Mastodawn

Revoluciana Jun 21, 2023

I'm laughing at memes about billionaires who can't pull themselves up to the surface by their own bootstraps, but in reality I'm furious.

I'm furious I was accused of human smuggling by FRONTEX (European border agency) for being part of a sea rescue operation that saved 1000+ lives of refugees fleeing war & terrorism.

I'm furious at the money & international effort being spent to rescue these billionaires when operations like ours cost so little and save so many lives, but are punished.

1/3

Revoluciana Jun 21, 2023

I'm furious about the money & international effort spent on both the causes of the desperate migration of refugees, and the money & effort spent to block and punish rescuers & refugees alike, and to force rescuers to leave thousands of people to die.

A couple billionaires drown on an $$$ and ill-advised tourist trip and it's tragedy. Thousands of refugees die and it's punishment for their crime of what? Color of their skin? Location of their birth? The amount of capital they don't own?

2/3

Revoluciana Jun 21, 2023

If you're concerned about the billionaires but can't have the slightest amount of compassion for refugees drowning at sea, you're the problem.

I'm looking at every nation, media outlet, and yes, Billionaire, that gives this amount of coverage, money, and international resources to this rescue operation but contribute to the opposite to migrants fleeing oppression and violence.

3/3

Sane Thinker Jun 21, 2023

@revoluciana There needs to be a maximum wage, and we need to tax the shit out of these people. Maybe Alito and Thomas will look into it.

Revoluciana Jun 21, 2023

@gdeihl Billionaires don't make money from wages, they make it from hoarding capital and exploiting the wage labor of others who have no choice but to be exploited.

Billionaires should not exist. Wage labor should not exist. Capitalism should not exist.

Dan Hoover Jun 23, 2023

@revoluciana @gdeihl Isn't it time we taxed energy instead of labour?
The root of all our evils lies within the pursuit of endless growth built upon fossil slaves, an "energy slave tax" would help level the value of human efforts for human interests against those hording capital to control ever more energy.

Revoluciana Jun 23, 2023

@ddmgmgh @gdeihl I'm largely suspicious of your use of the term 'slave' here due to racist undertones (or at least tone-deaf) from usage of the term in this context, but I'm very tentatively addressing this as a substitution for the concept of wage slavery-- in which case your point about energy tax bears its roots in Marxist labor theory of value, in which case a revision for an energy theory of value is a common argument, if you're interested in learning more-- ultimately they are intertwined.

Dan Hoover Jun 23, 2023

@revoluciana @gdeihl Slavery of one kind or another has been the primary driver of massive wealth disparity since the dawn of civilization. IDK why "slave" would be a racist term as a portion of nearly every race on the planet has been enslaved at some point in history.
Nowadays it's the incredibly cheap power within our "fossil energy slaves" that makes our pursuit of endless growth so dangerous to our civilization's future.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_slave

Energy slave - Wikipedia

Sane Thinker Jun 23, 2023

@ddmgmgh @revoluciana Yes, slavery is as prevalent as ever. It didn't end with "modernity."

Revoluciana Jun 24, 2023

@gdeihl @ddmgmgh of course, but that's not really relevant to what this person is discussing.

Dan Hoover Jun 24, 2023

@revoluciana @gdeihl Fossil "energy slaves" is a common term used to communicate the incredible amount of nearly free work we extract from fossil fuels. Some folks who are very good at math calculated the human equivalent energy needed to replace what we consume in fossil energy and that the average Canadian relies upon abt 200 "energy slaves" daily.
I've seen the term used in slightly different ways but this is the one I'm most familiar with.
Eg: https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/05/05/EnergySlaves/

You and Your Slaves | The Tyee

Yes, you're the slave master of many energy-driven gadgets that replace human labour. But our slave society won't last.

The Tyee

Sane Thinker Jun 24, 2023

@ddmgmgh @revoluciana Wonderful article, great creative approach, thank you for sharing it. Sadly, this kind of brilliance is unlikely to make any difference.

Dan Hoover Jun 24, 2023

@gdeihl @revoluciana I agree. Until the rest of the world is ready to care about why these things matter, it's up to those of us who grasp; that growth, energy and our environment are all finite, to learn and share as much as we can.

Sane Thinker Jun 25, 2023

@ddmgmgh @revoluciana Sharing about #Degrowth will be the subject of my next article. I wonder how many people have even heard of it?

Dan Hoover Jun 25, 2023

@gdeihl @revoluciana IDK how what percentage of humanity has heard abt degrowth, but I do know that many more folks have heard of it than are willing to accept the need for #degrowth .
I look forward to reading your article.

Sane Thinker Jun 25, 2023

@ddmgmgh @revoluciana I think there are many strong selling points to degrowth. Making the concept as wide spread as possible is at least a starting point. There are books out there, but how many read them? Getting the information down to article size bits may be helpful. My blog audience is small, but growing, and there are others like me doing similar. Hopefully, we can cumulatively have an impact.

@gdeihl @revoluciana I'm sure you are aware of the 10% theorem of policy change. To get the ball rolling, we don't need to first convince everyone that change is necessary, rather when aprx 10% of us accept something, it is hard to stop.
Please, let's not talk of right wing ideology at this point.