victorian era had a cesspool instead of a toilet.

Angeal: I don't know you people. *He walks away*

• As the night goes on, more people are tackled and arrested by the turks for not following the dress code, and Genesis' business is booming. Angeal is trying to keep his distance from everyone but this doesn't work for long.

*Reno walks up to him*

Angeal: Hey.

Reno: I need a favor. I got a message for Rude, but I can't physically walk up to him or call him.

Angeal: Why not?

Reno: We got into some trouble. As our punishment, we can't talk to each other for a week. Think you can deliver the message to him?

Angeal: Sure.

Reno: Cool, but don't go up to him. They're probably watching me right now, so it'll be obvious that I'm using you as a message man. Tell someone the message, then have them deliver the message to Rude.

Angeal: Okay, what's the message?

Reno: Meet me at the rooftop at three.

Angeal: Got it.

Reno: Thanks, man, You're the best.

• Meanwhile, Zack is enjoying the buffet. He really likes the finger sandwiches and can't get enough of them. Unfortunately Sephiroth is dead set on spreading the message.

Sephiroth: Items such as bread was adulterated with toxic materials such as sawdust and chalk in the victorian era.

*Zack stops chewing*

Sephiroth: Adulterated bread was likely fed to children, where the divide between social classes meant that while the wealthy enjoyed finger sandwiches, many children starved and succumbed to illness due to poverty and lack of access to proper nutrition.

*Zack starts crying and walks away*

Angeal: Sephiroth, I need you to do me a favor. Go up to Rude and tell him to meet Reno at the rooftop at three.

Sephiroth: Why?

Angeal: Because he and Rude have been banned from talking, and they're keeping an eye on them to make sure no one helps them communicate.

Sephiroth: I see. But seeing at the Turks have just seen you talk to Reno, and are now seeing you speak to me, going directly up to him is unwise. May I instead spread the word?

Angeal: Sure? Go ahead. Hey, have you seen Genesis? I kinda miss him.

• Sephiroth gestures toward a nearby table where Genesis is seated, with a line of people queued up in front of him to purchase drinks and other items. Dark Star approaches him, next in line.

Genesis: Unfortunately, I cannot serve you, as alcoholic beverages are entirely toxic to dogs.

*Dark Star barks*

Genesis: Ah, forgive me.

*Genesis extracts a giant chocobo bone from his skirt*

Angeal: Never mind.

• Sephiroth sets off to do Angeal's favor. He finds Zack on the dance floor and gestures for him to come over.

Zack: Hey, man, what's up?

Sephiroth: "Rude, complete Reno and the charm is free" Spread the word.

Zack: Huh?

Sephiroth: Jack the Ripper haunted the streets of Whitechapel, murdering—

*Zack panics and rushes off*

• Zack finds Kunsel.

Kunsel: Hey, man!

Zack: "Food completes Reno and smiling is free"

Kunsel: Huh?

Zack: Spread the word!

Kunsel: Okay.

• Kunsel finds Cissnei.

Cissnei: Hey!

Kunsel: Nude then incomplete, Reno is free.

Cissnei: Huh?

Kunsel: Spread the word!

Cissnei: ....uh...sure?

• Cissnei finds Rufus.

Cissnei: Gen is discreet, but he has a fee.

Rufus: Excuse me?

Cissnei: I was told to spread the word. I don't know what that's supposed to mean, though.

• Rufus finds Tseng.

Rufus: I'm concerned. Cissnei told me that Genesis is being discreet, and that he has some kind of fee.

Tseng: What could that possibly mean?

• Cloud walks by with some other troopers that are serving as security for the ball.

Rufus: Strife, a word.

Cloud: Yes, sir?

Rufus: Do you know the meaning of the phrase: Gen is discreet, but he has a fee?

Cloud: WHO TOLD YOU THE CODE WORDS?

Rufus: What??

Cloud: That's the code we use to let each other know about the hidden alcohol in Genesis' skirt that he's selling!

Tseng: I KNEW IT.

• Tseng blows a whistle, and then 12 Turks tackle Genesis out of his chair and onto the ground. The sheer amount of stuff that crashes and scatters to the ground is unbelievable—glass bottles, chewing gum, copies of Loveless, lighters, hair ties and bobby pins, toothbrushes, neck pillows, condoms, apples, cigarettes, materia that looks like it was stolen from the materia room on the SOLDIER floor, items autographed by Sephiroth, flower bouquets, cans of Banora White juice, extra ties and evening gloves, umbrellas, a Tupperware container filled with brownies that Tseng will pretend he doesn't see because he ran out of aspirin, bandaids, a sewing kit, a fire extinguisher, and Sephiroth's sword that has a price tag that reads "To be negotiated" on it.

• Angeal and Sephiroth watch as Genesis is arrested.

Angeal: Oh my god...I can't believe this.

Sephiroth: I know. He told me he had run out of neck pillows.

Angeal:

Sephiroth: I was scammed, which the working class often was in Victorian London, when con artists thrived—

Angeal: ENOUGH.

[probablyasocialecologist]

UNCTAD estimates that for the top 100 firms, 40 per cent of the profits made today are the result of ‘rents’, a percentage that has increased from 16 per cent in the years 1995–2000 and 30 per cent in the years 2001–8. This trend is largely attributable to stronger market concentration: 10 per cent of the world’s publicly listed companies capture 80 per cent of the profits. It also results from the ability of the most powerful actors to shape the competitive environment to their advantage. What emerges, UNCTAD writes, is ‘a vicious cycle of under-regulation and regulatory capture, on the one hand, and further rampant growth of corporate market power on the other’.82 The Italian-born economist Luigi Zingales refers to this as the ‘vicious cycle of the Medici’: money is used to influence politics, and political influence is used to make money.

Olivier De Schutter, The Poverty of Growth

[maxellminidisc]

I think people forget that punk didn't just get reduced to an aesthetic by the kids on tiktok or whatever. Like don't get me wrong I hope kids do learn about punk and its roots in homeless and working class youth and the music that basically is at the root of punk as a subculture, but like lol people act like kids today are to blame for that. Kids today are introduced to punk through an already preprocessed, hyper consumptive lense as a result of punk becoming an aesthetic via the fashion industry and corporate interest making it into a pop culture phenomenon for a profitable market that essentially ended up stripping it of its counter cultural or sub cultural nature.

Fashion industry is essentially what caused a great divide between punk's subcultural aesthetic with deep roots in poverty and resourcesfullness vs punk REDUCED to aesthetic with stereotypical hallmark pieces with more popularity amongst the general public as said aesthetic following its decline in media hype. What we know as iconic and quintessential punk looks and templates, like say the Vivienne Westwood tattered sweaters that Sid Vicious wore, her breast t shirt or anything in her and McLaren's famous shop SEX that was used by the most popular punk bands of the time etc were already highly curated, already expensive pieces actual kids in the punk scene could not afford. She is literally credited as commercializing punk lol

Theres a huge fashion culture of creativity and socio political history based entirely on these poor and homeless youths that has often been overshadowed if not just straight up forgotten as a result of how much attention and how much credit designers like Westwood have gotten as like pioneers and shapers of punk fashion and the culture itself which is like ludicrous if you think about it.

Not to mention so much of corporate interest in punk as a profitable music market ended up really dulling the teeth on a lot of artists music. There were still an edge of politics in it but I think there was so much refinement to a lot of the most popular bands that signed with labels that most punks started seeing that as selling out, and what sold out was what became pop culture and started being seen by people within the subculture as anything BUT subcultural.

[gaasubap]

I haven't seen nearly enough discourse on how landlords are replacing manual locks with electric ones so they can lock you out as soon as your rent is late.

How long do you think it'll be before someone dies because it locked them in during an emergency?

[licorice-and-rum]

SOC and Neoliberlism

So, as promised, here it is my analysis of Six of Crows and how neoliberalism is amazingly portrayed in Ketterdam, and how the city is an example of what happens in a community that is not provided for.

Before we begin, I wanted to say that English is not my first language, and, considering I read SOC in Brazilian Portuguese, I might translate some names literally or differently from the English version but I think it's manageable to read and understand my point. If not, I'll edit the text.

The first thing we have to understand is how neoliberalism works and the theory behind it, and then we'll talk about how it's portrayed in Ketterdam.

So neoliberalism is a theory born more or less at the end of the 20th century (70s-80s), and it finds its roots in laissez-faire capitalism, meaning that it's a political current that tries to suppress and/or eliminate the State's influence from the market. The neoliberalist view understands that the market can supply by itself the population's needs without help or limitations imposed by the State.

The thing here is that most people listen to this and think neoliberalism is about electronics, cars, and other stuff. The truth is, that neoliberalism aims to suppress the presence of State-run facilities in ALL corners of society, such as health care, housing, water access, electricity, etcetera.

So, we can use the American and Brazillian health systems to understand it better, for example:

In the US, the ones providing health care for the population are great corporations - they decide the price of care, they work together with pharmaceutical companies to define medicine prices, and the laws that bind them are pretty much only offer and demand. There is almost none State intervention to provide the population with accessible health care.

However, this brings problems, of course: not everyone (actually, most people) has real access to health care simply because they can't afford it, or they can't afford it without taking a big financial hit, which threatens their other basic needs, such as food, housing, water, electricity, etcetera. Not everyone can provide for their medical needs, such as diabetic and disabled people.

That leads to:

(a) an increase in poverty;

(b) a decrease in educational levels - if you don't have the means to pay for higher educational levels because of health care debt, or if you're sick and need to go to class and tough through it but you're not really learning anything, and so on, which leads to a major workforce in base level production and a minor class who has access to this education;

(c) an increase in overworking people - meaning that we have a lot of people taking on several jobs to be able to pay for things like health care, which increases the competitiveness between people, making individualism levels go up and breaking up human beings' natural sense of community.

I could also talk here about how this breeds isolation and increases the potential for mental health problems but I think you got what I was saying.

On the other hand, we have the Brazilian health care system (SUS), which is a universal gratuitous medical care service through the whole country. Its purpose is not profit, it's providing health care for the community, so therefore, any SUS unit is bound by State law and run by the State. By law, every SUS unit must provide for anyone who enters its premises in need of medical care. Everyone, Brazillian and foreigners, poor or rich, must be treated if they need to. It's the law.

Of course, that doesn't mean it's all rainbows and flowers, there are definitely many problems in SUS. However, what I'm trying to showcase here is that, when the needs of a population are met, the population itself is more resilient, their life quality goes up and so does their participation in their community.

On the other hand, in neoliberalism, when the State is absent from these areas of community service, the market is, in theory, the one providing for the community. In practice, however, what we observe from neoliberal policies in cities with a great poor population in Latam for example, is that when the State doesn't provide for the community, the market is unable to step up for them because of their obscene prices.

The poor population that doesn't have their needs met by the State or the market sees a great boom in criminal activities within their spaces. That's mainly why criminal organizations are so present in slums and favelas throughout Latin America: criminal organizations are a way for the community to provide for themselves and, as a means to become more powerful, they provide for the community in exchange for their services (not to say they do that for the good of their hearts, of course not).

It's why it's so common, for example, that criminal organizations such as PCC in Brazil pay for kids from favelas to undergo Law school, for example.

And that's is where I wanted to go to start the conversation in SOC: one of the main traits of Ketterdam is the Barrel and, in the Barrel, we have the presence of many criminal organizations, such as the Dregs, the Dime Lions, the Menagerie staff (not the girls, ofc), etcetera.

This, as observed by Kaz himself, is one of the only ways to survive on the Barrel - you filiate yourself to a gang because you need to be able to provide for yourself and, more times than others, for your family as well.

Kaz's story is actually a perfect example of how Ketterdam is the representation of America in the early 20th century in full policies of laissez-faire (neoliberalism): as we can see in Titanic and many other historical fictions, the said American Dream had people believing the US to be this economical paradise where they could all enter the market and become millionaires.

The result of it is the Great Depression, of course, but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

When Kaz and Jodi leave Lij for Ketterdam, Jodi believes he'll become a merchant - which is a pretty common belief of those who arrive at Ketterdam, as Pekka Rollins and Kaz himself state in Crooked Kingdom.

The reality of it, though, is much harsher, because the truth is that when you have a market that controls everything, as we see in Ketterdam with the Merchant's Guild (I think that's how it's translated?) and the Stadwatch as a police force, you see perfectly how neoliberal policies really work in real life:

You have a higher class who controls the market and the riches (question: who do you think got the money Shu Han sent to Ketterdam at the beginning of the first book: the people of the city/country or the merchants in the "government"?), and a lower class that, without support from the State or the market to have their needs met will turn to their own means to do so.

So you have the trafficking that brought Inej to the island, the unlimited gambling that Jesper was trapped in, the cons Jodi and Kaz fell for - it's all product of liberal policies.

And so, you have Ketterdam and its neoliberal policies (:

(I really love to make this kind of analysis, please, if you have something you want me to talk about, don't hesitate to ask)

[troythecatfish]

The only country on Earth that ever used Nuclear Weapons in War is telling you Russia and China are the threat.

The country that's killed millions of innocent civilians since WW2 in dozens of overt and covert Wars of profit and domination.

The country whose secret services have cultivated conflict, destroyed democracies and assassinated opponents.

The country that makes and sells more Weapons than Russia, China and India combined, operating the biggest war machine on planet Earth.

The country currently supplying the cash, weapons, aircraft, and political cover to the biggest massacre of Children in modern history.

The country with tens of millions of its citizens living in poverty, facing an epidemic of suicide, addiction,

"illegal" immigration perpetrated via war mongering and crime.

The country whose currency is deployed as a tool of economic warfare against the global south, crushing dissent, impoverishing anyone who dares to disagree.

That country?

The Land of the Free, and the home of the Brave.