Should people have a choice to attempt living outside of capitalism?

https://friendica.world/display/84b6ef2b-7367-76a9-0d13-12b031354204

#neoliberalism #anarchism #socialism #marxism #IWW #theory #communism #libertarianism #libertarian #corporatism #wobblies #materialism #dialectic #communalism
@yogthos @heretical_i

What is stopping you from direct action, what is keeping you at bay from freeing yourself of your chains?

#anarchist #directaction #discussion #qa #libertarianism

"Remember, Andreessen, Rogan, Musk, and Ramaswamy are each fabulously wealthy. They are in the top .1 percent (Musk himself is literally the 0.00000001 percent, because he’s wealthier than everyone else in the world). Together, they have fabricated and laundered a story about the federal government’s consumer watchdog agency in order to justify destroying it.

But that agency, as I’ve written before, is dedicated to protecting ordinary consumers like you and me from the predations of the rich and unscrupulous, i.e., people like Marc Andreessen. What does the CFPB do? It investigates companies that have engaged in deceptive, abusive, and unfair practices, ensuring they treat their customers fairly. What kinds of practices? Well, have a look at their website, where they list all of their enforcement actions. CFPB victories include getting banks to get rid of or reduce overdraft fees, and pursuing Wells Fargo for “misapplied payments, wrongful foreclosures, and incorrect fees and interest charges,” resulting in billions of dollars being returned to customers. The associate director of the National Consumer Law Center has said that the CFP “has completely changed the consumer financial marketplace. Overall it has had a tremendous impact on making it more fair and transparent.”

This is the work that Andreessen calls “terrorizing” financial institutions."

https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/billionaires-are-lying-shamelessly-to-convince-us-to-destroy-our-government

#USA #Trump #Musk #CFPB #Libertarianism #AnarchoCapitalism

"A lot of the money and people in such places come from Silicon Valley. Consider Próspera, a private town in Honduras, financed in part by funds backed by Andreessen, Thiel and Sam Altman. Here businesses can create their own bespoke regulatory frameworks, entrepreneurs can run wacky medical trials free from Food and Drug Administration standards and citizens are protected from crime (though presumably not the white-collar kind) by a private firm of armed guards. Its goal says it all: “building the future of human governance: privately run and for-profit”.

That might well be the Trump administration’s mantra, too. But investors should remember that techno-libertarianism often peaks before a fall. In 2006, Richard Haass, a former George W Bush state department official, wrote a piece arguing for corporations to be elevated to near nation state status. Companies such as Microsoft and Goldman Sachs had a role to play in “regional and global deliberations”, as the “near monopoly power” of states was eroded.

The great financial crisis made that notion both passé and politically toxic, at least for a time. Now, we are about to see what private monopoly power in the guise of government looks like. I wonder how long the dream — or perhaps nightmare — will last before the world once again wakes up."

https://www.ft.com/content/13cc2796-6e91-4002-92e6-3a31cf2dfeb3

#USA #Trump #TechnoLibertarianism #Libertarianism #Privatopia #SiliconValley #Monopolies

[thread] Brendan Carr

* lawyer
* served as member of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 2017+
* appointed by Trump
* authored chapter in Heritage Foundation's Project 2025
* Carr proposes "reining in Big Tech" as main goal for FCC
* Nov 2024 Trump selected Carr to lead FCC

#BrendanCarr #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #FCC #NetNeutrality #censorship
#Trump2 #GOP #fascism #authoritarianism #disinformation #Christofascism
#capitalism #corporations #billionaires #libertarianism

[thread] Competitive Enterprise Institute
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competitive_Enterprise_Institute
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koch_family_foundations#Competitive_Enterprise_Institute

* libertarian think tank
* seeks limited government, free enterprise, indiv. liberty
* promotes climate change denial
* opponent of EPA policies lim. greenhouse gas emissions
* funders incl. Koch Foundations

See also (Charles Koch ...) [thread] Existential threat of billionaires
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113346390093945554

#CompetitiveEnterpriseInstitute #CEI #CharlesKoch #billionaires #libertarianism #ClimateDenial