#social spending

[maaruin]

It is important that our understanding of reality is accurate if we want to make the world better. So I have to say no, this quote is not just as applicable today. In 1967 in the US the federal budget for social programs was half that of the defense budget. In 2019 it was five times larger than the defense budget. (source)

So if the US is still approaching spiritual death, then it isn't because of the defense spending to social spending ratio.

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.“

Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” but would be just as applicable today

[fanaticalthings]

the muskification of twitter except it's lex luthor instead of elon lol

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[thesirhandsome-tepalehuia]

1.37.54min video on government spending explanation "If you can do that [print money] to finance war, why can't you do that to finance education, health-care & social spending ?" ~ Michael Hudson

[roseworth]

ok now im kinda curious

[newsbites]

News from Namibia, 12 June

Despite topping the charts on social sector spending, Namibia has posted poor human capital development outcomes, unsatisfying educational outcomes and a struggling health sector, the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises, Iipumbu Shiimi said.

2. Namibia's $10 billion agreement with Hyphen Hydrogen Energy aims to produce 350,000 tonnes per year of green hydrogen, with construction set to begin by late 2025 and first supply expected by the end of 2027.

In late May, Hyphen agreed the feasibility and implementation agreement (FIA) with the government of Namibia.

Kavango East in north-eastern Namibia is facing a series of ritual killings with missing body parts, causing fear and heartbreak among villagers.

Over the past six years, close to 21 people have disappeared in the Mukwe constituency, with only a few cases reported on by the media due to police bureaucracy and alleged relationships with media outlets.

Community members are demanding a more robust police presence in the area and the need to open up a substation at Shadikongoro to address the ongoing issue of disappearances and killings.

[okanra]

Since I grew up in the late 90s, all I can think about teen Trunks and Goten is through the layer of nostalgia, with them wearing the late 90s and early 2000s clothing in something like a US setting, and Trunks using the latest phone technology at the time since he's a tech nepobaby: the legendary flip phone.

I think for Goten who was originally a mountain boy to be so hooked on things like phones and texting and girlfriends and dates when he grows into his adolescence, is because Trunks was his original influence until it wasn't.

Them using the trendiest slangs of 20 years later is pretty on point tho.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Lan Wangji Goes To Lotus Pier AU: Part 1: Dread on Arrival

(Part 2)

[serial-unaliver]

nothing infuriates me more than, when someone points out rich people donate a lesser income percentage, the response is "well that's why they're rich loool poor people are so dumb for donating money to anyone" because 1. they'd still be fucking rich if they have a consistently high income and 2. what a bleak worldview to have. "you're such a loser for caring about people less fortunate than you when you're not financially stable yourself ". the fact that anyone hears that and thinks they're a good person for agreeing is insane. completely devoid of compassion and connection to fellow human beings. I do not view you in a more positive light than billionaires.

[syn0vial]

yes, yes, boba fett finds it strange and uncomfortable when people can see his face and this is one of the major reasons he almost never removes his helmet (in the expanded universe anyway), but another factor that i think isn't explored nearly enough is just how much his helmet shapes how he sees the world. it grants him 360° vision, lets him interface with his weapon systems and slave I, and automatically dampens loud noises and dims bright lights. imagine going through the vast majority of your life seeing the world through that lens and then suddenly taking it away. removing his helmet for any significant length of time likely isn't just uncomfortable for him but downright disorienting.

[ionomycin]

My favorite pieces this year

[fatedroses]

Two former military elites taking merc jobs perform absolutely hellish battle tactics together.

[emo-batboy]

A Wild Battinson (Social Media AU)

Part 11 (Masterlist)

(Part 12)

@bruciemilf This one’s just really chaotic

[ask-spiderpool]

Dear mod. I just wanted to ask how you're doing atm? Are you eating good food and sleeping well?

Oh bless you, anon! Regrettably, neither of those things, no. My appetite has been very poor since my surgery, and I'm more than a little sleep deprived with all the jobs I'm juggling at the moment - buuut... I'm alive. My head is good. My work is good. Always manage to make everyone happy, oh, yes sir, but can't wait to pass out for a whole day and then hang out with some friends. It'll heal me.

[randomalistic]

Wait you guys are actually buying Disney products I thought it was a joke

(READ TAGS FOR FULL CONTEXT Sorry it’s long dies

[astorianyxkings]

Oldest Daughter Dick™ is probably one of my favourite things ever. And it always will be and here's why:

Of course Dick loves his siblings and of course he loves that they know Bruce as the father he is. But it won't stop the jealousy he feels. And no one gets it, not even Jason. They were all raised by Bruce Wayne, he was raised by Batman.

When Dick came to live with him, Bruce had no idea how to he a father. How to handle normal kid stuff like sicknesses and school events let alone the fact he was an acrobat. He was Batman and Dick was raised to be not just his successor but the only contingency plan he had against himself.

Bruce never held his punches ("That was a good block but I still got you, didn't I?" Bruce had said, rubbing cream into the blossoming bruise on Dick's side. "I'll get you next time," Dick had promised, young eyes challenging. "You better." Bruce had grinned back.) All attacks were to remind him that he was at a disadvantage strength wise and thus needed to re-evaluate his lines of defense and offense.

Dick was raised by the paranoid-in-his-late-twenties-probably-shouldn't-be-a-dad-despite-what-Marisol-said Bat. A fun game of catch? He was dodging Batarangs. Learning to drive? It was the Batmobile and he was age 14 (and a half). School events? He was fumbling, awkward and did not want to be there (but still was because he'll be damned if his boy didn't have his support.)

And you know that's fine, Dick was fine. It wasn't Bruce's fault he didn't know how to be a proper dad, despite Alfred's parenting books and videos. And he did try, he was always there. But it just really hits a sore spot everytime he sees Bruce hold a punch before he knocks Tim out cold or when he's behind the wheel with Steph telling her what not to do. Or even when he's at school with Damian and Duke making Marjory and her cupcakes look ridiculous compared to him and his coconut crumble cakes.

It also irritates Dick beyond senseless whenever the topic of sparring with Bruce is mentioned. ("We can all beat the old man Goldie, he's ancient." Jason shrugs off and Dick wanted to scream.) The only one who even tries to sympathize with him was Cass. More than likely because she'd seen him fight as Batman The Dark Knight before seeing him fight as Bruce The Father of Six-Almost-Eight.

And it just really stings because he can't relate to being raised by Bruce the way the others can't. Bruce changed for them, not him. And maybe that kind of hurts. But maybe he's overreacting.

What he doesn't realize is he's the reason why Bruce changed. Bruce saw the hurt and anger in Dick's eyes when he fired him from Robin (Think Shifu denying Tai Lung the Dragon Warrior scroll). He knew the second he saw the betrayal in Dick's eyes after seeing Jason as Robin, that he'd have to change. (The same way Shifu should've changed for Tigress but I digress, not that fandom).

Bruce pulls his punches because he hated seeing Dick limp away from their sparring matches—despite the fire and promise of a rematch in his eyes. He teaches them how to drive regular cars before the Batmobile because the one time Dick crashed (while trying to avoid some of Poison Ivy's vines) his heart rate skyrocketed so high Clark had called him up demanding to know if he was okay. He shows up for Duke and Damian and Cass and Tim because Dick's smile whenever he saw Bruce in the parent's lounge never failed to make him melt.

Bruce stands firm on the fact that while he may have made a hero out of Dick, Dick Grayson made a father out of Bruce Wayne.