Notices by Dave Johnson (dcjohnson@mastodon.cloud), page 2

The UK has obvious corruption just like the US.

Oil company money destroys democracies.

"Tory donor’s oil and gas company given North Sea licence after £150,000 fine"

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/02/tory-donors-oil-and-gas-company-given-north-sea-licence-after-150000-fine

#corruption

"Conservative" economics (neoliberalism), since Reagan and Thatcher, is really about asset stripping. Force everything that benefits the public to be privatized so they benefit only the wealthiest and their corporations.

#neoliberalism.

"Capitalism" means a system of private investment instead of public investment. Those with capital (the rich) make the decisions about allocation of societal resources, for their own profit, instead of the public through their government, for the public's benefit.

This basic fact has been obscured by decade upon decade of propaganda.

#capitalism

Actually, thinking back on it, I think MOST people saying high top tax rates are bad are pretending that all your income is taxes at that rate.

I wrote a whole explainer post for nothing.

#taxes

PS also from comments I think lot of people PRETEND not to understand tax brackets so they can argue that high top tax rates are bad.

#taxes

From comments I see people don't understand how taxes work.

If a top tax rate is 90% on 1 million dollars or pounds, you do not pay 90% on the entire million dollars or pounds, only on dollars or pounds you make ABOVE that million.

So if you make a million pus one, your tax is 90 cents or pence. NOT 900,000 dollars or pounds.

Also if you are a hedge fund manager who makes 1 billion a year, you "only" get to keep 100 million. That makes me so sad. The entire world weeps for you.

#taxes

Suppose a group of Oath Keepers from Alexandria VA committed an atrocity in DC. Terrible, terrible atrocity.

Suppose in reaction the govt used the opportunity to declare it was time to destroy the Oath Keepers once and for all.

Suppose the govt told everyone in Alexandria to evacuate within 24 hours and shut off all water, food & fuel to the area, and then all communications.

/1

#Gaza #Hamas

Killing children anywhere is wrong. Killing civilians is wrong. Taking civilians hostage is wrong. Attacking music festivals is wrong. Shutting off food and water to millions of people is wrong. Apartheid is wrong

Apparently according to right-wingers this statement makes me (Ukrainian Jewish ancestry) an antisemite.

#Israel #Hamas #Palestine

Oil companies really really hate high-speed rail so the US and UK don't have high-speed rail.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/11/spains-high-speed-trains-arent-just-efficient-they-have-transformed-peoples-lives

#highspeedrail

The UK was a wealthy country. Then conservatives imposed austerity to "save money."

Now the UK is largely a poor country. Outside London it is poorer than Mississippi. NHS being killed off. Schools, infrastructure, etc.

But the rich are doing very, very well indeed.

#austerity #uk

Privatization takes services away from people whose mission is to serve the public and gives them to people whose job is to figure out how to make money off of the public.

#privatization

The problem with using the term "National Debt" is it misleads people into thinking it is "debt." It isn't.

The "National Debt" measures the currency spent into the economy without being taxed out.

Money is just IOUs. Money is debt.

I found the right word. It should be called the "National Money."

#debt #MMT

I put the word Bluesky in my name and was immediately kicked off Twitter. Can't get back in.

Spread the word.

I get this, I do it, the screen goes blank.

@RuiSeabra @Mina @luisfcorreia

The POINT of this was to ilustrate how fossil fuel propaganda diverts us from converstions about the climate crisis.

You hear a lot about wind turbines killing birds.

CATS kill many orders of magnitude more birds.

How come we hear about wind turbines killing birds all the time but not about cats doing that?

Witness the power of the fossil fuel companies and the way they are able to spread propaganda

#climatecrisis

Large numbers of people don't understand what a billionaire is.

If you, like most of us, ONLY make $1 million a year, it would take you 1,000 years to make $1 billion.

Or, if REALLY lie most of us, you make $50,000 a year, it would take you 20,000 years.

TWENTY THOUSAND YEARS!

If you tax someone who makes a billion a year at a 90% top rate, they would "only" take home $100 million a year.

#billionaires #taxes

I'm older so I remember things. Everything you see happening today should be understood this way:

The top tax rate used to be 90% in order to prevent the really rich from destroying democracy.

The corporate tax rate was 50% because corporations exist to serve society.

AND the inheritance tax was really high to keep family dynasties from gaining power over us.

#taxes #democracy