#The State of Economics

[hussyknee]

People seem to think this is fake because it's written in English. Apart from the racism in believing that Arab doctors and nurses aren't fluent in English (a second or official language for half of Asia), Palestinians have deliberately been addressing their audience in English on every social media, from journalists to children, because they know speaking English to Westerners immediately makes people more human in their eyes. Because language is one of the ways the imperial cultural hegemony conditions us (yes, everyone in the world) to see who qualifies as "people" and who are simply a mass of bodies who were always made to suffer and die. Gazans know this deeply, which is why they have been using English to beg and plead through social media, "We're not numbers! We're not numbers! We're people like you, we speak your language, we deserve to live!" all the while they're systematically slaughtered.

Israeli forces also encircled Al Shifa Hospital yesterday and bombed it for several hours while shooting dead anyone trying to flee including medical staff moving between buildings. Not sure whether it's still continuing because WHO lost all communications with its staff there a few hours after. The last new report said that thirty-nine babies had been removed from the incubators before the power went out. It's extremely unlikely they will survive.

Please understand that these atrocities depend on the war of attrition between governments and public attention. The momentum of public outcry is difficult to sustain through repeated stonewalling and bureaucratic intractability. When we're flooded with these reports and a sense of futility and despair replaces the anger, it allows compassion fatigue to set in and the violence to become normalized. Massacring hospitals, killing sick children and openly targeting humanitarian aid workers (Netanyahu just declared the UNRWA is in league with Hamas) will become simply more news articles that fade into the background, and open genocides will soon become part of the "lesser evil".

Take care of yourselves how you can, take distance where needed, but please never tune out and give up on the two million people for whom we are the only witness and hope. Never stop boosting and sharing the news and posts you find, never stop getting out there and joining every protest you can, however small. Anger burns out, which is why activism must depend on an immovable sense of justice and uncompromising value for human life. It's not just about Gaza, it's about the kind of evil our generation will be coerced into accepting as unchangeable and inevitable hereafter.

#but also like it's a lot about us and especially you in the West #every bomb dropped on Gaza brings us closer to the brink of‚ if not a world war‚ an eruption of regional conflict #with devastating economic and environmental effects across the world #I'm tired of repeating this and my followers are prob tired of seeing it #but someone has to #war of attrition like I said #free Palestine #tw child murder #tw child death #tw baby killing #tw ableism #disability justice #war crimes #gaza genocide #save gaza #gaza under attack #palestinian genocide #israel is a terrorist state #knee of huss

[bfpnola]

from @/pslnational

#mlk jr #mlk #mlk day #revolution #quotes #socialism #anti capitalism #instagram #black lives matter #civil rights #protest #vietnam #economics #washington dc #united states #black liberation

[phoenixyfriend]

Tom Nicholas just posted a video that summarizes like half a semester of business school and honestly teaches it better than a lot of my professors, while also ensuring the viewer is aware of the moral and ethical failings of free trade in the name of comparative advantage and global efficiency.

(Yes, for the unaware: I have a bachelor's degree in international business. I am also one of those people who graduated with a distinct distaste for much of the business world, related directly to the 'taking advantage of cheap labor and bullying less powerful entities is good, actually' model of economic theory that a lot of my classes pushed.)

#tom nicholas #education #economics #global economics #geopolitics #china #wto #united states #phoenix politics #youtube #videos #though I actually watched this on Nebula lol #comparative advantage #free trade #Youtube

[keepyourpantsongohan]

Meaningful Highlights from Kakashi Retsuden:

Minato catching Kakashi before he falls, the same way Kakashi always does for his students. And Kakashi, even at eight or nine years old, straight out of his father's funeral and before being his student, immediately relaxing when he runs into Minato: His feet tangled beneath him and he pitched forward. Into someone’s back. “You were really strong back there,” a voice told him, and he suddenly saw bright golden hair. He felt his breathing become a little easier. The Yellow Flash of Konoha. Namikaze Minato.

Kakashi describing his current feelings about his father: Now he felt proud from the bottom of his heart to have been born the child of the White Fang of Konoha.

Kakashi wanting to help the people of Redaku in a way that they can sustain themselves, even as he actually is providing a great deal of support through the process: The people of this country had to learn how to stand up and walk under their own strength. Give a starving person bread or teach them how to grow wheat. As Hokage, Kakashi had always chosen the latter.

Kakashi reflecting on his time as Sixth Hokage he eschewed tradition to build something that developed beyond shinobi: A never-ending peace. That was what Kakashi had sought as the Sixth Hokage. An orderly society that would go on and on even when he was not the Hokage, even when the day came when the role of Hokage disappeared. To create a framework so that they would never again fall into the quagmire of war.

The way Kakashi shows that he still views all of the former students taught by him and his friends in a parental and protective way: They had long since reached adulthood, and some were now parents while others were active on the front lines as shinobi. Even so, no matter how many years passed, to Kakashi, they were his precious students and the next generation who needed to be protected. Seeing them having so much fun was enough to ease his heart.

#kakashi retsuden #kakashi hatake #minato namikaze #sakumo hatake #light novels #light novel highlights #kakashi retsuden spoilers #i LOVE that kakashi's parental feelings go beyond team 7. like sai is there but he also feels this way about ino kiba tenten lee and karui #like they're ALL his kids to him #they also explicitly state it's BECAUSE of kakashi that the land of fire had technological + economic development. like it's his influence #for point 4: kakashi also notes that people disliked that he was disrupting the status quo/traditions #but he does it anyway!!! bc that's who he is!! #[sasuke voice] revolution <3 #ayesha talks anime #naruto series

[sugas6thtooth]

If US politicians refuse to listen to our calls for ceasefire via letter, call, email, or petitions, then it's time to hit them where it hurts.

Don't buy anything during Black Friday or Cyber Monday. The American government cannot function without the funds of its people.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

#free gaza #free palestine #gaza #palestine #from the river to the sea palestine will be free #israel #pray for palestine #ceasefire #america #usa #the united states of america #north america #black friday #cyber monday #amazon #shopping #online shoppping #economy #economics #boycott #boycott israel #politicians #politics #activism #share #thanksgiving #holiday #family #money

[spacedoutcowgirl]

how amelie’s coming out to felix went, probably

“i’m a lesbian!”

“that’s no shocker, mum. here i thought you found the body in uncle’s basement.”

“????????”

#miraculous ladybug #felix fathom #amelie graham de vanily #argos #my only experience with british people is doctor who #felix just being like: yeah that’s cool or whatever but #are you aware of the political and economic state of our world? #emilie agreste

[racefortheironthrone]

Why do economists need to shut up about mercantilism, as you alluded to in your post about Louis XIV's chief ministers?

In part due to their supposed intellectual descent from Adam Smith and the other classical economists, contemporary economists are pretty uniformly hostile to mercantilism, seeing it as a wrong-headed political economy that held back human progress until it was replaced by that best of all ideas: capitalism.

As a student of economic history and the history of political economy, I find that economists generally have a pretty poor understanding of what mercantilists actually believed and what economic policies they actually supported. In reality, a lot of the things that economists see as key advances in the creation of capitalism - the invention of the joint-stock company, the creation of financial markets, etc. - were all accomplishments of mercantiism.

Rather than the crude stereotype of mercantilists as a bunch of monetary weirdos who thought the secret to prosperity was the hoarding of precious metals, mercantilists were actually lazer-focused on economic development. The whole business about trying to achieve a positive balance of trade and financial liquidity and restraining wages was all a means to an end of economic development. Trade surpluses could be invested in manufacturing and shipping, gold reserves played an important role in deepening capital pools and thus increasing levels of investment at lower interest rates that could support larger-scale and more capital intensive enterprises, and so forth.

Indeed, the arch-sin of mercantilism in the eyes of classical and contemporary economists, their interference in free trade through tariffs, monopolies, and other interventions, was all directed at the overriding economic goal of climbing the value-added ladder.

Thus, England (and later Britain) put a tariff on foreign textiles and an export tax on raw wool and forbade the emigration of skilled workers (while supporting the immigration of skilled workers to England) and other mercantilist policies to move up from being exporters of raw wool (which meant that most of the profits from the higher value-added part of the industry went to Burgundy) to being exporters of cheap wool cloth to being exporters of more advanced textiles. Hell, even Adam Smith saw the logic of the Navigation Acts!

And this is what brings me to the most devastating critique of the standard economist narrative about mercantilism: the majority of the countries that successfully industrialized did so using mercantilist principles rather than laissez-faire principles:

When England became the first industrial economy, it did so under strict protectionist policies and only converted to free trade once it had gained enough of a technological and economic advantage over its competitors that it didn't need protectionism any more.

When the United States industrialized in the 19th century and transformed itself into the largest economy in the world, it did so from behind high tariff walls.

When Germany made itself the leading industrial power on the Continent, it did so by rejecting English free trade economics and having the state invest heavily in coal, steel, and railroads. Free trade was only for within the Zollverein, not with the outside world.

And as Dani Rodrik, Ha-Joon Chang, and others have pointed out, you see the same thing with Japan, South Korea, China...everywhere you look, you see protectionism as the means of achieving economic development, and then free trade only working for already-developed economies.

#political economy #mercantilism #economic development #early modern state-building #early modern period #laissez-faire #classical liberalism #classical economics #economics #economic history

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

in the last 12 months, the Biden admin has allowed at least 1 economic migrant to cross into the United States per every newborn baby born in the United States

#- HK #stats that send a literal chill down my spine #this is not sustainable #i will run the numbers against state populations after work #respublica #mobile #x #economics #immigration

[hussyknee]

Link to video

So to recap where we are now: after murdering more UN workers than any conflict in its history has claimed in the same period of time, these terrorist howler monkeys, with the full backing of Western governments, are establishing a justification so that no international aid worker in an active war zone will ever be safe again. Because setting the precedent of bombing hospitals, Red Crescent ambulances, medics, journalists and UN aid workers was nowhere near enough.

Oh and also the Biden-Blinken State Department is picking up where Trump-Pompeo left off and refusing to acknowledge the Geneva Convention.

This while we're teetering on the brink of wars between several nuclear powers most of whom are aligned with each other (Iran-Israel/US, Russia-NATO).

Anyone who isn't terrified right now is an idiot.

#I wish I could make y'all understand how much this is not just about Palestine anymore #your lives in the West are more in danger than they have ever been #as for the Global South #I'm trying not to think about how toast we are #we're looking down the barrel of an economic crisis not seen since '73 #israel palestine war #gaza genocide #palestinian genocide #war crimes #israel is a terrorist state #current events #world news #genocide Joe #knee of huss

[thoughtportal]

the biggest industrial and economic transition that is ever going to happen on earth.

#tiktok #carbon neutral #statistics #united states #climate change #climate science #climate action #Hank green #climate crisis #money #economics #economy #co2 emissions #clean drinking water #clean air

[ootbwithdriss]

Joe Rogan and Peter zeihan on china

#joe rogan #jre #the joe rogan experience #Joe Rogan experience #China #Geopolitics #Economy #Economic #Economics #Population #United States of America #Peter zeihan

[phoenixyfriend]

An interesting and somewhat infuriating development in California:

The minimum wage for fast food workers has been raised from $16/hr to $20/hr, with a VERY specific exception for Panera. Turns out a major donor of Gavin Newsom's is a high school friend who now owns 24 Panera locations.

I first heard about this on Morning Brew Daily 2/29/24, where they go into detail on how the legislation impacts California, what induced it, and how the exception works. In text format, the story is also available here.

California's minimum wage in all fields is currently $16/hr, with certain cities and counties having much higher minimum wages. Unfortunately, despite legal protections, undocumented workers and other minorities are often paid at less than that, which is a lasting problem. Paying subminimum wages to disabled workers will also not be fully banned until 2025, a process that has been in the works since 2021.

If you live in Cali, I'd suggest calling your state reps (not federal) to express that you applaud the raise in minimum wage, but not the exception carved out for Panera specifically.

#California #current events #minimum wage #united states #Phoenix Politics #morning brew #economics #corruption

[aropride]

when i get bored i like to slightly edit various parts of a us map until it looks Similar but Slightly Wrong

#text #its fun 4 me #this time im getting rid of the fucked up shapes and trying to redo the fucked up borders by rivers/mountains/lakes/other #more natural geographic features #but i couldnt find a good map that included the big rivers so i have 2 keep switching screens which is annoying but whatever #also i have very little regard for how this would impact america politically or economically #i only care abt giving more states more river borders #im having fun :3

[radicallyhonestfeedback]

this point has probably been made before but I find it so funny, sad and exhausting that there are leftists who will gladly proclaim to be anti capitalist and talk about how exploitative labour is under capitalism while being "pro sex work" and viewing it as ✨empowering✨

what's more pro capitalist and exploitative than someone selling themselves as if their body was a product? treating something intimate that people share like it's a service you can buy

#anyways im very sick of the normalization of stuff like OF #like its a 'side hustle' like any other #im not shocked that its popularity increased with economic hardships getting worse #i think about that paramedic who got fired for having an OF and stated she did it to make ends meet #how does that not disgust people #i dont think people who've done stuff like that should be punished or any of that puritanical bs #i think those women should be helped so they arent in that situation anymore #radical feminism #radblr #radical feminists do interact #feminism #anti capitalism #anti sex work

[awesomecooperlove]

⚠️⚠️⚠️REPOSTING ⚠️⚠️⚠️

🛑🛑🛑

#chemtrails #poisoning humanity from the sky #thé deep state’s plan to reduce the human population to half billion #world economic forum #think tank Khazarian Jewish Jesuit Zionist Ashkenazi mafia #warning #danger #know your enemy #crimes against humanity #these people are evil #speaktruth #corruption #fight for justice #standup #speak up #truth #please share #wwg1wga

[mochirialgworl]

Wikipedia Says:

Damn, SuFin been canon 💛💙🤍

#special relationship #wikipedia #sweden #finland #hetalia #sufin #sufin ftw #random shit #the bold letters have me dying #true love #very important #nordic #couple goals #immune to home-of-phobia #white people #power couple #state of the world #“Can we talk about like the political and economic state of the world right now? Can we talk about what’s going on with the environment?” #icy boi #lol #but seriously y'all needa discipline ur nft peddling son #sealand needs a timeout