Privatization Is War on Our Freedom w/ Donald Cohen

[@SameAsAnyOtherStranger]

The necessity of some things is irrevocable. The right and access to necessary things should be irrevocable. Instead, needed things are given the same propriety as the most trivial want.

[@jimlabbe8258]

A key strategy for reclaiming public goods and advancing trustworthy government (not blind trust in government) came from the Brazilian Workers Party’s in the late 1980 with the end of authoritarian rule, when they developed participatory budgeting at the local and regional scales of government. PB redistributed some public decision making power- within parameters- to ordinary people and directly engaged them in the provision of public goods & services. In the process, it bolstered the efficacy of government, expanded public investments in poor and working class communities, & increased the willingness of the public to pay taxes and invest in public solutions. PB should be a key strategy against (and antidote to) privatization in the US, one that authentically increases transparency and accountability, roots out corruption, and democratizes the provision of public goods & services.

[@happychappy7115]

Excellent views expressed.😊

[@eliyahubenysrael6272]

Good interview; this society has been crumbling for decades as the interests and methods of obtaining them have been consolidated into fewer and fewer wealthy hands and the divisions they've both used and caused are intensifying. It is helpful to look at mutual aid networking for immediate needs while mainting as much control over government as possible so it's resources and power don't totally fall to the fascist right wing to everyone's detriment in a neo feudalist state.

[@tomover9905]

Good talk

[@geoffreynhill2833]

I've got a great idea to save the world, Jen & Donald: an Economics that everyone can understand, not just the 5 percent. 🤔 (from GREEN FIRE, UK) 🌈🦉

[@geoffreynhill2833]

Yes, good government is more important to Democracy than private enterprise although the latter can help. (Co-operation, not corporatisation.)

[@EricaEteson]

What Donald said about rebranding the efficacy of govt services is crucial. Everyone remembers the problems with the rollout of Obamacare, and that's Exhibit A in the case against govt programs. We need to tell stories of the everyday govt services that people use and that work just fine 99% of the time. But of course,, they're not perfect, and people's brains are velcro for negative experiences, teflon for positive so it's a big cognitive distortion to overcome.

[@1bbbbbaaaaa]

When in human history did I evolve a right to force someone to serve me (healthcare workers)?

[@larrysherk]

This is so true. Capitalism depends on exploitation.

[@garysmokesmeat]

Who should get to decide if a job offer is exploitative or not?

[@-taz-]

A job candidate, worker, or customer has that choice, naturally, in any market system, since we are free to refuse. The taxpayer, unfortunately, has no such recourse. But there is more complexity to consider since bigger corporations control governments. They write the bills, pick candidates on both so-called sides, plus they filter the media. They have a monopoly on money, on force, and infirmation. The majority is in a delusion of democracy that us really sn oligarchy. Neither side has any situational awareness. They wouldn't even notice that a billionaire globalist sat in to produce the cartoons they watched 30 years ago. All these political hacks study some little corner of poli sci and feel like they know what's going on, but that's like a two dimensional being trying to see the third dimension, or the sixth.

[@aliceinwonder8978]

​@@-taz-when 99% of options are precluded, calling the remaining 1% "choice" is meaningless. Workers who need to feed their family have no choice but to accept whatever job is accessible to them even under the worst conditions.

[@-taz-]

@@aliceinwonder8978 I mean the worker gets to decide whether it's exploitative or not.

[@1bbbbbaaaaa]

Just because something is repeated, doesn’t mean it’s true. Capitalism works when people risk their own time, energy, and resources to necessarily provide a product or service of value. Unlike govt.

[@Howleebra]

Privatization is a phenomena where someone elected to look after a public asset sells it to a corporation.... AMAZING😅 The punchline is after they sell off all your tax-funded assets they still demand you pay taxes😅😃

[@1bbbbbaaaaa]

That’s more like crony capitalism, aka socialism. Govt picks winners and losers, not the consumer.

[@Howleebra]

@@1bbbbbaaaaa crony capitalism and socialism do have a inextricable link

[@Empowerman]

#MMT!!!!!!!

[@vinegarpisser2992]

29:15 yes, yes you would…

[@josephyoung6749]

10:11

[@DougGrinbergs]

Donald sounds good, Jen has lousy acoustics (room reverb) / tinny, thin audio (:-(

[@chrischristodoulou1582]

Sounded fine to me, small amount of reverb - and there's nothing lousy about Jen

[@iainmackenzieUK]

You defined 'public good' clearly to start which was useful but then made the jump from 'needs' to 'rights' without really exploring that transition and, it seems, just making some assumptions. That discussion would have been useful too if we are trying to understand fundamental ideas.