The state of young Australians
A crisis of social reproduction

* “Many Australian children struggle with their mental health. Recent data shows around one in seven children (13.9%) aged 4–17 experiences a diagnosable mental illness.”

“…We estimated that reducing factors such as parental psychological distress, hostile parenting and partner violence could potentially prevent up to 40% of severe and persistent mental health problems in young Australians.” >>
https://theconversation.com/to-improve-childrens-mental-health-start-by-supporting-their-parents-271944

* Young Australians kept in the dark
Australia’s social media ban preventing teenagers from accessing the news, research finds >>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/may/19/australias-social-media-ban-preventing-teens-from-accessing-the-news-research-finds

* Sydney mum reveals the huge cost of the school run (Young people's socialisation into (car) dependency)
"She would easily spend $170 a week on petrol, and drives between 80km and 90km often six or seven days a week, depending on what’s on. In 2024, the average household should budget between $10,000 and $25,000 a year to own car." >>
https://www.drive.com.au/caradvice/scool-run-australia-cost-2024/
#SocialReproduction #StateRetreat #CareDeficit #MentalHealth #anxiety #children #parenting #carers #family #DomesticViolence #violence #suburbia #sprawl #cars #MobilityDesign #CarDependency #work #WageStagnation #inequality #housing #instability #DoubleBurden #financialisation #outsourcing #SocialMedia #MSM #independence #citizens

#CoryDoctorow has long been a TechCritic in constructive and humane sense. His neologism never fail to hit the nail on the head — such as his #enshitification which made it into the dictionary of many languages in one form or another. He has also been sounding the alarm bell on the #GenAISlop proliferation and its #financialisation while predicting that the #AIBubble will inevitable burst when financial markets can no longer justify the inflated valuation of the IA industry and its ancillary infrastructure. There is a quote in his latest bookk that I really like:

“AI is the asbestos we are shoveling into the walls of our civilization and our descendants will be digging it out for generations…”

Unfortunately, for many stupid reasons, this is where we’re at atm.

https://pluralistic.net/2026/05/14/who-it-does-it-for/

What's fair pay for a bank?
Latest #SenseOfFairness blog:

"It’s fair to say that generally banks aren’t well known for the fairness of their approach to pay. So it was interesting to note the emphasis that UBS, now by far Switzerland’s dominant bank following its 2023 rescue of the failing Credit Suisse, places on the issue of fair pay in its latest, recently issued annual report.

"But the problem is that it seems to this reader at least that the bank may not necessarily be focusing on the right forms of fairness in pay..."

#Fairness #BankersCompensation #Financialisation #FairPay

http://senseoffairness.blog/2026/04/27/whats-fair-pay-for-a-bank/

OnlineFirst- "Back to the future? Financialisation, local statecraft, and situational analysis" by Kevin Ward:

#financialisation #localgovernment #state

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0308518X261441479

A vast casino
Casino capitalism taken further: speculative gambling on war and oil

* “The Western financial system is rapidly coming to resemble nothing as much as a vast casino.” >>
Strange, Susan. [1986] 1997. Casino Capitalism. Manchester, U.K.: Manchester University Press.
https://www.manchesterhive.com/display/9781784997212/9781784997212.xml

* "The proliferation of online betting markets like Polymarket and Kalshi has allowed bets on virtually any news event, including the Iran war."

“But many of them bear the hallmarks of suspicious trades that would naturally warrant investigation.”

“It’s a wild west phase, when we’re talking about the prediction market industry, and now it’s spilled over into the stock market as well,." >>
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/18/iran-war-bets-ethics-concerns

#CasinoCapitalism #deregulation #FinancialLandscape #risks #financialisation #UnregulatedExcesses #war #oil #regulation #UnfetteredGreed #WildWest #risks #crime #InsiderKnowledge

The great care home cash grab: how private equity turned vulnerable elderly people into human ATMs
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/mar/28/the-great-care-home-cash-grab-how-private-equity-turned-vulnerable-elderly-people-into-human-atms?CMP=share_btn_url

#care #capitalism #privateEquity #Financialisation

Biodiversity Conservation: Agreement Relies on Controversial Financing Approaches

"Relying on failed approaches such as REDD and biodiversity credits or advocating for the financing of forest protection through speculation on the capital market will only aggravate the biodiversity crisis."

"Controversial financing instruments have gained importance in biodiversity conservation efforts since the Global Biodiversity Framework was adopted in 2022. Biodiversity certificates and nature conservation funds primarily generate their income on the capital market. But turning nature into an investment object will not stop the biodiversity crisis." >>
https://www.boell.de/en/2026/02/03/global-biodiversity-framework-agreement-relies-controversial-financing-approaches
#biodiversity #conservation #nativeForests #nature #extractivism #financialisation