I am nothing without my morning coffee.

Co-Moderator for @Neoliberal on kbin.social

Other aliases:
Mastodon: @CoffeeAddict
Lemmy: @Coffee_Addict

  • 214 Posts
  • 478 Comments
Joined 11 months ago
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Cake day: August 10th, 2023

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  • Among the dead was Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, 60. The helicopter also carried the governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, a senior cleric from Tabriz, three crew members and a Revolutionary Guard official, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. IRNA said the crash killed eight people in all, including three crew members, aboard the Bell helicopter, which Iran purchased in the early 2000s.

    The crash took place in a mountainous area under heavy fog.

    I would guess this doesn’t actually lead to regime change in Iran, because the countries Supreme Leader, Ayatollah (85) was not aboard the craft.



  • He could potentially win Michigan based on this, so you’re probably right in that they did some polls and found this to be a domestically “good” move.

    The auto industry is huge in Detroit. If Biden didn’t do this, I could imagine a situation where these budget-friendly Chinese vehicles actually scare the Big Three Auto Companies and the UAW into backing Trump, which would be a disaster.

    I believe a defense for the tariffs is that the Chinese government is heavily subsidizing them, but I do not know how true that is.

    Still, I detest protectionism lol.

    Edit: grammar












  • Personally, I would argue that it’s more just bad business practice; non-competes are inherently protectionist and do not really fit well into the idea of a free-market (in my opinion, at least.)

    Also, this magazine is “Neoliberal,” but not in the sense the term is used in leftwing circles. I also doubt many would actually identify themselves as a Neoliberal outside of this magazine.

    On this magazine (an offshoot the subreddit, r/neoliberal, which itself is an offshoot of r/badeconomics), it is really about Free trade, competitive markets, pro-immigration, YIMBYism, pro-Carbon taxes, pro-international cooperation, LGBTQ+ rights, Democracy, human rights, civil liberties, due process, etc.

    For more context on why it took on the term “Neoliberal” it was originally taken in jest during the US 2016 election where it became very commonplace (on reddit and twitter, at least) for anyone who wasn’t 100% pro-Bernie to be labeled and dismissed as a “Neoliberal shill.” The r/neoliberal subreddit took off, and basically, we have center-left social policies and support free markets.

    However, unlike classical liberals and so-called “libertarians” we believe there are instances where the government can correct market failures. (This FTC ruling is one such instance, and controlling interest rates is another.)

    While Neoliberalism as a term is often associated with the Thatcher and Reagan eras, many on this magazine decidedly do not agree with much of their thinking and regard some of the major policies as having failed, or at the very least as being ineffective.

    What differentiates us from many on the left is we do not believe corporations, businesses, or the pursuit of profits are inherently evil or that government intervention is always the best solution to a problem (or that it would even make many situations better.)

    We are also against protectionist policies such as trade tariffs (Jones Act, for example, increases the cost of shipping in and out of the US, passing the cost onto the average American,) unnecessary (or excessive) US occupational licenses (they act as barriers to entry,) and single-family zoning (regarded as one of the a major causes of the housing crisis and a car-centric urban fabric, at least in the US and Canada.)


  • In my opinion, these types of agreements should only be allowed if they come with some sort of golden-parachute severance package. Preventing people from working in the fields they are most useful and experienced in once they depart a company (either willingly or not) only benefits their former employer. It doesn’t benefit the employee, hurts competition, and is also (likely) a drag on the economy.

    Getting rid of these is a victory for the average American.



  • I understand the frustration that the money is not being spent on Americans, but this is a situation where if this aid is not sent then America and its allies will end up paying the price later, both to our economies and to our credibility.

    These funds are going to wars not started by the US and don’t involve US ground troops. It’s also important to realize that the total US budget is 6.5 trillion dollars, and foreign aide is generally already built into that. This 94 billion dollar foreign aid package is 1.4% of that budget and is not the cause of the ballooning national debt. The real cause of the national debt is the repeated cutting of taxes without adjusting expenditures - the vast majority of which is not related to the military or foreign aide.

    The vast majority of this package (60 billion) is going to Ukraine which desperately needs it. They are being invaded and slaughtered by Russia, and Putin has explicitly stated that he wants to recapture the territories of the Soviet Union/Russian Empire. Without US aide, Putin will probably win and he won’t stop with Ukraine - there is credible intel that he is also planning to target Moldova. It’s also important to note that Ukraine is a massive breadbasket for Europe, and in Russia’s hands it puts them in a terrible position.

    Aid is also going to Taiwan, and China’s Xi Jinping has made extremely clear that its “reunification” with mainland China is a major priority for him. Taiwan also makes the most advanced computer chips in the world, and should they fall in the CCP’s hands it will have disastrous global economic consequences.

    Israel vs Hamas (14 billion) is not as clear cut and dry and I am not sure if I would have given them additional aid myself. I sympathize with Israel’s situation as they are still looking for hostages, but their blatant disregard for civilians in their war against Hamas is shameful, and they need to cease their colonization efforts. Regardless, their aid was included with the others which are very important.

    Lastly, Marjorie Taylor Greene has espoused opinions and policy goals that only benefit US adversaries; her absolute opposition to any foreign aid to Ukraine only supports Russian interests. If Russia wins, it will be a modern “Suez Crisis” for the West, and effectively be giving the green light for countries to initiate wars of conquest.

    Furthermore, she also put forth a motion to oust Speaker Johnson and throw the house into chaos - I don’t like republicans having control of House as much as the next person, but the House having no speaker renders the entire legislative branch useless and makes policy initiatives, budgetary goals, and anything involving them impossible to implement. That type of paralysis only benefits US enemies.

    The stakes are just too high to do nothing. There is a reason this has so much bipartisan support and why so many of the US’s European allies have been pouring money to save Ukraine; it’s important.


  • The backlash was fierce. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the outspoken Georgia congresswoman, immediately filed a resolution demanding Johnson’s removal, called the bill a “sham”.

    “I don’t care if the speaker’s office becomes a revolving door,” Taylor Greene told Steve Bannon, Trump’s former adviser, on his War Room channel. “The days are over of the old Republican party that wants to fund foreign wars and murder people in foreign lands while they stab the American people in their face and refuse to protect Americans and fix our problems.”

    Good ol’ Marjorie being a Russian asset again.