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Anti-Capitalist Meetup: Public Good Is Good [1]

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Date: 2022-10-02

While listening to Ecoshock, and manually sledgehammering, shoveling and moving rocks, gravel and dirt for our new front patio, I have little but ambivalence towards neighborly discussions of property lines, common areas and leaf blowers blowing totally unnecessary exhaust to keep yards something. But, that is where we are. Property is sacrosanct. Each is the boss of their own domain, or so the story goes.

It is a story. Nobody is an island or in charge. And, nothing comes free of far reaching impacts, certainly not leaf blowers nor most patios.

We all support managing and fighting threats to lives, health and well-being. I’ve picked up more garbage and pulled more invasive plants than most. Humans have done great things on Earth and each of us has immense impacts. Yet, here we are, totally dependent on Earth ecosystems from great plains down to the microbes in the sewer, upon which we rely to build complex human social networks of distribution, heath care and culture.

Closer to the truth is that, among planetary provisions, each of us needs food, water, shelter, socialization, privacy, respect and social bodily autonomy. None of it is in isolation or independent of what others need. There are only so many caves to go around, and most of us want things from other places, so we try to figure out how to get what we want. The challenge is to build and maintain sustainable production and distribution networks.

For centuries we could treat the world as an unlimited waste dump, but for at least a half century, we have known that this is not true. Still, we remain hooked on cheap unpaid power. Fossil fuels are burned at rates sufficient to expect outlets every 3 meters, blowers to anybody with sufficient desire and money, and social pressure to consume more.

Who’s paying for it? We still socialize costs, yet the recipients of trickle down trillions repay us with growing inequity, political instability and fascism.

It’s not the best way. Capitalists readily admit that the system leads to consolidation and monopolization. Here is a CNBC documentary where numerous business people chime in on the race to win the electric vehicle market.

Capitalists argue that free markets give people choice, yet readily debate inevitable winning and consolidation. Prioritizing private property, patents, copyrights, trademarks and profits over people’s needs prevents free exchange of ideas and materials. We choose secrets and protection over efficient dissemination of knowledge and distribution of goods, all for a myth that superior owners need to rule us in order for us to receive their blessings of electronic trinkets.

And fascism is what they are giving us. For decades, large majorities have expressed support for climate science and more federal action. Globally, just as significant majorities sense we are in a climate emergency, with more high stress heat days and declines in wellbeing. Yet minority sentiment has largely prevented meaningful action for just as long. Packing courts, minority rule through the electoral college, partisan gerrymandering, blatant voting suppression, and even attempting a coup are proven Republican strategies employed to fight for power. They attack government as ineffective and turn to authoritative rule when they are in charge.

Democracy shows us that we can do better. Majorities can rule and respect the rights of minorities. In the United States, the more democratic we have become, the more rights are respected. It is at times when we have turned from democracy and entrusted more wealth and power to a few that we have regressed in respect for human rights, equity and opportunity.

In 2022, Democrats have passed the Inflation Reduction Act, in line with the will of the majority of adults. No Republicans supported it, though many take credit for benefits. They still can’t admit that government can work for good and is necessary for national wellbeing. Capitalists can’t do it. They readily admit to winner take all consolidation and resort to fascism when we let them.

I can’t do it on my own either. I can’t even get my family to use solar power to charge their phones. Forget about convincing my neighbors to stop using blowers. Everybody is too busy just getting by in the system we have, and is too hooked on unpaid power to bear inconvenient changes. But, those are excuses. It’s up to each of us to get involved and try to change things systemically. We can’t do it each on our own, but we can do great things together. Our economic and political systems can favor public good, sustainability and human rights over property and profit.

Each of us has to do our part to make it happen. Government is an instrument for public good. Don’t let gangsters and other tyrant lovers have it. There is too much at stake. They won’t let it go without a fight either. Organize, network, volunteer, donate and vote.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/10/2/2126511/-Anti-Capitalist-Meetup-Public-Good-Is-Good

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