Prue Plumridge

"Poor countries are not 'under-developed', they are over-exploited."

—Michael Parenti

Poverty is not a lifestyle choice.
Poverty is a policy choice.

YouTube video by Geologyrocks the wave that shook the world

On the 20th anniversary of this terrible event, it is still well worth watching this excellent account that I helped with - just to remind ourselves of the staggering power of tsunamis

youtu.be/3YOf44bNzw4

YouTube video by The Gower Initiative for Modern Money Studies The Power of the Pound

made worse by a media whose only job is to reinforce the narrative that money is a scarce commodity.
But let's keep going. Change is a long-term term project. Even though time may not be on our side, we owe it to future generations to try.

youtu.be/GHnW_V5dfu0?...

self-interest, greed, and corporate profits drive public policy from spending to taxation and legislation. And people suffer as a result.
Let's not be under any illusions. Challenging the lies is a thankless, endless task in a time of global instability and climate crisis,..../

inexplicably runs dry. Growth, they say, what we need is growth to raise taxes to pay for it. But then come unstuck when growth fails to appear, and they scratch their heads, pretend to wonder why and recommend more pain, sacrifice, and cuts. Ideology, predicated on ..../

Repetition. It will work until people start to see the contradictions. Always plenty of money to crank up the war machine and stuff into corporate profits, but when it's a question of serving public purpose, all the vital services that support people, the money to do it .../

Yikes...a £2bn black hole in the Chancellor's benefit plans says the I paper. Surely this record should be getting boring by now. But how else will the media keep the public sucked into the disinformation and just plain lies, on whatever subject, not just how gvt spends? ..../

"What’s happening in Gaza is the shame of the century.”

the logic is to create winners from losers through speculative betting, without any necessary correspondence to societal well-being being evident, can somehow fund a viable degrowth strategy is delusional."

"It is simply inconceivable that a degrowth production and distribution system can be compatible with a capitalist economy where private profit-seeking dominates resource allocation and investment decisions.
Thinking that the world's financial markets, where .../

billmitchell.org/blog/?p=62231

I am afraid that the best of times, albeit never really good, are over for the world as we normalize genocide and disgusting reichwing harshness as it permeates society. This isn't a political statement as much as a critique of society and the social fabric that kept it even moderately together.

Despite 2024’s ‘greenlash’, the fight against climate breakdown can still be won. Here’s how | Björn Bremer, Jane Gingrich and Hanna Schwander The overwhelming majority of Europeans support climate action, but they must be compensated for its costs in tangible ways

I'm sorry, but the tone of this piece is nonsense

There is no 'good news' when it comes to #climate breakdown

1.5C is dead in the water, staying this side of 2C is likely practically impossible, the FF sector is expanding, and we face climate cataclysm

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

has managed to maintain the primacy of political power over economic power and which in turn has avoided creating a parasitic financial oligarchy such as the one that currently controls the politics of the capitalist West."

Praise to Belarus I have been asked on several occasions which country is the closest today to the proposal I make in my book Fiat Socialism. My answer is always the same: Belarus.

"......if we had to name the country currently closest to the model of fiat socialism we would undoubtedly have to name Belarus, since despite the nuances we have pointed out (the interest rate policy and the job guarantee) it is a country that.../

carlosgarcahernndez.substack.com/p/praise-to-...

Rail renationalisation should reduce delays but may not cut fares, says UK minister Heidi Alexander refuses to confirm cost of setting up Great British Railways but insists it is lower than fees paid to train operators

No change from @UKLabour

And no evidence of any consideration of a public transport plan that provides cheap, clean and reliable trains and buses, that gets cars off the road, and makes everyone's lives better

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024...