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davevolek

@davevolek@mastodon.social

I am the inventor of Tiered Democracy Governance. It's time for average people to build a new democracy. Follow the TDG at #tiereddemocraticgovernance

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

At first it is hard to believe that most people don't pay much attention to politics. Most people don't know what "project 24" is or the significance of the phrase "obstructing an official procedure" (maybe you are such a person) --but, when I think about how tense, nervous and occasionally helpless political news makes me feel I totally get it. Also, a lot of this stuff is boring and kind of technical.

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@futurebird
This is an interesting angle.

There's only so much room in the back rooms. The people in these places don't want to be replaced.

rbreich , to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

John Deere has laid off roughly 1000 workers so far this year.

But the company reported a profit of over $10 billion in 2023.

Its CEO received $26.7 million in total compensation.

And it spent over $7 billion on stock buybacks.

Textbook corporate greed.

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@rbreich
John Deere seems to be following the same path as Boeing. Short-term rise in stock price is more important than common sense.

Time for a new business model:

https://davevolekinventions.org/spolu/

rbreich , to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Rich donors are paying as much as $300,000 per person to attend a Trump fundraiser in San Francisco today. What do they expect in return for their money?

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@rbreich
Probably the same thing when they attend a Democrat fundraiser.

It is time for a new way.

rbreich , to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

Where are the editorials calling for Trump to drop out of the race and allow Republicans to choose a non-felon as their nominee?

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@rbreich
If the people in the back rooms of left-wing power believe Mr. Trump is on the way down (electorally speaking), they won't do much to urge the R's to pick a new leader.

It's time for a new way.

rbreich , to random
@rbreich@masto.ai avatar

50 billionaire families have spent $600 million+ on the 2024 elections, which is .06% of their total wealth.

The equivalent donation for an avg household would be ~$100.

This means 50 billionaires have the political-spending capacity of 6 million American families.

Oligarchy.

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@rbreich
This is intriguing math. They buy off the system, and still have lots left over for their yahcts.

It's time for a new way.

breadandcircuses , to random
@breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

⓵ Here’s something I said a few weeks ago:

“Capitalism has nothing to do with democracy. In fact, capitalism functions best when democracy cannot interfere.

“That’s why, putting their dishonest and misleading rhetoric aside, capitalists always oppose democracy and will seek to shut it down. They’ll keep up the pretense, waving a flag of freedom while in reality disabling democratic processes and choking freedom out of existence.”

⓶ And here’s something George Monbiot said recently:

“Democracy is the problem capital is always trying to solve, and neoliberalism is their means of solving it.

“Neoliberalism uses the power of the state to destroy democratic resistance: sweeping organised labour, protest, and meaningful political choice out of the way.”

⓷ And that’s why Tory vs Labour, or Red vs Blue, or conservative vs liberal isn’t as important as most people think. Yes, there are some differences between them, but because both sides are backed by the same moneyed establishment, those differences do not mean much in comparison to the overriding class war of neoliberal capitalists vs the rest of us.

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@breadandcircuses
It's time for a new way.

breadandcircuses , to random
@breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

Hot take:

The people who control the Democratic Party don’t care if Donald Trump wins the election. If they did care, they would offer a better candidate than Joe Biden to oppose him.

#USA #Politics

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@breadandcircuses

"Better" is a subjective word. The first loyalty of any politician is to the party he/she belongs to. The society or the people are a distant second. If Mr. Biden were replaced, they would find only someone with the same loyalty.

It's time for a new way.

wdlindsy , to random
@wdlindsy@toad.social avatar

Jay Kuo's assessment of New York Times' latest poll:

"Let me say this plainly: The Times poll is intentionally Trump- and conservative-leaning, both in how it was structured and how it was promoted. There may be fine reasons for this, but they are not discussed anywhere. And its data contains some eyebrow raising anomalies that it either glosses over or ignores completely."

https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/do-better-new-york-times

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@wdlindsy
I just published an article on Medium about the reason for the 50/50 poll. We are being manipulated:

https://medium.com/free-factor/are-the-democrats-grifting-their-donors-92a473a0a706?sk=deb2417469f0a70d2d600727c1190473


lowqualityfacts , to random
@lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

History is so interesting.
https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@lowqualityfacts
But I don't get it. He was not president during WW1.

davevolek ,
@davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

@lowqualityfacts
I got my credit card statement yesterday. The patreon link between you and me is working. Buy your grumpy cats a can of tuna. Tell them their benefactor is "Dave from Canada."

breadandcircuses , to random
@breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

This drawing is a perfect depiction of reality — how the world is run by a corporate dictatorship while you and I are kept complacent, stuffed with bread and circuses.

Read the for more.

Cartoon drawing shows an older white male dressed in a business suit, presumably a corporate oligarch, sitting in a plush chair and speaking on a phone, giving out orders. Surrounding the man, in a schematic depiction, is a line of police in blue uniforms, and in front of them are paramilitary police in riot gear carrying automatic weapons. Next come the average citizens of modern society, seated on sofas watching TV. Behind them is a line of kneeling soldiers, dressed in desert combat gear, facing out toward the rest of the world -- showing poor people of color who are forced to salute an Army tank. We see that their oil is being taken away for use in the rich world.
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    • + appassionato, breadandcircuses
    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @breadandcircuses

    Yep. And that's why we need a new democracy where the people are in charge. The current democracy works pretty good for the established powers.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    That's crazy.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts

    This one won't be popular among your right-wing fans. No grift from them this week.

    BTW, I send a small donation yesterday. Very small because I took a vow of poverty sometime in my past. But my communication with Patreon was confusing. You might want to check.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    According to a still in effect 1784 law, it is illegal to eat pretzels in Pennsylvania unless you have a parrot on your shoulder. You are also legally required to share if the bird demands it.

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    If I recall correctly, the law states that the parrot should be on the left shoulder. As this evidence is now irrefutable, you and the bird need to be thrown in jail.

    Laws are laws.

    randahl , to random
    @randahl@mastodon.social avatar

    This is a problem:

    Independent US presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has no chance of becoming the next president, yet he is still running.

    A recent poll in Pennsylvania shows, if we held the election today, Biden would win over Trump by 10 points. But when you add RFK into the mix, he eats away most of that lead, reducing this important battleground state to a tossup.

    I do wonder, how many donors support RFK because they want him to win, and how many because they want Trump to win.

    image/jpeg

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @randahl
    This is indeed a problem.

    We need a new way.

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @randahl
    In theory, the French election is more democratic than the US election where third-parties, backed by nefarious backers, can alter the outcome too easily.

    But France still has lots of democratic challenges. Average citizens hold the system in contempt. Populist movements, with too simplistic of solutions, have arisen. The two-stage election has really not solved much.

    We need a new way.

    rbreich , to random
    @rbreich@masto.ai avatar

    Corporate profits have now reached record highs, yet the price hikes won’t stop.

    Why?

    Well, in 75% of US industries, fewer companies control more of the business compared to twenty years ago.

    Minimal competition means maximized price-gouging.

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @rbreich
    Another reason why we need a new model of business. In the "spolu," profits are distributed between investors, employees, customers, suppliers, and philanthropy.

    https://davevolekinventions.org/spolu/

    The current business model has all the profits going to the investors.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    I'm surprised that so many people don't know this.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    Now your cats are mad at you.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Wow, that's a lot of calories.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    How much does a red whale consume?

    rbreich , to random
    @rbreich@masto.ai avatar

    Four years ago, Trump admitted about Covid for the first time: “This is a pandemic. I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”

    A week earlier he'd been promising it would just “go away” on its own.

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @rbreich
    The question we be asking is: "Why did American democracy not filter out Donald Trump from any kind of public office?"

    rbreich , to random
    @rbreich@masto.ai avatar

    This is how our government has been corrupted:

    1. Donors give huge sums to elect politicians to office.
    2. Elected officials rewrite the rules in the donors' favor.
    3. Donors make a huge profit.
    4. Repeat.

    For the sake of democracy, we must get Big Money out of politics.

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @rbreich

    I have a way of removing BIG MONEY out of politics, but no one interested.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Sometimes I rapidly blink for hours straight just to make it grow faster.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    I didn't know that!

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Incredible.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts
    I didn't know that.

    breadandcircuses , (edited ) to random
    @breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

    HEADLINE: "Oil Industry Deceived Public on Plastics Recycling for More Than 50 Years"

    Is anyone surprised by this? Of course they lied. That's what capitalists do. They ALWAYS put profits ahead of truthfulness, ahead of human rights, ahead of a healthy biosphere.

    Here's more...

    The plastics industry has ‘sold’ plastic recycling to the American public to sell plastic, according to a report by the Center for Climate Integrity (CCI), a nonprofit organization that advocates for legal action to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable.

    Petrochemical companies and the plastics industry have known of the technical and economic limitations that make plastics unrecyclable for more than half a century, and “have failed to overcome them,” the report states. “Despite this knowledge, the plastics industry has continued to increase plastic production, while carrying out a well-coordinated campaign to deceive consumers, policymakers, and regulators about plastic recycling.”

    “This evidence shows that many of the same fossil fuel companies that knew and lied for decades about how their products cause climate change have also known and lied to the public about plastic recycling,” Richard Wiles, CCI’s president, said in a press release. “The oil industry’s lies are at the heart of the two most catastrophic pollution crises in human history.”

    Plastics manufacturers and industry groups, including some of the largest oil and gas companies in the world, have spent more than 50 years funding and pushing plastics recycling in order to stave off regulatory action – all while knowing that only a small fraction of plastic waste could ever be recycled.

    FULL STORY -- https://www.desmog.com/2024/02/15/recycling-plastic-center-for-climate-integrity-report-fraud/
    REPORT SOURCE -- https://climateintegrity.org/plastics-fraud

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @breadandcircuses

    I was on the board of our local recycling board for six years. One of my frustrations was how plastics was not handled. We couldn't do much locally, but there really was not any movement to take plastics recycling seriously.

    Another sign that our democracies cannot deal with our increasingly complex world.

    breadandcircuses , to random
    @breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

    Capitalism cannot be allowed to continue.

    As long as capitalism is in charge, then Business As Usual is inevitable.

    But Business As Usual can only lead to collapse — of the ecosystem, of the economy, of governments, and of modern society.

    Collapse, starting slowly and then growing, means tragedies beyond anything you have ever imagined.

    If capitalism is still the dominating force ten years from now, then it’s too late. Collapse will happen. It may in fact be too late already — but we will never know unless capitalism is rejected and degrowth is adopted.

    The sooner, the better!

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @breadandcircuses

    I am putting up a 23-part series on a new business model. In this model, profits are shared between investors, employees, customers, suppliers, philanthropy, and a re-investment obligation.

    First part is here:

    https://medium.com/@davevolek/spolu-1-introduction-01dc4d7607ee

    There might be a paywall. I will let you know when I have it posted on my website.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    The human mind is such a powerful thing.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts

    I didn't know that. It's a good thing you are around Mastodon to keep us informed.

    BTW, are you on any right-wing forums? They could use your insights.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    That explains a lot.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @lowqualityfacts

    That explains a lot. I have an alternative democracy that nobody wants to read about. Mercury must be retrograde most of the time.

    breadandcircuses , (edited ) to random
    @breadandcircuses@climatejustice.social avatar

    The Beatles single "Please Please Me," their first big hit, was recorded at EMI Studios in London on 26 November 1962. Listen to the song now, and it sounds great: catchy, fast-moving, a fine example of their early style.

    But if you place it in context, comparing it to everything else that was playing on the radio at the time — or for that matter, any music anyone had ever heard before — you’ll see why the song is such an important part of history.

    With this recording, the Beatles broke new ground. It’s the creation of a brand new genre, the invention of power pop. Never before had all the elements come together in this way: an urgent melody sung in an aggressive rock style, with strong vocal harmonies, a wall of electric guitars, and Ringo pushing hard on the drums. Wow!

    “Please Please Me” was released in the UK on 11 January 1963, sixty-one years ago TODAY.

    Listen — https://yewtu.be/watch?v=68sJxWxFbcQ

    davevolek ,
    @davevolek@mastodon.social avatar

    @breadandcircuses

    As I very amateur musician, I took a look at some sheet music of the Beatles' work. They were using elevated chord progressions that were not found in other popular works of that time.

    In other words, I could not play their music.

    It's amazing at how these young men had such an advanced understanding of music.

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