Whirling In Rags

Dispelling common Socialist myths Pt. 1: Private vs Personal Property.

I like this video a lot. I tell people all the time "I’m not here to take your toaster... I’m here to take away the billionaire’s ownership of the factory that makes toasters."

Use this link to sign up to help stop the sweeps:
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Republicans Made This Mess — Democrats Just Cleaned It Up for Them While Republicans partied at Mar-a-Lago and cashed shutdown paychecks, Democrats gave them an escape hatch.

The GOP bragged they’d never negotiate — that they didn’t need Democrats.

Then they shut down the government, threw parties at Mar-a-Lago, and kept Congress on vacation while Americans missed paychecks.

Polls were turning on them.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...

Across this country, nearly one in five renters is now severely burdened by rent, paying more than half their income just to keep a roof overhead. From cost to cost, working Americans are being crushed by rents that rise faster than any paycheck.

What he said: 💯 🎯

For my New Mexican friends.

On November 1, millions of working Americans will lose food aid.
All because Republicans refuse to fund the government unless Democrats let health care costs rise.

They would rather starve the people
than admit the people deserve to live.

#NationForTheMany #WorkingClass #SNAP #Healthcare

Donald Trump just threw a late-night tantrum over an advertisement created by the Canadian province of Ontario, which featured Ronald Reagan’s REAL words expressing his dislike of tariffs. Trump says that, as a result, all trade negotiations with Canada are “HEREBY TERMINATED.”

Pay attention -- what he means is allowing Democrats to win a free and fair election.

The Peoples House. Remember after they lock you out, gild it in gold, destroy it, and build a ball room you will never be invited to see...just remember...for a glorious moment...it was The People's House once.

I got an ad where Jay Block was bragging he was “brave” for voting no on paid family leave to stop a “tax hike.” That’s a lie. What he really did was side with business interests who didn’t want to pay even 0.15% of payroll into a fund that would help their own employees care for themselves.

No Kings, No Oligarchs, No Fascism!

So the next time you read an article about some company reporting record earnings...know that it came at the expense of the working class. The people who create the wealth get nothing. The people who create nothing get the wealth.

And when employees actually exceed expectations? No raise. No extra time off. Meanwhile, The CEO who set that imaginary goal (who contributed nothing to achieving it) is praised for their “leadership” and “business acumen.” Bonuses and pay raises all around for them and their executive team.

Somewhere in a boardroom, someone decided the company needed to increase profits by some arbitrary percentage to impress shareholders. Then they turned around and demanded that workers meet this invented target, threatening jobs if they didn’t.

Quarter three of the fiscal year just closed, and already many companies are reporting strong profits. I think it’s worth pausing here to remember that profits are the unpaid wages of the working class.

But illusions fade. The same system that drained the world now drains its own people. Wages stagnate, debt soars, and basic needs slip out of reach while corporations post record profits. The empire has turned inward, feeding on the very workers it once bought off with the spoils of globalization.

For decades, cheap imports and global supply chains masked the exploitation at the heart of American capitalism. The wealth of the Global South (wrung from sweatshops, debt, and stolen resources) kept shelves full and prices low, creating the illusion of prosperity.

I want to talk about the illusion of the middle class or the "labor aristocracy”. A layer of workers whose modest comforts depend on the exploitation of others abroad. A way to appease the working class, and help prevent revolution.

Why are the farmers destabilized, Scott?

Meiselas: A reporter asked the question that I've been saying over and over again to MAGA Mike: do you support repealing Obamacare? What's your health care plan?

To me, this is probably the most important clip about what's going on with the government shutdown, because the Republicans have no plan.

@repstansbury.bsky.social: "This is gangster activity. The president is trying to shield pedophiles by calling and threatening members of Congress. We need more members of Congress, whether it's the Epstein files, the shutdown, health care, democracy, the rule of law, to just fucking do their jobs."

The capitalist class no longer needs to hire or negotiate with skilled workers. They don’t want (or really need) your expertise anymore. They stole it from you when you weren't looking. They’ll pay you to push the button, to monitor the machine, to distribute the output.

I don’t think people realize what’s being stolen from them with AI. You spend years learning, practicing, and refining a skill. Something that’s uniquely yours, something you can use to make a living. AI takes those years of experience, packages them up, and gives them freely to capital.

The rich still burn the oranges.
They hoard homes, waste food, and call it “the economy." A broken system built on a need manufactured, and destroyed abundance. A crime going beyond denunciation.

Today, the same story repeats itself. Homes sit empty while people freeze, surplus crops dumped while families go hungry, billionaires hoarding wealth while workers can’t afford to go see a doctor.

Steinbeck wrote about oranges doused in kerosene so the poor couldn’t eat them...food destroyed to protect the price.