On this episode, Jesse & Matt spin the radical salad by saying the quiet parts out-loud about how we go from the first manifestations of a rebellion—with the Floyd Uprisings—toward the massive euphoric heave of a revolution that must be made at a time when the Covid-Collapse is occurring in fast-break waves upon our no-job, no-rent lives. As organizers rattled through megaphones across America in July: “This is not a MOMENT; this is a MOVEMENT,” any successful revolution is one made up of a cross-stitching of other liberation movements: as seen in the work of Covid mutual aid units collaborating with BLM activists, while youth-led climate groups like Sunrise Movement have now hurled banners across freeways—not only to demand a #GreenNewDeal, but to #DefundThePolice and #CancelRent. Already, tens of millions of Americans have hit the streets to defend Black lives, while also identifying how the blood stains of police brutality connect to the patriarchal, colonial violence beating the drum of Capitalism’s deathwish. We are in the midst of a generation-defining, global, mass-death catastrophe, and so Kali Akuno’s call to “Unite and Fight, Build the General Strike” will need to have multiple connecting demands to Defund the Police; Care for the People; Cancel the Rent; Forgive the Debt and Build the Green New Deal. Anything less than this will mean the end of mass civilization, its past achievements becoming newspaper kindle to the fires of the post-apocalypse. Toni Morrison once said, “All paradises, all utopias are defined by who is not there, by the people not allowed in.” In fact, it’s the poisonous ideas and myths that exist inside them and us that should not be let in. So let’s start a very different kind of fire then.
Mentioned In This Episode:
Oscar Gonzalez in CNET: “Extra $600 CARES Act Unemployment Benefit Has Ended : What This Means for You”
In Total, 30 Million People Are Now Facing 50-75% Cut in Their Income: as Explained in Jake Johnson’s Article in Common Dreams: “'Indefensible and Disgusting': Senate Departs for 3-Day Weekend as Unemployment Benefits Expire for 30 Million.”
A Surprising Op-Ed of an Openly Socialist & Radical Viewpoint in The New York Times: As Seen in Amna A. Akbar’s Claim That a 21st Century Revolution Is Now Upon Us: "The Left Is Remaking the World: “Defund the Police” and “Cancel Rent” Arenʼt Reforms, but Paths to Revolution."
Amy Goodman’s Interview with Amna A. Akbar on Democracy Now: “The Left Remakes the World: Amna Akbar on Canceling Rent, Defunding Police & Where We Go from Here.”
Bin Adewunmi in The New Statesman: “Kimberlé Crenshaw on Intersectionality: “I Wanted to Come Up with an Everyday Metaphor That Anyone Could Use.”
Jane Coaston in Vox: “The Intersectionality Wars”
Kali Akuno, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Cooperation Jackson, in Roar Magazine: “The Floyd Rebellion: Pathway to a Revolution?”
Jackson Rising: The Struggle for Economic Democracy and Black Self-Determination in Jackson, Mississippi: An Edited Anthology by Ajamu Nangwaya by Kali Akuno. Published by Daraja Press in 2017.
Corey Robin’s The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump. Revised Edition Published in 2017.
–| The Holy Trinity of Nancy Pelosi’s “Virtue Signaling” |–
NANCY CLAPPING → Sam Wolfson in The Guardian: “Pelosi Turns Clapping into a Viral Art Form as She Trolls Trump.”
NANCY TEARING → Brian Stelter in CNN: “Nancy Pelosi Ripping Donald Trump's Speech May Not Have Been Planned, but It Was Effective”
NANCY KNEELING → Doreen St. Félix in The New Yorker: “The Embarrassment of Democrats Wearing Kente-Cloth Stoles”
“People’s Strike and the Uprising: An Open Letter to All Forces Fighting For Our Lives” (peoplesstrike.org – June, 2020)
There Have Only Been Two General Strikes in Modern American History: in Seattle in 1919 & Oakland in 1946; As Explored by Erik Loomis for In These Times: “Shutting It All Down: The Power of General Strikes in U.S. History”
Colin Gordon in Jacobin: “The Legacy of Taft-Hartley” (Became a Law in 1947)
More on Matt’s Umbrage at the Landbaron of Animal Crossing; as Explored by Rao Paoletta in Inverse: “Should Animal Crossing Players Revolt Against Tom Nook?”
Branco Marcetic in Jacobin: “The Nightmare in Portland” Chip Gibbons in Jacobin: “Trump’s Secret Police Are Waging a War on American Cities”
Julia Conley in Common Dreams: “In Show of Solidarity, Public Transit Workers Refuse to Transport Police Units or Those Arrested at #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd Protests”
CrimethInc: “Rent Strike?: A Strategic Appraisal of Rent Strikes throughout History—and Today” (crimethinc.com – March 30, 2020)
The New York Times: “The U.S. Economy’s Contraction in the Second Quarter Was the Worst on Record.” = G.D.P. fell 9.5 percent; a 32.9% rate of decline; shrinking by $1.8 trillion.
… on the same day that…
Trump Tweeted His Grotesque Trial Balloon: As Explained by Peter Baker in The New York Times: “More Than Just a Tweet: Trump’s Campaign to Undercut Democracy”
Michael D. Shear, Haily Fuchs and Kenneth P. Vogel in The New York Times: “Mail Delays Fuel Concern Trump Is Undercutting Postal System Ahead of Voting”
Jacob Bagoge in The Washington Post: “Postmaster General Pick Probed” -- An Tasty Excerpt of Louis DeJoy’s Conflict of Interest:
“DeJoy and his wife Aldona Wos, the ambassador-nominee to Canada, have between $30.1 million and $75.3 million in assets in Postal Service competitors or contractors, according to Wos's financial disclosure paperwork filed with the Office of Government Ethics. Postal Service mail processing contractor XPO Logistics -- which acquired DeJoy's company New Breed Logistics in 2014 -- represents the vast majority of those holdings. Their combined stake in competitors UPS and trucking company J.B. Hunt is roughly $265,000.”
#DSA4USPS Campaign (Democratic Socialists of America)
The Young Turks: Ana Kasparian’s YouTube Clip of Bill Clinton at John Lewis’ Funeral Throwing Shade on Stokley Carmichael (Kwame Ture)Hasan Kwame Jeffries’ Op-Ed in The Washington Post: “Stokely Carmichael Didn’t Deserve Bill Clinton’s Swipe During John Lewis’s Funeral”
-| The Two Very Different Versions of John Lewis’ Life |-
The Civil Rights Icon (& Sometimes Radical):
Bill Moyers & Company: “The Two Versions of John Lewis’ Speech” (for the March on Washington)
Rashawn Ray in Brookings Institute: “Five Things John Lewis Taught Us About Getting Into Trouble”
. . . Versus The Progressive-Neoliberal Legislator Bought by Wall Street . . .
Bruce A. Dixon in The Black Agenda Report: “Is It Time to Revoke John Lewis’ Lifetime Civil Rights Hero Pass”
Margaret Kimberly in The Black Agenda Report: “Freedom Rider: No Tears for John Lewis”On Bernie Sanders “Free-Shit & Ponies 4 All” - Comments from John Lewis During Bernie’s 2016 Campaign Run:Specifically, Lewis was asked about Sanders' promise of free college tuition and other programs. Said Lewis:
Zach Carter in The Atlantic: “The Congressional Black Caucus Is at War With Itself Over Wall Street”
The New York Times: “The economy is in record decline, but not for the tech giants.”
Inequality.org: July 23, 2020 Update: US Billionaire Wealth Surges by $755 Billion After Four Months into the Pandemic.
Thomas Piketty Claims that the Huge Amount of Wealth Destruction During WWII Made the Golden Age of Capitalism Possible: As Explained in Matthew Yglesias Article in Vox: “The Short Guide to Capital in the 21st Century”
The Going Theory in Social History - Plagues are supposed to benefit workers because it kills off enough of them that there’s shortages & Calamities are supposed to destroy wealth in the process; as Explored More Deeply in John Auther’s Essay in Bloomberg: “When Plagues Pass, Labor Gets the Upperhand”
Since COVID-19, There Have Been 18 Weeks in a Row That More Than a Million People Filed Jobless Claims in a Single Week: Fortune Magazine: “How the U.S. Economy Is Doing in 8 Charts.”
Unemployment Rate in US is 11.1% (15% for Black Americans) / 17.8 million Unemployed Persons U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics – July 2, 2020
Carmen Reinicke in Business Insider: "US weekly jobless claims hit 1.4 million, post second straight weekly increase"
“In just a few months, the more than 54 million unemployment claims filed during the coronavirus pandemic have far surpassed the 37 million during the 18-month Great Recession.”
Neil Franklin in Insight: “Low Paid Workers and Those in Precarious Jobs Bearing Brunt of COVID-19”
For Doug Henwood, The Green New Deal is the Most Practical Solution to Get Out of This Great Depression: as Published in LBO News: “Reflections on the Current Disorder”
Jeff Cox for CNBC (May 5, 2020): "Consumer debt hits new record of $14.3 trillion"
Federal Reserve Bank of New York: HOUSEHOLD DEBT AND CREDIT REPORT (Q1 2020)
Zack Friedman in Forbes: "Student Loan Debt Statistics in 2020: A New Record at $1.6 Trillion"
More Satirical Hilarity at The Onion: “Congress Passes Bill to Build New 35-Mile Overpass Capable of Housing Millions of Evicted Americans”
In an effort to help ease the economic burden of the coronavirus pandemic, Congress passed a new bill Wednesday that approved $3 trillion in funding for a 35-mile overpass capable of housing millions of recently evicted U.S. citizens. “We know the American people are struggling, and we are thrilled to finally be able to offer them substantive relief in the form of this massive bridge structure that they can huddle under to avoid the elements,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, telling reporters that the overpass authorized by bill H.R. 487 would include plenty of shelter from the sun and wind as well as a generous 5-foot median to give a wide swath of unhoused Americans a place to sleep.
Before the Pandemic, Homelessness in America Was Already at an Astonishing Level: 567,715 People Were Homeless on a Single Night in January 2019.
In 2015, as Many as 1.6 Billion People Lacked Adequate Housing Globally, according to Habitat for Humanity.
Annie Nova in CNBC: "How the Eviction Crisis Across the U.S. Will Look" - (Included Is a Much-shared Graphic Detailing the Risk of Evictions Across the U.S.)
Princeton University’s Eviction Lab predicts as many as 28 million people could be evicted in the coming months.
By one estimate, some 40 million Americans could be evicted during the public health crisis.
Amy Goodman in Democracy Now: "New Orleans Protesters Block Eviction Court Proceedings as Rent Comes Due"
Jen Kirby in Vox: “A Wave of evictions Is Coming. Democrats Are Proposing a Lifeline.”
Krystal Ball on the Corporate Democrats: "Housing is a Human Right, and we're facing a crisis of Biblical Proportions, so let's give 'em Lawyers."
Heather Long in The Washington Post: "The Next Big Problem for the Economy: Businesses Can’t Pay Their Rent: Nearly Half of Commercial Retail Rents Were Not Paid in April and May"
Dan Primrack in Axios: “Staples Refuses to Pay Landlords for April Rents”
While Poverty Will Get You in Jail, the Wealthy Can Afford to Refuse to Pay Rent: Blue Jays Player, Coach Refuse to Pay Rent for Toronto Condos Blaming COVID-19
Christopher Beam in Slate: “Why Does Congress Get So Much Vacation?
#DefundThePolice:
Paige Fernandez, the ACLU’s Policing Policy Advisor in Cosmopolitan: “Defunding the Police Isn’t Punishment—It Will Actually Make Us Safer”
The Movement for Black Lives: The Breathe Act
8 to Abolition: Defund the Police Now!
-| Why We Must Care For The People! |-
Lellan MacLellen & Katherine Ellen Foley in Quartz: “Canada Has an Excellent Healthcare Plan. Bernie Sanders’s Might Be Even Better.”
As Noam Chomsky Said on Democracy Now: Decades of “the Neoliberal Plague” Left U.S. Unprepared for COVID-19 Outbreak
"Remember Ronald Reagan—that government is the problem, not the solution, which means we have to take decision-making and action out of the hands of government, which has a flaw; it’s somewhat responsive to the population. We have to shift it to unaccountable, private tyrannies, which are totally unaccountable to the population. That is the meaning of Reagan’s slogan. That is the fundamental principle of neoliberalism. We’ve been suffering—the world has been suffering from it for 40 years, except for the tiny percentage who have become super rich and extremely powerful."
Why Use Terms Like “Divest” & “Invest” Together: As the Movement for Black Lives States:
Bernie Sanders’ Senate Website: “Cut the Pentagon By 10% to Hire More Teachers, Build More Homes, and Create More Jobs”
Why We Can’t Quit Bernie Still, Fam: Masks for Everyone! - Masks for All Act
Eli Rosenberg in The New York Times: “Why Finland’s Newborns Sleep in Cardboard Cribs”
Matt Breunig’s People’s Policy Project Paper: “Family Fun Pack”
Justin Sedgewick on Betsy Devos & Trump’s Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany - “‘The Science Should Not Stand in the Way’: McEnany Says Science Is on Side of Reopening Schools”
Pool Parties in The Hamptons: As Explained by Elise Taylor in Vanity Fair: “What’s Going on in the Hamptons?”
-| Cancel The Rent! |-
"The Rent is Too Damn High!" A Warm-Hearted YouTube Clip: Jimmy "The Rent is Too Damn High!" McMillan and Vermin Supreme Run for Office
Rent Is Too Damn High - A Political Party: Explained in Wikipedia
The Inland Equity Community Land Trust (Covers Riverside and San Bernardino Counties in Inland Southern California)Inland Equity Community Land Trust: Our CrowdRise Video
America’s Largest & Most Legendary CLT: The Burlington Community Land Trust – As Described in Slate Magazine: “How Bernie Sanders Made Burlington Affordable”
List of Tenants Unions in North America from Autonomous Tenant Union Network
California Tenants Unions & Resources at TenantsTogether.org
Al Jazeera: “Noam Chomsky: The Five Filters of the Mass Media Machine” (from Chomsky’s Most Famous Book: Manufacturing Consent The Political Economy of the Mass Media)
From Good Morning America’s YouTube Page: Fucking Stupid & Condescending Celebrities Singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” in the Time of COVID-19