#Result Effective Marketing Solutions

[indianreporter]

[reasonsforhope]

"South African entrepreneur Phumla Makhoba is on a mission to solve the “global south housing crisis.” And she’s doing it by using clothing waste.

Her invention, Texiboard, is a material that combines fibers found in textile waste with lime cement to create a durable, affordable, and circular building material.

The result is a textured, white square, almost tile-like, that is created with recycled materials — not emission-generating wood or concrete.

“It can be used to make furniture, flooring, walls, or even your entire home,” Makhoba said in a video for social media account We Got Earth.

The first iterations of the Texiboard included colorful cotton threads that were compressed together, with multiple attempts to remove cracks and seams and perfect the ratios of size, shape, and material mass.

With her design firm, Studio People, Makhoba has been working since 2022 to perfect the TexiBoard. 

Makhoba has since created a solid panel, with shredded textile fiber and natural lime cement fully cured. Finally, it can be formed into a full sheet of building material.

Once realized, the Texiboard will confront the estimated 92 million tons of clothing waste generated around the globe each year. But it will also provide safe and stable housing that Makhoba says only 20% of South Africans can afford.

“Growing up, I saw two worlds: one with polished buildings, and one built from scrap,” she said in a video. “I always wondered, why do some people get homes that last and others get homes that leak?”

Now, the Texiboard design is available as an open-source resource, and Makhoba and her team host in-person workshops for locals living in shacks to learn how to build their own supportive and sustainable housing.

“Just having a roof isn’t enough,” Makhoba said. “A real home should protect you from the weather, work for your daily life, and not fall apart in five years.”

Her approach includes a full theory of change. Right now, Studio People is in the input process, building partnerships and funding to scale their operation. From there, they hope to develop a fully sustainable supply chain to manufacture and sell Texiboards and help build affordable housing for people in need.

Once that dream is realized, Makhoba outlines the tangible output of this work: Economically inclusive waste management, circular building materials, green jobs, and a sustainable housing and manufacturing market.

“Informal settlements can be transformed when we all work together,” she shares on the Studio People website. “Texiboard is the seed of innovation that will create updated trade jobs in the innovative building industry.”

Although the Texiboard is still being completely perfected, the goal is to provide a weather-proof, cost-effective, and circular way to house people by democratizing the act of building.

“Our goal is to create an egalitarian and sustainable urban environment, helping shack dwellers and youth out of poverty,” Studio People shared on LinkedIn.

“We empower the underdog, including people and businesses, to co-create solutions in our fight against the housing crisis, unsustainable building materials, and unemployment — one board at a time.”"

-via GoodGoodGood, May 28, 2025

[tfalpha88]

New reality part 1

In the high-tech laboratories of the Duval pharmaceutical group, excitement was in the air. After months of research, Philippe, a talented young scientist, had just developed a first prototype of a drug designed to enhance athletic performance. Curious about the results, the CEO himself, Mr. Duval, came down to discuss it with him.

- Well, Philippe, how is that famous sample coming along? Are the initial results living up to our expectations?”

- Yes, Mr. Duval. The formula looks very promising. Preliminary tests show a significant improvement in endurance and muscle strength. So far, no major side effects have been observed.”

- Excellent work. Keep going. This product could truly revolutionize our industry… and our market share.”

In the quiet of the lab, Philippe continued his trials. Focused, he carefully analyzed the red solution he had just synthesized. The goal was clear: to stabilize the formula and create a solid version, easier to use and more effective. But for now, the product remained too unstable. Philippe stayed cautious: he still didn’t know what side effects might occur.

While handling the sample, Philippe accidentally dropped it. The flask shattered on the table. Within seconds, the liquid reacted violently with the air, turning into a thick cloud of red smoke. Panicked, Philippe stumbled backward, horrified by what was unfolding before him.

Within seconds, the entire laboratory was engulfed in a dense red fog. The air became heavy, saturated with a strange scent — a mix of locker room sweat and gym odor. Philippe, frozen in panic, tried to comprehend what had just happened.

Suddenly, a violent pain struck Philippe’s stomach, as though his intestines were being crushed from the inside. The acrid, nauseating smell grew unbearable. Clutching his abdomen, he had no idea what was happening to him.

The pain became unbearable. Bent double, Philippe suddenly felt a thick red smoke burst from his mouth. In a panic, he couldn’t grasp what was happening. Memories came flooding back: a childhood marked by loneliness, teased by classmates for his shyness, distant parents who didn’t understand him. A brilliant student, he had found refuge in his studies, eventually being recruited by the Duval pharmaceutical group. But in his personal life, Philippe had remained a loner — few friends, one short-lived relationship… Even now, he never quite knew how to connect with others.

The memories kept shifting… something was changing. New images began replacing the old ones: yes, he had been a lonely child, but during adolescence, he had chosen to turn that loneliness into strength. He had started bodybuilding, seeking acceptance — from others and from himself. He could no longer stand the sight of his weak, frail body in the mirror. Though no longer top of his class, he had graduated and been recruited by Duval.

As these new memories rewrote his story, a new reality took hold: his body was transforming, muscles growing, his shape evolving. Philippe, confused, could no longer tell what was real and what was not.

Philippe’s memories — and reality — kept shifting. He now remembered always having been intelligent and popular. Arrogant and vain, he had embraced bodybuilding to sculpt the perfect physique — one he admired in other men, as women had never interested him.

His grades, though average despite his high IQ, had never mattered much next to his passion for sport. He had pursued a career in research to develop products that would push the body’s limits. The Duval group had hired him not for his grades, but for his charisma and ambition.

As these memories took root, his body kept changing: his muscles swelled, every fiber reshaped, reinforcing this new version of himself. Philippe could no longer tell what was real and what was imagined.

Philippe’s reality kept rewriting itself. He had never been particularly bright — academics were never for him. Sport was his world. Arrogant, self-absorbed, he had built a dream body, overflowing with testosterone. Proud of his sexuality, he was 100% gay and obsessed with the perfect, muscular male form.

One day, determined to create his own line of energy drinks for athletes, he had ended up in the Duval group’s laboratories. Now, as his body continued to transform, his clothes changed too, morphing into tight gym wear — the perfect reflection of who he truly was.

The transformation was complete. Now, it was as if the old Philippe had never existed. Only this new reality remained: a confident man, proud of his sculpted physique. He loved showing off his muscles — every pose a display of power and masculinity.

To be continued…

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Brother makes a demon-haunted printer

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in RICHMOND TOMORROW (Mar 5) and in AUSTIN> on Mar 10. More tour dates here. Mail-order signed copies from LA's Diesel Books.

You guys, I don't want to bum you out or anything, but I think there's a good chance than some self-described capitalists aren't really into capitalism.

Sorry.

Take incentives: Charlie Munger, capitalism's quippiest pitchman, famously said, "Show me the incentive and I’ll show you the outcome." And here's some mindblowing horseshoe theory for ya: Munger agrees with the noted Communist agitator Adam Smith, whose anti-rentier, pro-government-regulation jeremiad "The Wealth of Nations" contains this notorious passage:

It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages.

Incentives matter – if you design a system that permits abuse, you should expect abuse. Now, I'm not 100% on board with this: every one of us has ways to undetectably cheat the system and enrich ourselves, but most of the time, most of us play by the rules.

But it's different for corporations: the myth of "shareholder supremacy" has reached pandemic levels among the artificial lifeforms we call corporate persons, and it's impossible to rise through the corporate ranks without repeating and believing the catechism that there is a law that requires executives to lie, cheat and steal if it results in an extra dollar for the investors, in the name of "fiduciary duty":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/18/falsifiability/#figleaves-not-rubrics

And this attitude has leaked out into politics and everyday life, so that many of our neighbors have been brainwashed into thinking that a successful cheat is a success in life, that pulling a fast one "makes you smart":

https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/04/its-not-a-lie/#its-a-premature-truth

In a world dominated by a belief in the moral virtue and legal necessity of ripping off anyone you can get away with cheating, then, sure, any system that permits cheating is a system in which cheating will occur.

This shouldn't be controversial, but if so, how are we to explain the whole concept of the Internet of Things? Installing networked computers into our appliances, office equipment, vehicles and homes is an invitation of mischief: the software in those computers can be remotely altered after you purchase them, taking away the features you paid for and then selling them back to you.

Now, an advocate for market-based solutions has a ready-made response to this: if a company downgrades a device you own, this merely invites another company to step in with a disenshittifying plug-in that makes things better. If the company that made your garage-door opener pushes an over-the-air update that blocks you from using an ad-free, well-designed app and forces you to use an enshittified app that forces you to look at ads before you can open the garage, well, that's an opportunity for a rival company to sell you a better software update for your garage-door opener, one that restores the lost functionality:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/11/09/lead-me-not-into-temptation/#chamberlain

I'm no hayekpilled market truefan, but I'm pretty sure that would work.

However.

The problem is that since 1998, that kind of reverse-engineering has been a felony under Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which bans bypassing "an effective access control"

https://locusmag.com/2020/09/cory-doctorow-ip/

There's a pretty obvious incentive at play when companies have the ability to unilaterally alter how their products work after you buy them and you are legally prohibited to change how the product works after you buy them. This is the first lesson of the Darth Vader MBA: "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further":

https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/26/hit-with-a-brick/#graceful-failure

I've been banging this drum for decades now – like when I got into a public (friendly) spat with the editor of Wired magazine over their reviews of DRM-based media devices. I argued that it was irresponsible to review a device that could be unilaterally downgraded by the manufacturer at any time, without – at a minimum – noting that the feature you're buying the gadget for might disappear without warning after you've shelled out your hard-earned money:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/03/painful-burning-dribble/#law-of-intended-consequences

Of course, companies that get a reputation for these kinds of shenanigans might lose market share to better competitors. Sure, if the company that made your phone or your thermostat or your insulin pump reached into it across the internet and made it worse, you're shit out of luck when it comes to that device. But you can buy your next device from a better company, right?

Well, sure – in a competitive market, that's a plausible theory of "market discipline." Companies that fear losing business to rivals might behave themselves better.

In theory.

But in practice, the world's "advanced economies" have spent the past 40 years running an uncontrolled experiment in what happens if you don't enforce competition law, and instead allow companies to buy all their competitors. The result is across-the-board industrial oligopolies, cartels, duopolies and monopolies in nearly every category of good and service:

https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/learn/monopoly-by-the-numbers

Now, even a duopoly has some competition. If you don't like Coke, there's always Pepsi. But again, in practice, companies in concentrated industries find it easy to "tacitly collude" to adopt one another's worst habits – the differences between the outrageous payment processing charged by Apple's App Store and the junk fees charged by Google Play are about as meaningful as the differences between Coke and Pepsi.

Which brings me to printers.

I know.

Ugh.

Printers are the worst and HP is the worst of the worst. For years, HP has been abusing its market dominance – and its customers' wallets – by inflating the price of ink and rolling out countermeasures to prevent you from refilling your old cartridges or buying third-party ink. Worse, HP have mastered the Darth Vader MBA, bushing updates to its printers that sneakily downgrade them after you've bought them and taken them home.

Here's a sneaky trick HP came up with: they send a "security update" to your printer. After you click "OK," a little progress bar zips across the screen and the printer reboots itself, and then…nothing. The printer declares itself to be "up to date" and works exactly like it did before you installed the update. But inside the printer, a countdown timer has kicked off, and then, months later, the "security update" activates itself, like a software Manchurian Candidate.

Because that "security update" protects the security of HP, against HP customers. It is designed to detect and reject the very latest third-party ink cartridges, which means that if you've just bought a year's worth of ink at Costco, you might wake up the next day and discover that your printer will no longer accept them – because of an update you ran six months before.

Why does HP put such a long fuse on its logic bomb? For the same reason that viruses like covid evolve to be contagious before you show symptoms. If the update immediately broke compatibility with third party ink, word would spread, and some HP customers would turn off their printers' wifi before the "security update" could be applied to them.

By asymptomatically incubating the infection over a long, patient timescale, HP maximizes the spread of the contagion, guaranteeing a global pandemic of enshittiification:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/11/ink-stained-wretches-battle-soul-digital-freedom-taking-place-inside-your-printer

HP has done this – and worse – over and over, and every time I write about it, people pop up to recommend their Brother printers as the enshittification-free alternative. I own a Brother, an HL3170-CDW laser printer that's basically indestructible, cheerfully accepts third-party toner, and costs almost nothing to run.

But I still don't connect it to my wifi. The idea that Brother is a better company than HP – that is possesses some intrinsic antienshittificatory virtue – has always struck me as a foolish belief. Brother has means, motive and opportunity to push over-the-air downgrades to block third-party ink as HP.

Which is exactly what they've done.

Yesterday, Louis Rossman, hero of the Right to Repair movement, revealed that Brother had just pushed a mandatory over-the-air update that locks out third-party ink:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpHX_9fHNqE

Rossman has a thorough technical breakdown of the heist, but it boils down to this. Brother is just as shit as HP. Look from the men to the pigs and the pigs to the men all you want – you will never spot the difference. Take the Pepsi Challenge – bet you won't be able to guess which is which:

https://wiki.rossmanngroup.com/wiki/Brother_ink_lockout_%26_quality_sabotage

This was the absolutely predictable outcome of the regulatory incentives our corporate overlords created, the enormous, far-reaching power we handed to these corporations. With that great power came no responsibility:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/26/ursula-franklin/#franklinite

Filling our devices with computers that run programs that can be changed in secret, that we're not allowed to inspect or alter? It's a recipe for a demon-haunted world, where the devices we entrust with our livelihood, our privacy and our wellbeing are possessed by hellions who escape from the digital Tartarus and are unleashed upon humanity.

Demons have possessed the Internet of Things. It's in Teslas:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/28/edison-not-tesla/#demon-haunted-world

and in every other car, too:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/07/24/rent-to-pwn/#kitt-is-a-demon

Our devices – phones, pacemakers, appliances and home security systems – are designed to prevent us to find out what they're doing. That means that when malicious software infects them, then – by design – these devices prevent us from knowing about it or doing anything about it:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/18/descartes-delenda-est/#self-destruct-sequence-initiated

This should not come as a surprise to anyone. Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome.

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/05/printers-devil/#show-me-the-incentives-i-will-show-you-the-outcome

[cinnamonest]

With this whole 'rape fantasies are a result of misogyny as they allow women a guilt free sexuality cos they have no autonomy'

Surely that means your writing and fantasies are contributing to misogyny? Adding to it and normalising it?

Like isnt the answer to write and encourage fantasies of empowerment? Not abuse and rape?

Just seems crazy to me like 'we do this because of misogyny. And we'll keep doing it'

Obviously some behaviour come from misogyny and exist to combat it. This... really doesn't

I just don't think it's a feminist win when your writing is indistinguishable from that of a misogynistic man's.

This isnt an attack on you it just really seems like common sense that if something exists because of misogyny the last thing we should do is feed into those ideas

(I assume this is coming from this post, so I might reference that a bit here)

No worries, I fully understand how this can come across negative to those who do not have the same experiences and I appreciate you approaching the matter in a non-attacking way with genuine desire to have dialogue on the subject. I'll do my best to address these points individually.

>Surely that means your writing and fantasies are contributing to misogyny? Adding to it and normalising it?

In the past few years fandom culture has become a bit obsessed with the idea of "normalization" to the point that the definition of the term has been a bit skewed, which creates issues with these discussions.

There is no concept of which existence of content containing it alone constitutes normalization, by the actual definition of the word. Normalization is the process by which it is distributed and way in which it is presented, and intent of its creation.

Normalization via fiction is a process in which a creator, generally intentionally, creates content that presents a concept as, well, normal. That is, not reprehensible or problematic to replicate, and presents this to a population with the intent of them accepting the idea as something acceptable in reality. Generally it also necessitates that the creator will try to ensure the media is viewed by mainstream general audiences who would not normally seek the content out, since the purpose of normalization is to make an idea acceptable amongst a population.

That is the opposite of what I am doing, which is creating a private space filled with warnings. I am going out of my way to ensure that people who do not want to see this content, have the foreknowledge to opt to avoid it.

By definition, if you’re creating content and ensuring that it is heavily warned, and marketing it as such that only a niche group who likes such content seeks it out, that’s not normalization by any reasonable metric.

>Like isnt the answer to write and encourage fantasies of empowerment? Not abuse and rape?

For some people, I’m sure that would help them, and in that case, that is a great solution for them.

But people are different, and certain things that help some, don’t help others. The types of fantasies that would probably be called “empowering,” personally do nothing for me but make me uncomfortable, in the same way that the sort of content I write makes some people uncomfortable. It does not have the same positive effects on my mental health that this form of content does.

>Obviously some behaviour come from misogyny and exist to combat it. This... really doesn't

That's fair — but it doesn't have to.

It is not intended to directly combat misogyny in any way, there are other ways to do that, and this does not have to be one. It's primary purpose is catharsis and the ways in which it benefits me and, as is my hope, those who choose to consume it.

>I just don't think it's a feminist win when your writing is indistinguishable from that of a misogynistic man's.

Again, I never had any intention for it to be a "win" — misogyny is the reason for why I have these desires, but in making what I make, my purpose is to provide catharsis for myself and others.

But also, I would heavily contest that it is indistinguishable from male fantasies. As someone who has seen actual men's misogynist fetishization fantasies, they are very different.

Female disposability and the complete worthlessness of women’s very being — that is, women being non-human objects that are interchangeable, and made to be used temporarily and replaced — is the core defining characteristic of male fantasy/sexuality. Male fantasies almost always involve multiple women to one man, largely because he does not have any actual bond with women, they are items to be collected, no interpersonal relationship actually exists.

The lack of interpersonal connection and lack of personableness itself is fetishized by men, what men get off to is the power they feel from completely disregarding the woman as a person in any way. The very act of the woman being thrown away after being used is fetishized.

In male fantasy, there is no interpersonal connection or affection of any kind, whereas that is one of the defining themes of content like mine.

Tl;dr — while misogyny impacts all women, the severity and form of it in different upbringings, environments and cultures can create misunderstandings and strong reactions when different people react so differently to the same content and thus form misconceptions about each other's perceptions and intentions, but I believe both sides of this argument are usually coming from a place of good intent.

While I fully understand how it would be difficult for those who do not have the same experience to grasp mine, I just ask for mutual understanding that some forms of content help some people, in the same way entirely different forms of content help other people.

[sexhaver]

if your reaction to Musk pushing for more H1B visas is "wow the hitler salute guy accidentally did something good, this will be good for immigrants who get these visas" and not "hm, the richest guy on earth wants to expand a program that lets companies like his (and also literally his company in particular) hire immigrants in a way that gives the companies all the leverage and effectively stops those workers from exercising any of their labor rights (or even just switching to a better job) under threat of deportation, and he's also part of a White House that has been super vocally anti-immigration. perhaps there is some ulterior motive to this announcement and his proposed changes to the program that will result in these H1B immigrants getting taken advantage of" then you need to, idk, read the news more? stop taking fascists at face value? think about why fascists would support immigration specifically in the labor sector while physically blocking it everywhere else?

my issue with Musk proposing an expansion of the H1B program has not, and has never been, "competition" from immigrants. this job market is already horrendous, H1Bs are a drop in the bucket in that regard and anyone seriously mad that an immigrant "stole their job" is either racist or falling for racist propaganda. my issue is the opposite: if i and an H1B holder both get hired for the exact same job, they will be making a fraction of my salary (because of their immigrant status) with none of the protections against labor violations or even the ability to just walk away and work somewhere else (again, because of their immigrant status). they're doing the same work as me (better, actually, to qualify for a green card) and yet they're getting paid less and treated worse because they're an immigrant.

and in theory you can counter this with "okay but it's worth it for them to put up with that because after a few years they'll be a citizen and able to make the big bucks with labor protections too", but here's the thing: a fascist White House talking out one side of their mouth about issuing more H1Bs and making them cheaper, while simultaneously ranting about "closing the border" and sending Fox News teams out on ICE raids the day after inauguration, is not a White House that has any intention of letting these visa holders become citizens. big companies are overwhelmingly going to use these new H1Bs as a way to hire people, string them along for a while while underpaying and overworking them, and then find some reason to not give them a green card at the end of the process. formerly the incentive for companies not to do that was all the overhead fees associated with the H1B itself, but oh look, Musk wants to reduce those too.

like, yeah, i get it, the process of becoming a US citizen is a nightmare designed to be hostile and let in as few people as possible. the solution to that is absolutely not to let ELON FUCKING MUSK, the RICHEST MAN ON EARTH, rework + expand H1Bs. do you really trust him to handle that in a way that results in anyone but him and his friends winning. do you expect the average H1B holder experience to end in citizenship under Trump's administration. do you really.

[marxistlesbianist]

How do I stop getting more and more terrified of the upcoming Trump administration. I know on a material level Harris would not be much better but every new cabinet pick and headline makes the liberal in me scream and cry, I'm a trans woman just starting her transition and I'm scared I will never become the person I want to be. I'm scared it's too late for me. I need a Marxist perspective, what do I do?

Unfortunately marxism cannot provide you with any way to avoid fear as such, but this does not mean it is useless here. Marxism as an analytical method helps us to see the social/economic mechanisms affecting our lives as they really are, rather than as the quasi-divine forces which liberalism supposes them to be. I and many others have found that looking at the world in this more grounded manner has the effect of lessening our anxiety, but how you react to this vision of material reality is still up to you.

That being said, here is a rough outline of a marxist outlook on the US political economy to–day, which might help you to ground through the anxiety of the election results:

The US empire is an empire in decline. This is not the fault of any single politician, but of the inherently unstable ground on which capitalist economies are built. Capitalism necessitates constant market growth, and with nearly the whole world already captured by the US economic order, this is an increasingly impossible demand to meet. As climate change worsens the third world countries exploited by the US are pushed to either drown under ceaseless natural disasters, or revolt against the economic system distroying their ecology—in both cases the US hegemony is weakened and our great empire dies by a thousand cuts. The only way to avoid economic crisis is to move away from the capitalist mode of production all together, but bourgeois politicians will only ever offer us incomplete solutions to the problems they have created.

Fascism is the liberal response to economic crisis. Throughout the history of the 20th century, we have seen that even the most socially progressive liberal “democracies” have morphed into fascist monstrocities when the capitalist economy is threatened. Voting in ostensibly progressive candidates without seriously challenging the political economy won't save us--as the people of Germany learned when the liberal chancellor Hindenburg appointed Hitler as the head of state after beating him in the election. This happens because fascism is at its heart the imperialist system turned inwards; when the German bourgeoisie were no longer able to sustain their economy by exploiting colonized countries like Namibia, they revitalized their economy by building a more advanced version of the Namibian colonial state at home.

Because the system is already collapsing in on itself, the primary task for us to organize toward is not challenging the system as it is, but building something better in its place. Of course, the task of defending our movement will necessarily bring us into conflict with the current bourgeois state, but we must remember that the point is not to oppose our enemies but to defend our friends. Even if a socialist president were elected to the white house, their dictates would only mean anything if there existed an organized body of workers prepared to exicute the plan inspite of bourgeois sabatage. Conversely, a sufficiantly large and well organized body of workers would be capable of building socialism in the US no matter what Washington says.

For trans women, the state of affairs following Trump's election is fundamentally no different than it was before November 6th. For 250 years the US government has been hostile to our existence, and yet there are more of us living out of the closet now than there ever have been in this country's history. The liberties which the republican party now threatens to deprive us of were not given to us by liberal politicians, but won inspite of them by the masses of our trans elders fighting tirelessly for themselves and their children—and for so long as we continue the struggle we have inherited, the bourgeois state will never be able to defeat us. Of course, much of this history of struggle has been obscured by the liberal order trying to co-opt our movement, but it is still there to be discovered. (If you only know about Stonewall, I highly recommend you read about the history of STAR (Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries), an organization founded by some of the trans women who lead that riot.)

Of course, none of this is to say that the situation isn’t terrifying; just that it is also manageable. You may not be able to live the life you wanted, but that doesn't mean you can't still lead a life worth living! The liberal in you screams and cries because she sees that things are bad, but doesn't see how you as an individual can make it right. Adopting a marxist perspective to see not just that things are bad but also how and why, and organizing with your class allies instead of working on your own will silence your inner liberal’s tears as she becomes obsolete. Individual Trump staff picks don’t mean much for us in our project of building a socialist movement. Regardless of who sits in office, the work before us is the same. So let’s get to work—for the revolution of the world!

Lastly, because I always found it annoying when people would tell me to "join an org" without elaborating, here is a brief rundown of some organizations you could look into:

PSL (Party for Socialism and Liberation) has the widest reach of any nominally communist party in the US. Their top leadership are largely opportunists insofar as I can tell, but the local chapters vary enough that some of them are involved in genuinely productive work.

FRSO (Freedom Road Socialist Organization) is a lot smaller, but with more genuine leadership and a strong ideological line. They are growing, and tend to be much more active in the few areas where they are organized.

DSA and CPUSA (Democratic Socialists of America, and Communist Party of the USA) are both useless as organizations, but you might still find some people there you can organize with—especially of there aren’t any better orgs in your area.

SALT (Socialist ALTernative) basically encompass the worst of all worlds in my experience, but individual experience may vary.

Even if there are no active organizations in your area, joining one and sitting in on zoom meetings is still a worthwhile step forward!

[commodorez]

Tell us, why do you think Commodore failed?

Hoooooo boy... take this with a grain of salt, but here's how I see things based on my incomplete knowledge of the history. I need to do more research on this front, read a few of the books from folks who were there, but here goes nothing:

So, during the calculator wars of the early/mid 1970s, Texas Instruments was knocking competitors out of the game left and right by charging through the nose for the chips they sold. Commodore was one of their customers, and was nearly put out of business as a result. Jack Tramiel's solution was to buy MOS Technologies, effectively putting an end to CBM's reliance on TI's semiconductors because they could suddenly produce their own for much of their big ticket items.

Fast forward to 1981, and Commodore's VIC-20 is in a price war with Texas Instruments' TI-99/4A home computer. Jack kept lowering the price, and TI kept having to do the same to compete, so they were selling at a loss -- against a wildly popular home computer at the time. Jack, ever-vindictive in his motives (business is war, as he liked to say), cut the price of the VIC-20 at a CES show, which killed TI as a competitor in that segment in the market, but he did so at great cost to Commodore.

The way he cut the prices on the VIC also included peripherals, which the various vendors relied on to make their profits. They charged back those losses to Commodore. The result tipped the balance to diminish Jack's position in the company, and Irving Gould ousted him. Jack jumped ship with his sons and went to go work for Atari, selling the ST series machines, which would go on to compete with the Commodore Amiga series.

The problem was that Jack was the big force behind giving the company direction, especially when guiding advertising. The C64 sold itself, which was a blessing and a curse. It meant Commodore never really had to try all that hard to make good ads for it, so when they had to work harder to push later products, they kinda sucked at it. This really hurt the Amiga out of the gate, because nobody knew how to sell this golden child they just acquired, meaning it took many years to find its legs in the market.

Weird side projects continued to build up, and company focus was lost. Engineers churned out some amazing products, but without a guiding force at the top steering the company, and advertising dropping the ball in selling the powerful machines they were creating, the company was already in a slow death spiral. The IBM PC compatibles had already taken hold of much of the market, and were continuing to chip away at Commodore's market share, which wasn't helped by Jack himself fighting the company he founded on the side of Atari. The ST and the Amiga were fighting for the scraps left behind by IBM's juggernaut platform.

Commodore was a dead man walking from the moment Jack just had to get revenge on TI for trying to screw him out of the market in the 70s. It's just that nobody knew what the repercussions would be when he did that...

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this Op-Ed from the New York Times:

At first glance, Xi Jinping seems to have lost the plot.

China’s president appears to be smothering the entrepreneurial dynamism that allowed his country to crawl out of poverty and become the factory of the world. He has brushed aside Deng Xiaoping’s maxim “To get rich is glorious” in favor of centralized planning and Communist-sounding slogans like “ecological civilization” and “new, quality productive forces,” which have prompted predictions of the end of China’s economic miracle.

But Mr. Xi is, in fact, making a decades-long bet that China can dominate the global transition to green energy, with his one-party state acting as the driving force in a way that free markets cannot or will not. His ultimate goal is not just to address one of humanity’s most urgent problems — climate change — but also to position China as the global savior in the process.

It has already begun. In recent years, the transition away from fossil fuels has become Mr. Xi’s mantra and the common thread in China’s industrial policies. It’s yielding results: China is now the world’s leading manufacturer of climate-friendly technologies, such as solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles. Last year the energy transition was China’s single biggest driver of overall investment and economic growth, making it the first large economy to achieve that.

This raises an important question for the United States and all of humanity: Is Mr. Xi right? Is a state-directed system like China’s better positioned to solve a generational crisis like climate change, or is a decentralized market approach — i.e., the American way — the answer?

How this plays out could have serious implications for American power and influence.

Look at what happened in the early 20th century, when fascism posed a global threat. America entered the fight late, but with its industrial power — the arsenal of democracy — it emerged on top. Whoever unlocks the door inherits the kingdom, and the United States set about building a new architecture of trade and international relations. The era of American dominance began.

Climate change is, similarly, a global problem, one that threatens our species and the world’s biodiversity. Where do Brazil, Pakistan, Indonesia and other large developing nations that are already grappling with the effects of climate change find their solutions? It will be in technologies that offer an affordable path to decarbonization, and so far, it’s China that is providing most of the solar panels, electric cars and more. China’s exports, increasingly led by green technology, are booming, and much of the growth involves exports to developing countries.

From the American neoliberal economic viewpoint, a state-led push like this might seem illegitimate or even unfair. The state, with its subsidies and political directives, is making decisions that are better left to the markets, the thinking goes.

But China’s leaders have their own calculations, which prioritize stability decades from now over shareholder returns today. Chinese history is littered with dynasties that fell because of famines, floods or failures to adapt to new realities. The Chinese Communist Party’s centrally planned system values constant struggle for its own sake, and today’s struggle is against climate change. China received a frightening reminder of this in 2022, when vast areas of the country baked for weeks under a record heat wave that dried up rivers, withered crops and was blamed for several heatstroke deaths.

[dronebiscuitbat]

Oil is Thicker Then Blood (Part 58)

When N went in to work that Monday morning, his nerves were barely contained underneath his casing. Containing his excitement was difficult, he wanted to tell everyone. He was so ecstatic, Uzi was carrying living proof of how much he loved her. Something that should have been impossible made somehow possible.

Their coding shouldn't have been compatible… but it was, somehow.

His smile was unbreakable, not when he got sent to deal with a brawl in the market, not when he chased a thief and had to tackle them to the ground. And not when he spent three hours doing paperwork at his desk, even as some of the words blended together in his head.

“What's got ya so smiley? Thought you'd be worried after what happened.” Hal had been walking by, a steaming mug of gasoline clenched in his fist as he leaned on N's desk.

Right, Doll. Uzi had explained what happened to him, being cornered, fighting to the best of her ability and Tera, his brave, firecracker of a daughter confronted her and made her stop. Knowing that V killed her parents… maybe attacking Uzi when she had their daughter was too much of a hypocrisy.

That worry was in the back of his head… but for now eclipsed by the unfettered joy that came with knowing that his family was expanding.

“Uh- Just, something at home Hal.” Not telling anyone was rough on him. But Uzi had wanted to keep it between them for now, at least until she did more research and knew a bit more.

“And ya aren't going to share? That's not like you.” Hal pointed out, a half smirk on his face. N gave him a sheepish smile in return.

“Sorry, not this time.”

Uzi meanwhile was sitting on the couch with her laptop in her lap, jotting down notes in a little notebook with Tera playing with her bat toy next to her, making squeaks and chirps.

She was researching, scouring internet forums, medical websites, old video hosting webpages. Anything that held any relevant information for her. She was familiar with typical drone pregnancies, 5 months was the typical length, enough time for the babies code to become independent enough to be separated, then transfered to a pillbaby body. Aside from minor side effects, there were no physical changes in the host drone during the pregnancy, and the ‘birth’ relatively painless.

She wasn't quite so familiar with organic pregnancies, and figured her limited, horror movie taught experience was likely to be inaccurate or exaggerated.

She was both happy, and unhappy, that she did.

She started with a video describing first month symptoms, how to deal with them, and any complications that would arise. She was still hoping that her body was mearly reacting as if she was going through physical changes, and that hers would be a normal, painless process.

She was never one to hope for the best and not prepare for the worst however. And this information would be helpful going forward, just in case.

Morning sickness was the first symptom listed, something she was definitely familiar with. She still felt woosy from waking up that morning, and had thrown up twice. Unfortunately, the best answer she'd gotten for a fix was ‘wait it out, it'll subside later in the pregnancy’. Which was something she didn't want to hear honestly.

The next, mood swings. Which hadn't hit her too hard at the moment, but may have contributed to her recent fascination with rom-coms and other sappy shit. Nothing she could do about that either, humans had hormones that dictated that, and unfortunately her dumbass programing had simulated ones.

Cravings and weight gain were the next two, which was something that actually had a solution to, ‘Cravings are usually a result of the bodies lack of a certain nutrient required for the development of the baby. Listen to your body.’ Was the advice the article had given.

She'd love to listen to her body, but she didn't have a clue on what it wanted, She'd tried every snack known to drone and even ones she previously didn't like, but nothing was killing the hunger that had only grown stronger. The only two things that even helped a little bit was oil, and the silicone chips N had bought her the night before.

Her mouth watered a little bit at the thought of that, the hardened silicone breaking between her fangs, mixed with the thick sweetness of the oil she'd drunk, it had been the perfect combo, enough to calm down the hunger pains in her stomach. Almost.

“Ow!” She winced as she realized she'd stuck a finger in her mouth and bitten down, her fang peircing a hole through the white silicon pad on her finger, a small amount of oil seeped out, so she just stuck it back into her mouth until it stopped bleeding.

That was odd…

She shook it off and kept researching, skipping to how birth was, just to calm her nerves on how that was like, surely it was ar least somewhat similar to drones. Right?

She clicked on a video, the scene set in a hospital setting as a narrator drabbled on with how human babies were made, it was… interesting in it's own right. And made her realize just how similar DNA and code really was. Just 1s and 0s written and read in different ways.

It wasn't until the human woman laying on the table screamed like she was being murdered that her concerns returned. She was drenched in sweat, a man at her side holding her hand that she could only assume was her partner.

Her mind provided her an image of her lying there, N holding her hand, wiping the sweat from her brow. And she smiled a little bit before it fell off her face entirely within the next few minutes.

The woman's stomach was distended, and with every scream Uzi's disgust grew, doctors flurried around her so quickly that even she was starting to feel dizzy.

Oh

Oh…

Fear prickled on the back of her neck, this wasn't painless. This wasn't painless at all. Humans had to endure hours of agonizing pain as they pushed out a baby the size of a watermelon out of a hole the size of a pea.

And their bodies were made for that, albeit, evolution had fucked them over, giving them a reproductive system designed to be agonizing, but their bodies were made to be that way, to stretch and accommodate despite the pain.

She was made out of metal and silicone, and while some area's of the silicone were malleable, like her face and her fingers, most of it was hard and stiff, no room to give, no room to accommodate.

She wasn't made for… that.

So that fear was back in full force, if she was pregnant, like… the human way and not the vastly superior drone way. Then how was this going to work at all? She touched her midsection gently, as if she'd hurt herself if she pushed too hard.

She tried to think back to what N said, while having the solver was a pain and scary more often then not, it hadn't straight up tried to kill her, if anything it was doing it's best to keep her alive. So… would her body figure something out? It would have to, wouldn't it?

She sighed, stopping her spiral.

They knew nothing yet, no need to get hung up on something she may not have to worry about. So she moved on, heading into the next part of her research and scribbling down everything she'd learned, just in case.

She was focused on her research, looking up symptoms, how to deal with them, and what she should expect going forward. Knowing was far less scary then not knowing.

Then she heard a noise and looked over, Tera was hunched over the side of the couch, coughing. Uzi put her laptop to the side, hand on her daughters back.

“Tera?” She asked gently, and it only took another second for the toddler to heave. And then completely upchuck her recent feeding all over the floor, covering it with black.

“Tera!” Uzi lifted her head up, worried. Tera looked… fine. If slightly upset. She held herself as if she was in discomfort, and her eyelights were strained.

Toddlers getting sick out of nowhere was admiditly pretty normal, though a little unexpected, Uzi still picked her up and held her.

“Aw… Tera, let's clean this up, you're okay.” She wasn't mad, well… maybe a little upset that there was now oil everywhere, but if she could relate to anything it would be feeling nauseous. Still, chances were Tera was just overfed, nothing to freak out over.

Tera made a grumbling noise and curled into her mom, and Uzi sighed. Soon, no matter how it happened, she would be dealing with double trouble.

Next ->

[cardsweetheart]

Sweetheart Showcase : TWST Fan Event

After finding her own match, it was time for Yumi to start playing Cupid for the rest of her classmates. Originally going to Vil for bulk order of love potion, she's denied. Rook, overhearing her plan, decides to come on board and suggests putting their joint archery skills to good use. With unknowing help from Trey, the pair gets their hands on a concoction that will help them in their efforts to bring love and beauty the NRC campus.

Ortho and Cater volunteer to assist with attempting to direct the spell's effects as it's unfortunately, a less than perfect solution. The magic is unstable and can either lead to true love's confession, or simply falling for the first person the victim lays their eyes on. This evidently leads to it's own chaos as the grand plan begins to backfire, though the results are entertaining.

On the other side of the school, Azul catches Ruggie selling cookies supposedly containing the cure to the new lovesickness quickly spreading around students. Seeing a prime business opportunity, the two team up to market to as many couples as possible. Those wanting to explore their newfound relationships, and those desperately trying to find a way out of them.

Cards: (Yumi SSR) Rook SSR Cater SSR Ortho SR Azul SR Ruggie R References: I don't expect any content made, but for those interested; this is the aesthetic planned (Including what I would put each card in, if I had the artist ability. I hope the vision is clear.)

Feel free to add your ocs and yuusonas and ships. Let whatever antics you want ensue. Just please tag me or the event so I can see everyone's stuff!!

[themoonweaversden]

Messeges that were found so far: LIES (spoilers)

This is just to collect all the codes that you can type in in thisisnotawebsitedotcom.com and their effects only (please click images for better quality)

Masterpost with all messeges / codes

Transcript:

"In ancient times, “Truth” was whatever most recently came out of a king or priest’s mouth, and if you disagreed, your neck had a date with the guillotine. (DID U KNOW? Your head stays conscious 3 seconds after decapitation. FUN GAME: Try to lick the basket!)

Then a new type of person was invented: The Nerd, and they invented a new kind of method: Scientific.

As annoying as the nerds were, their methods got results. Flame throwers, roller coasters, space travel and saturated fat were all created by the overdeveloped frontal lobes of these socially challenged dweebs. For a while, it seemed like the nerds of Earth had won the right to decide what truth was.

But that didn’t last too long. Non-nerds started getting sick of hearing unflattering truths. They longed for a way to shove truth back in the locker and take its lunch money. And they figured out a way to do it! The solution? The free market!

Turns out, human beings dont really care what’s true or not, they care about what makes them feel good, and they’ll take a lollypop over a depressing essay about global warming any day!

Now truth is just another part of the supply/demand market. Whatever truth you want, you can find someone who will sell it to you. Neither kings nor nerds can tell you what reality is- you can climb inside your own reality and die in there with a smile on your face, like a rat happily drowning in high fructose corn syrup! Everyone thought I was a “psychopath” for trapping Mabel in a reality bubble, but you geniuses have created reality bubbles for yourselves. Which is frankly great, because your inability to share any kind of consensus on reality makes you easier to conquer and only brings the downfall of your entire civilization closer!

Since truth is up-for-grabs, the world belongs to whoever can master the art of “reality-bending,” also known as LYING.

TAKE IT FROM SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN AROUND THE BLOCK, KID!

LIE UNTIL WHAT YOU WANT TO BE TRUE BECOMES TRUE.

LIE UNTIL YOU CANT REMEMBER WHATS A LIE AND WHAT ISNT.

LIE UNTIL YOU ARENT LYING ANYMORE"

[mimzalot]

there's a recurring detail in a lot of current discussions about 'what's wrong with society' that I wanna boil down to this statement: a capitalistic, results-oriented society does not value the process, because the process takes time, and time is money.

this means that results take precedence over due process. but what's the purpose of due process? quality. integrity. effectiveness. sustainability. people need time to not only tangibly make things, but also to consider the work, improve and refine it. so where does that leave us?

let's think about fruit farming real quick. most people in a city district are never going to pick their own fruit, because we don't have access to that process or the skills necessary for it. but what happens when we are oblivious to the process? or, better yet, never consider that there is a process at all?

grocery companies are able to make money from us buying their fruit, but they're also able to save money by hiding the fruit labour process; are they exploiting the fruit-pickers? are they paying their farmers? how are these fruits made available to us in bulk, year round? how does climate affect this, or how are we impacting the planet? the necessary questions are hidden because analysing the process would reveal its flaws. criticising it would reveal solutions, and implementing those solutions would take time, thus cost money.

apply that same logic to smart phones and you find the Congo, cobalt mining, slave labour. apply that same logic to fast fashion and you find sweatshops, landfills and, again, slave labour.

hiding the process means hiding the 'why? how?' and dissuading people from 'why? how?' makes more complicit consumers.

and I might not know much about fruit-picking, but I do know that a large reason why fruit is so much sweeter back home in the islands is because it isn't picked early with the expectation of being sold en masse. it has time to ripen on the trees.

which leads me back to the prompt that inspired this train of thought: devaluing of 'the process' and the companies that benefit from it.

especially lately it has been coming up when we discuss the impacts of AI. when people talk about chatgpt, the main productivity benefit they're talking about is that it takes away the chore of thinking. which, most severely, not only conceals the process but undermines the process of forming thoughts altogether.

and we've seen that echoed across the board, referred to as the 'attention span problem' or 'poor media literacy'. it's spoken about as if it's a natural aspect of technological advancement when we can clearly observe that it is designed - literally designed, by web-designers - to be beneficial to the wealthy.

the disregard for artistic process that fuels the AI art debate also speaks to the same results-oriented society - not just for the reasons related to the nature of humanity and making, expression, storytelling, but primarily the clear disregard for the rights of the artists whose work is being stolen. we're diminishing not only the creative process (of thinking, problem-solving, creating) but also of the artists themselves (workers rights, intellectual property).

even the tendency for hot takes, valuing a fully-formed 'correct' opinion over the task of processing, researching, discussing, making statements (even wrong ones!), being corrected, reforming the sentiment, reaching consensus - these stops-and-starts are an essential part of growth. botched conclusions are a natural result of learning to do anything. community makes time for learning and imperfection. industries do not have time to teach nor the desire to have faulty products.

(not to mention that the good/bad morality figure also feeds into this industrial mindset, because things that are categorical are also profitable and marketable. in fact binaries really benefit most business models, which is why a capitalistic society also doesn't have space for nuance whether in media or especially in gender. because how do you profit off a racist and patriarchal white/black man/woman straight/gay society when there are people transing their genders? with greater difficulty. who's got the time to learn a new pronoun? not me, not me...)

there's a reason why the arts are about analysing thoughts, and while it can run the risk of becoming results-irrelevant (circular philosophiising, education for the sake of elitism, results-irrelevant musing), it also aims to foster your ability to think.

(which is tied to why the supposedly 'masculine' disciplines of STEM don't value the arts. there's a link between what is seen as tangible and 'real', what is perceived as masculine, and what is considered profitable thus valuable in a colonial society. but even in science you can't (or shouldn't) pull a solution out of thin air; there's due process. unless you are, say, an idiot billionaire that can pay people to do the thinking for you while you take the mantle of genius. but I digress)

so what does that mean! for me, it means being aware of the process. it means making time to take my time, even as someone that struggles to sit still. it also means constantly reminding people to take breathers, to not let themselves become cogs in a machine, if not because it's bad for you, then out of sheer spite for the people that might profit from it. I encourage people to do art, or engage in creating, or at least observe the magic of creation in things they might do regularly.

a results-oriented society is one that is prepared to disregard humanity. it's rooted in slavery, so that's not a surprise. countering that, to me, is about seeing where I say things like "I don't have the time for that" and analysing whether it's true, or whether a business model would just like me to think that it's true.

probably the funniest way I could end this post is without a clear conclusion huh. yeah

[dailyanarchistposts]

Ecology Action is an anarchist worker run recycling center in Austin Texas. It's not so much what we do, but how we do it. We believe we are creating cultures, models, stories of better futures.

Our History Texas' oldest and only non-profit environmental resource center was founded on Earth Day in 1970 by an all volunteer collective in Austin. For nearly forty years, EA's work has stayed very much the same—recycling and education. However, over time the structure evolved from all volunteer run to traditional non-profit, to what we now have—a staff collective.

In 2001, workers at Ecology Action wanted to return to their roots as a collective. They went on strike in defiance of poor management, low wages, and meddling from a previously absentee Board of Directors. As a result of the strike, staff began to create a workplace where everyone involved could have a say in their work environment and the business.

We've since added 'cooperation' to our recycling and education missions. We all come from different backgrounds. But, we share similar inspirations—drawn from peoples' movements all over the world. As Ecology Action makes our factory by working, we strive to have a participatory and democratic workplace and to make business decisions ethically.

Ecology Action Ecology Action operates a downtown flagship drop-off location, four satellite locations, and offers event recycling and business pick-up service with an annual budget of $400,000. We collect post-consumer and industrial recyclables that are processed and shipped to different facilities to be "recycled.” With our small staff, Ecology Action processes 10% of Austin's recycling. Nearly 300 tons of "waste" flows through our facility each month—that's 300 Hondas. And we do it without—gasp—a boss.

We don't do it alone. Everyday we come in contact with folks from all parts of society. Our downtown location is in close proximity to where much of the homeless population lives and seeks work and services. EA coordinates over 15,000 hours of court-appointed community restitution service. Consumer and commercial clients drop-off recyclables 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We treat everyone with dignity and respect no matter their ‘status’ and in return we have garnered goodwill across society.

When we interact with all those folks, we talk about the realities of recycling and about rethinking recycling. Much of the domestic recycling market is shipped overseas. Often times, recycling is sorted by underpaid and mistreated workers or reprocessed in environmentally hazardous ways—whether here or abroad. Some so-called "recycling" of plastics like those stamped #3 through #7 are most likely burned internationally and are advertised as "waste to energy" solutions. Corn plastics—touted as a ‘natural alternative’—are produced by Cargill, a giant chemical manufacturer, and must undergo another industrial process to actually breakdown.

Alone, recycling is not a comprehensive solution. It is most often a resource-intensive detour in the life of products on the way to a landfill. Effective work towards environmental sustainability has to include an honest and critical analysis of the limitations of capitalism and consumerism.

Our Organization "Who's in charge here?," is a constant refrain from recyclers. "No one" or "Everyone" is the response, depending on the staff's mood.

EA is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization operated by a staff collective. Our bylaws and personal policies reflect the culture of work we are developing. They are used as guidelines instead of as rules. We want to be accountable to ourselves and the group, by choice rather than coercion.

Our organizational culture is strongly influenced by anarchist ideas and principles, such as direct democracy, mutual aid and direct action. Although, you don’t have to be an anarchist to work here. We are not dogmatic, but use the ideas as foundations to create a just, healthy and sustainable workplace and, hopefully, models for other businesses.

EA strives to value labor fairly and justly—through wages, benefits, and workplace policies, through dignified, sustainable employment, and through solidarity with other movements. As we've developed as a collective, we've gone through a wage livability and equalization process. All members of the collective make the same, livable wage.

We are all responsible for our day to day actions and the long-term decisions that directly affect us. That's because we, as workers, have a serious seat at the decision-making table. We use a modified consensus process. We always strive to reach agreement and our decisions rarely come to a vote, allowing all of our voices to be heard, and participate as each topic affects each individual. We strive to make all our voices heard within the organization. We sit down every morning to plan the day, and every week to meet in committees. All of us do the dirty and heavy work, the administrative work, and public relations.

Also, EA moved away from traditional non-profit fundraising models—usually heavily reliant on grants from foundations and membership donations. Instead, we sell products and services that we believe have economic and social value. We run a nonprofit by running a business that is self-reliant. We've steadily, and intentionally, increased our materials sales as the majority of our revenue. If all the goodwill of foundations, the government, or individuals dried up tomorrow, we'd still be in business because we meet a need. Our autonomy from outside money allows us to make principled and ethical decisions on how, why and where we conduct our business. We can craft our workplace and programs as we see fit. We are creating functioning economic engines that are autonomous and operate ethically under a capitalist system and beyond.

Conclusion We will make mistakes along the way. But, that is part of the beauty of our work. We don’t have to have all the answers. We can ask questions of ourselves, our communities and others to adapt and build healthier systems. We want to exemplify with ‘propaganda by the deed’ that our work can be a part of our lives and communities and not separate. We don’t go to work and then have the rest of our lives. Nor, do we give our lives away to meaningless work. We run the business as ethically possible, which benefits many families, communities, and other grassroots organizations.

We want to show that we can have just, sustainable, and meaningful economic models where we don’t have to give up our ideals. We still dream while working for better worlds tomorrow and today. As a friend of ours once said, “If you want people to leave the capitalist system, create something better.”

Dreaming from the concrete jungle, Ecology Action Collective

John Clement, Eugene Crosby, scott crow, Susannah Cummins, Karly Jo Dixon, Jaxon Mitchell, Joaquin Mariel, Brent Perdue, Andrew Toelle

[digitalmarketer-amal]

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California could be heading toward a severe energy and economic crisis, with gas prices potentially surging 75 percent to $8.43 per gallon by 2026, according to a new warning from the state's Republican Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones.

Why It Matters

Retail prices for regular grade gasoline in California are already consistently higher than in any other state in the continental United States, often exceeding the national average by more than a dollar per gallon.

Therefore, a dramatic surge in gas prices could deepen California's cost-of-living crisis, strain working families, and reverberate through the broader economy.

What To Know

Jones' warning comes after two major refineries, Phillips 66 in Los Angeles and Valero in Benicia, announced they will close by the end of 2026. The closures will reduce the number of gasoline producers in the state from nine to seven.

In a letter sent to Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday, Jones called for immediate action to prevent the closure of the two refineries, which produce roughly 20 percent of California's gasoline supply.

The closures—Phillips 66 in Los Angeles by the end of 2025 and Valero in Benicia by April 2026—are forecasted to trigger a sharp spike in fuel prices, based on analysis by University of Southern California Professor Michael Mische. His projections indicate gas could hit $6.43 per gallon after the first closure and soar to $8.43 once both refineries are offline, with even higher prices possible under volatile market conditions.

"If the Governor doesn't act now, Californians will be blindsided by sticker shock at the pump and skyrocketing prices on everyday goods," said Jones. "We're talking about gas prices over $8.43 per gallon by the end of next year."

In response, Newsom's spokesperson, Daniel Villaseñor, told Newsweek the governor recently directed the state to intensify collaboration with refiners to maintain a stable and affordable gasoline supply.

"Governor Newsom will keep fighting to protect Californians from price spikes at the pump," Villaseñor said.

Experts generally agree that California gas prices are likely to rise if both the Phillips 66 and Valero refineries cease gasoline production, but the scale of the increase depends on broader supply conditions.

Patrick De Haan of GasBuddy estimates that prices could rise modestly—by 5 to 10 cents per gallon—if disruptions are limited, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. However, in the event of supply shocks like refinery fires or shipping delays, prices could spike between 50 cents and $1.50 per gallon.

California has already seen its gasoline prices rise. Last month, California's average price per gallon of gasoline was $4.85, which was about $1.69 higher than the national average. Per-gallon prices spiked above $6 twice in the last two years, spurring statewide panic and new legislation.

Meanwhile, Jones argues that the closures would not only hit consumers but also pose a major threat to jobs and local economies. The two refineries directly employ 1,300 workers and support nearly 3,000 additional jobs statewide through economic ripple effects, according to industry multipliers cited by Jones.

He added that the shutdowns would destabilize the state's fuel supply, increase reliance on out-of-state and foreign oil, and compromise national energy security.

As a result, he called on the governor to collaborate with California's fuel producers to explore emergency solutions, such as investment tax credits and regulatory relief, to avoid the shutdowns and maintain energy stability.

Newsom has come under fire from critics for the past for what they see as creating conditions that make refinery operations financially unviable in California due to high taxes and fees on oil and gas companies in the state, environmental requirements, special fuel requirements, and isolated petroleum markets.

"Let's be clear: Newsom owns this gas crisis," Jones said in his letter. "His policies have made it nearly impossible for California refineries to stay open."

The letter also criticizes recent legislation such as SBX1-2, ABX2-1, and modifications to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard, which Jones says have imposed excessive financial and regulatory burdens on gasoline producers.

Jones, a longtime critic of the Newsom administration's energy policies, previously raised similar concerns in a 2024 San Diego Union-Tribune op-ed, warning that the governor's approach would lead to a "self-inflicted gas price crisis."

But Newsom, once one of the oil industry's most vocal critics, has signaled a more cooperative approach in recent months as California faces the looming closure of major refineries and the threat of soaring gas prices.

In a recent letter to California Energy Commission Vice Chair Siva Gunda, Newsom urged closer collaboration with refiners to maintain a reliable supply of gasoline and other transportation fuels during the state's transition to clean energy. He asked the commission to ensure that fuel producers "continue to see the value in serving the California market" and called for recommendations by July 1 on changes needed to secure supply over the next two decades.

This tone marks a noticeable shift from Newsom's previous confrontational stance. During past fuel price spikes in 2022 and 2023, the governor accused oil companies of "lying and gouging Californians to line their own pockets."

At his urging, California passed Senate Bill X1-2, creating the Division of Petroleum Market Oversight and granting the state power to penalize oil companies for excessive profit margins—the first law of its kind in the nation.

Newsom also championed laws requiring refineries to maintain minimum gasoline inventories, with daily fines of up to $1 million for noncompliance. At bill signings, he often stood behind podiums emblazoned with "Holding Big Oil Accountable."

Yet the political and economic landscape has changed. With the closure of two of California's major gasoline refineries, the state, which produces over 90 percent of its own gasoline, may soon need to increase fuel imports, raising the risk of supply disruptions due to geographic and logistical challenges.

Newsom acknowledged these risks, writing that "it is imperative that we continue to ensure a safe, affordable and reliable supply of transportation fuels over the next two decades," even as California moves toward its 2035 goal of banning new gas-powered vehicle sales.

But some Republicans say the governor's shift amounts to a quiet retreat.

"Looks like it took several refinery closures and some of the highest gas prices in the nation for him to realize the damage he's done," said GOP state Assemblymember James Gallagher.

What People Are Saying

Villaseñor, told Newsweek: "Just last month, the Governor directed the state to redouble efforts to work with refiners to ensure a safe, affordable and reliable supply of gasoline. We thank Senate Republicans for highlighting the Administration's work on this critical issue. Governor Newsom will keep fighting to protect Californians from price spikes at the pump."

Jones said: "If the Governor doesn't act now, Californians will be blindsided by sticker shock at the pump and skyrocketing prices on everyday goods. We're talking about gas prices over $8.43 per gallon by the end of next year.

"Let's be clear: Newsom owns this gas crisis. His policies have made it nearly impossible for California refineries to stay open. As Newsom eyes the White House, America should be watching closely: the crisis he created here could be the next national nightmare.

"We're not just losing gas. We're losing jobs, losing local economies, losing our grip on affordable living in California, and losing a critical layer of our national security."

De Haan, head of petroleum analysis with GasBuddy, told the San Francisco Chronicle: "It's going to mean more expensive gasoline for motorists, it's going to mean more expensive jet fuel for airlines, it's going to be more expensive for farmers and truckers."

What Happens Next

The Phillips 66 refinery in Los Angeles will close in the fourth quarter of 2025, while the Valero refinery in Benicia will close in 2026.