Society’s Collapse Has Already Begun, by Rainer Shea

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by Rainer Shea
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rainer’s Newsletter, Mar. 10, 2023
March 20, 2023

American workers are stuck in a prison, a prison that they’re kept in through the perpetual threat of homelessness. This isn’t truly a rhetorical point, it’s an empirically proven reality. Nearly two-thirds of the country’s workers are now living paycheck to paycheck, meaning this last year’s inflation has made them easier to coerce. That’s the directly stated goal of the capitalist ruling class at this stage. A Bank of America memo from last year said decreased worker living standards will represent greater leverage for employers. The consequences of this are the destruction of these people’s mental and physical wellbeing. They’re being strained, abused, and exploited while having to choose between this and living on the streets.

Finian Cunningham and Jodi Dean: Western Capitalism’s Historic Crisis: There’s Actually A Socialist Alternative

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by Finian Cunningham
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Ireland
March 14, 2023

Finian Cunningham on Mar 9, 2023

Western capitalism and its supposed democracy are in terminal crisis as increasing numbers of people reject the system’s abysmal economic failure: record levels of poverty, inequality and relentless militarism and warmongering.

Chris Hedges and Kshama Sawant: Workers Strike Back

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Dandelion Salad
March 10, 2023

with Chris Hedges

TheRealNews on Mar 10, 2023

After over a decade on Seattle City Council, socialist Kshama Sawant is launching a national coalition called Workers Strike Back to fight for wages, universal healthcare, LGBTQ rights, a clean energy transition, and more.

Ralph Nader: Failing (Red)States

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Dandelion Salad
March 5, 2023

with Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Mar 4, 2023

Ralph welcomes William Kleinknecht, author of States of Neglect: How Red-State Leaders Have Failed Their Citizens and Undermined America about how red state governors and legislatures fight culture wars while starving education and health care, empowering polluters, engaging in voter suppression, and neglecting their citizens’ well-being in the interest of cutting taxes for their wealthy donors.

Brian Becker: Why You Should Read The Communist Manifesto

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Dandelion Salad
March 4, 2023

BreakThrough News on Mar 1, 2023

The Communist Manifesto was a short but world-changing text that, despite being written in 1848, is a vital read for anyone who wants a better and more equal society. Brian Becker discusses the importance of the book, the historical context, and what it brought to the world.

Chris Hedges and Maximillian Alvarez: Workers are Essential, Capitalists are Not

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Dandelion Salad

with Chris Hedges

TheRealNews on Mar 3, 2023

TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez joins The Chris Hedges Report to discuss his recent book on the lives of frontline workers in the COVID-19 pandemic, The Work of Living.

How Does An Economic System So Hostile To Life Endure For Centuries? by Pete Dolack

Screenshot by Dandelion Salad via Flickr

by Pete Dolack
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Systemic Disorder, Feb. 28, 2023
March 2, 2023

When we conceptualize the power that maintains capitalism, violence and ideology readily come to mind. Despite the vast inequality, grotesque exploitation, contempt for life and the environment, chronic instability and the rebellions that repeatedly arise and sometimes take power, capitalism seems firmer in the saddle than ever, spreading its suffocating tentacles to virtually every place on Earth.

Michael Hudson and Radhika Desai: The Rise and Failure of the US Dollar Imperialism

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by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
February 28, 2023

Geopolitical Economy Report on Feb 24, 2023

Economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson explain the end of the British empire’s sterling area with the rise of the US dollar system, its central role in imperialism, and why it ultimately failed to accomplish Washington’s hegemonic goals.

American Capitalism’s Growing Dysfunction, by Rainer Shea

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by Rainer Shea
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Rainer’s Newsletter
February 21, 2023

The systemic breakdown that our socioeconomic system is creating has the potential to do more than worsen the suffering of the people. Capitalism has survived so long because it’s been able to exploit the crises it creates, to profit off of wars, depressions, pandemics, and environmental catastrophes. Yet in certain instances, these crises have instead produced victories for the working class. World War I made the Russian revolution possible, World War II made the Chinese revolution possible, the living standards crisis that the IMF engineered across the Global South made the formation of many anti-imperialist governments possible. When the capitalists disrupt society, they do so with the risk that the outcome will be not greater profits but an end to their rule.

Ralph Nader and Chris Hedges: Woke Imperialism

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Dandelion Salad

with Ralph Nader and Chris Hedges

Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Feb 11, 2023

Ralph welcomes Dr. Nason Maani, co-editor of “The Commercial Determinants of Health,” to explore the larger forces, forces beyond the power of an individual to control, that shape our environment and therefore our health.

Inflation, Layoffs, and the $1 Trillion War Budget, by Scott Scheffer

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Dandelion Salad

by Scott Scheffer
Struggle ★ La Lucha
February 11, 2023

In January, tech companies laid off 97,020 workers, more than double the layoffs in the first month of last year.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google were responsible for most of the January cuts – 18,000, 10,000, and 12,000, respectively.

Michael Hudson and Radhika Desai: What Causes Inflation?

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by Michael Hudson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
February 6, 2023

Geopolitical Economy Report on Jan 27, 2023

In this episode of Geopolitical Economy Hour, economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson discuss inflation: what it is, what causes it, and what are the problems in how the Federal Reserve and other central banks respond to it.

Ralph Nader: Workplace Surveillance + The Luddite Club

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Dandelion Salad

with Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader Radio Hour on Feb 4, 2023

Ralph welcomes professor Karen Levy, who talks to us about how regulations aimed at making trucking safer have been turned into a tool of corporate surveillance as chronicled in her book Data Driven: Truckers, Technology, and the New Workplace Surveillance.

The World Bank — Underneath The Rhetoric, The Usual Right-Wing Prescriptions, by Pete Dolack

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by Pete Dolack
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Systemic Disorder, Feb. 1, 2023
February 4, 2023

Every so often, the World Bank puts out a paper that calls for better social protection or at least a somewhat better deal for working people. The public relations people there evidently believe we have very short memories.

Why You Should Be A Socialist In 2023

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Dandelion Salad

Second Thought on Dec 23, 2022

You’ve probably heard a lot of talk about socialism becoming more popular over the past few years. There’s a reason for that! The capitalist system has shown itself to be incapable of solving the problems it creates, and more and more people are living a worse life than their parents or grandparents. What’s going on here, and is socialism the way forward?