solarpunkwobbly:

solarpunkwobbly:

The Capitalist Coup Called Neoliberalism: How and Why it Went Down

In examining what had gone wrong in the 60s and why so many people had the audacity to demand more self-determination, the notorious Trilateral Commission convened in 1973, bringing together economic and political elites from North America, Europe, and Japan. The Commission, as described by Encyclopedia Britannica , “reflects powerful commercial and political interests committed to private enterprise and stronger collective management of global problems. Its members (more than 400 in the early 21st century) are influential politicians; banking and business executives; media, civic, and intellectual leaders.”

In 1975, Michel Crozier, Samuel P. Huntington, and Joji Watanuki published a report for the Commission, titled: “The Crisis of Democracy: On the Governability of Democracies.” In assessing the various movements that gained momentum in the 60s (racial justice, economic justice, anti-war, etc.), the report determined that these “problems” stemmed from an “excess of democracy.” Huntington specifically noted that, “the vitality of democracy in the United States in the 1960s produced a substantial increase in governmental activity and a substantial decrease in governmental authority.” The solution to this, according to the report, was to reverse direction - decrease “governmental activity” and increase “governmental authority” to restrict democratic impulses from the masses and maintain the capitalist power structure internally, while retaining “hegemonic power” internationally. In other words, rather than government serving people and regulating capitalists, government should serve capitalists and regulate people.

Since maintaining a “middle class” had become such a fragile proposition, the capitalist class forged a new direction. Rather than rely on this historical buffer and continue the concessionary and fickle balancing act , they decided it would be more effective to simply take ownership of the legislative and judicial process. This process began when executive officers from several major corporations joined together to form private groups like the Business Roundtable, for the purpose of “promoting pro-business public policy.” In other words, to make sure that the “excess of democracy” which occurred during the 60s would never return. Why? Because any such mass movement toward relinquishing power to the people is a direct threat to capitalist profit and corporate America’s existence as a collection of unaccountable, authoritarian, exceptionally powerful, private entities. The Business Roundtable, which included executives from corporations like Exxon, DuPont, General Electric, Alcoa, and General Motors, gained instant access to the highest offices of the government, becoming extremely influential in pushing for corporate tax cuts and deregulation during the Reagan era.

Since the 1980s, the Business Roundtable has run roughshod over American workers by using the federal government to:

• reduce consumer protections,
• obstruct employment stimuli,
• weaken unions,
• implement “free trade” agreements that spur offshoring and tax havens,
• ease environmental protections,
• increase corporate subsidies,
• loosen rules on corporate mergers and acquisitions,
• open avenues of profit in the private healthcare system,
• privatize education and social programs,
• and block efforts to make corporate boards more accountable.[1][2][3][4] [5]

hellboysource:

Heads by Mike Mignola (1998)

merelygifted:

“The outrageousness of [Russia’s] behavior is only matched by the outrageousness of…"Traitor Trump

kaijutegu:

speculative-evolution:

todropscience:

Ok this is cute but this octopus is living in a brick… Stop polluting our oceans

This brick probably is just junk but it’s worth noting that sometimes “pollution” seen in footage like this isn’t actually garbage. There’s a lot of organizations that take old cars, ships, etc and strip all the paint and other harmful components and then place it in the bottom of the sea for new coral reefs to grow on. Besides that there will unfortunately always be pollution and I would rather it be a brick an octopus can make a home from than plastic bags that sea creatures will die from eating.

Artificial reefs are pretty cool!

They’re often used to provide habitats for corals, fish, and other marine life where the natural ocean floor has been eroded or disturbed by human use. They can be purpose-made like those reef balls up there, or they can be made out of recycled objects like cinderblocks.

While not all human-made materials are safe for reef use (tires used to be a popular choice, but then it was discovered that not only do they not stay put, they tend to leech toxins), sometimes marine life doesn’t actually care- they adapt to what we put in the water. A good example of that is the Rigs-to-Reef program, which takes offshore oil platforms and decommissions them by turning them into artificial reefs. While oil platforms are in use, sea life congregates around them, so instead of abandoning these platforms or removing them, which would disrupt what has become the “new normal” for these animals, they’re toppled and coral grows on them. 

Anyways, I realize that I’ve totally derailed the awesome octopus and its teddy bear, but I just think that artificial reefs are neat! 

trash-fuckyou:

Burial Ground: The Nights of Terror (1981) 

brazilspill:

Latinos are experts at protesting, especially in ways that basically boil down to “I’m not touching you, you can’t complain”. 

isnyr:

Moonchild  ☾

splatteronmywalls: