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Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 19/n

This is what I am thinking about now. Not at all the first to say this or even think it myself, but just to emphasise: better not to think of billionaires as evil scheming money grabbers - i mean, they are - but as vessels for money, capitalism itself. Like, sci-fi wise, human bodies that look like humans from the outside but have been taken over by an AI - money itself. And it’s ruling everything!

mastodon.green/@pvonhellermann

18 comments
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 21/n Suddenly remembered that at the end of 2022 I posted this here. So embarrassing - cringe, as my children would say! That I actually wrote “the new world is almost born”. No it’s not. The time of monsters is in full, full swing, the new world really is not born yet. All we can do is to keep on trying to organise to make it happen one day. #Gramsci

mastodon.green/@pvonhellermann

Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 22/n Last point and then I will stop for today: saw #Hamilton a few weeks ago and was really struck by how then it was possible to start a revolution, raise an army and WIN! Like, that would just be totally impossible now. The imbalance in military power, just as in wealth (and control over media etc etc) is just so VAST now. It’s impossible to beat. That’s why noone really even tries anymore.

Photo from a performance of Hamilton. Man in blue coat and tripod hat at front, raising sword.

Not my Photo, taken from this website
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 23/n. Sorry- one more! Just to end on a less bleak note: seeing this toot reminded me that, of course, that billionaire military might AI bleak dystopia is real,IS our world, but there is actually an even bigger reality here every day, in all of us, since forever. Which is that the vast majority of us humans basically just want a simple life, with family, friends, barbecues (ok maybe not perfect example but since it’s here). #FrugalAbundance

ohai.social/@archaeohistories/

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 23/n. Sorry- one more! Just to end on a less bleak note: seeing this toot reminded me that, of course, that billionaire military might AI bleak dystopia is real,IS our world, but there is actually an even bigger reality here every day, in all of us, since forever. Which is that the vast majority of us humans basically just want a simple life, with family, friends, barbecues (ok maybe not perfect example but since it’s here). #FrugalAbundance

Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 24/n. Like, watching the blue tits busy building their nest in the box outside our kitchen window, feeding their young, flying back and forth: most of us humans are so much closer to them than to scheming billionaires.

And: this forever (i hope forever- in peril due to other!) reality - of birds, trees, parents hugging children, just enjoying being together - this is perhaps the real reality. Or at least always also there. Mustn’t forget!

Nice photo of a pair of blue tits, outside their box, surrounded by green leaves. Not my own, from this website:

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/how-to/wildlife-gardening/garden-bird-nestbox-guide
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 25/n back to a reality most of us in the UK inhabit on a daily basis: the crumbling public sector. Found this report on NHS dentistry’s struggle for survival really very moving just now. #NHS #dentistry #UKpolitics

bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001y0kf

Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 26/n An outstanding review by Will Davies (my Goldsmiths colleague) of Brett Christopher’s “The Price is Wrong”: about our neoliberal political economy (using a Braudelian distinction btw “the market” and “capitalism” - SO useful) and how this explain why investments in fossil fuels continue to vastly outstrip those in renewables. Key point: Capitalism IS rent-seeking.
#ClimateEmergency

lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n07/wi

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 26/n An outstanding review by Will Davies (my Goldsmiths colleague) of Brett Christopher’s “The Price is Wrong”: about our neoliberal political economy (using a Braudelian distinction btw “the market” and “capitalism” - SO useful) and how this explain why investments in fossil fuels continue to vastly outstrip those in renewables. Key point: Capitalism IS rent-seeking.
#ClimateEmergency

Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§”27/n The piece btw contains a necessary critique of my sci-fi “money rules” take a few posts above. Although i still like the idea of all this being a kind of superorganism. But yes, it is about power - political economy, not just economy.

The effects of this economic settlement
are all around us, in the spiralling wealth
of financial elites, the dilapidated public
realm, unaffordable housing and contin-
ued investment in technologies - such as
coal-powered generators - that harm us.
Attributing all of this to 'the market', as if
nobody designed it and there are no centres
of power within it, prolongs the failure to
understand it. Capitalism, unlike markets,
has command centres. Capitalism, unlike
markets, shrouds itself in complexity. On
the other hand, the implication of The Price
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 28/n But honestly, just read this piece - everything in this đŸ§” in one brilliant analysis. And, crucially, using to explain lack of climate action. This is what everyone, each one of us, needs to think about! “Ecologically speaking, neoliberalism couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

Here Christopher’s book itself:
The Price is Wrong. Why Capitalism Won’t Save The Planet.

versobooks.com/en-gb/products/

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 28/n But honestly, just read this piece - everything in this đŸ§” in one brilliant analysis. And, crucially, using to explain lack of climate action. This is what everyone, each one of us, needs to think about! “Ecologically speaking, neoliberalism couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 29/n Another overlap with #AcademicVenting đŸ§”- because it’s all of a piece! Because the crisis in HE is a key phenomenon in all this!

This great piece by Jessica Wildfire really needs to be read in full, but this extract most apt here:

“Universities aren't institutions of knowledge anymore. They're assets. They're revenue streams. If they're not generating money for the top, then they only pose a threat, and they have to be weakened and destroyed.”

mastodon.ar.al/@aral/112359018

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 29/n Another overlap with #AcademicVenting đŸ§”- because it’s all of a piece! Because the crisis in HE is a key phenomenon in all this!

This great piece by Jessica Wildfire really needs to be read in full, but this extract most apt here:

“Universities aren't institutions of knowledge anymore. They're assets. They're revenue streams. If they're not generating money for the top, then they only pose a threat, and they have to be weakened and destroyed.”

Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 30/n

Wow. As Bregman says: Stunning graph: the plummeting tax rates of the richest Americans. For the first time in history, billionaires have a lower effective tax rate than working-class Americans.

Look at 1980 - I do continue to think that *everything* could have been different if Carter hadn’t lost to Reagan.

Graph showing US income tax rates for the richest plummeting from 56% in 1960 to 23% in 2018 - lower than working class America s 
Rutger Bregman &
@rcbregman
Follow
Stunning graph: the plummeting tax rates of the
richest Americans. For the first time in history,
billionaires have a lower effective tax rate than
working-class Americans.
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 31/n I think the graph came from this New York Times piece but don’t have a subscription so can’t check.

nytimes.com/interactive/2024/0

Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 32/n Watched “The Founder” on Netflix yesterday, about McDonalds. Really interesting- would recommend it. Particularly how the real breakthrough came when Kroc, advised by Sonneborn, went for real estate. Checked it on Wikipedia:

“McDonald's present-day real-estate holdings represent $37.7 billion on its balance sheet, about 99% of the company's assets and 35% of its annual gross revenue.”

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_

In 1956, Ray Kroc met Harry J. Sonneborn, a
former vice president of finance for Tastee-
Freez, who offered an idea to accelerate the
growth and investment grade of Kroc's
planned McDonald's operation: to own the
real estate upon which future franchises
would be built. Kroc hired Sonneborn and his
plan was executed by forming a separate
company, Franchise Realty Corp, to hold
McDonald's real estate. The new company
signed leases and procured mortgages for
both land and buildings, passing these costs
on to the franchisee with a 20-40% markup
and a reduced initial deposit of $950. [12][131
The "Sonneborn model" of real-estate
ownership within the franchise persists to
this day, and may be the most important
financial decision in the company's history.
McDonald's present-day real-estate
holdings represent $37.7 billion on its
balance sheet, about 99% of the company's
assets and 35% of its annual gross revenue.
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 33/n

Today an overlap with #ClimateDiary: British farmers are struggling due to climate change, Brexit AND supermarket power:

Most farmers receive less than 1% of the profit made from the food they grow. Of the 20% food inflation experienced by the public a minuscule proportion made its way back to the farmer. Tesco made a £2.3bn profit last year, while 49% of fruit and veg farmers fear they’ll be out of business before the end of this one.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 33/n

Today an overlap with #ClimateDiary: British farmers are struggling due to climate change, Brexit AND supermarket power:

Most farmers receive less than 1% of the profit made from the food they grow. Of the 20% food inflation experienced by the public a minuscule proportion made its way back to the farmer. Tesco made a £2.3bn profit last year, while 49% of fruit and veg farmers fear they’ll be out of business before the end of this one.

Opinion
I'm a British farmer.
Here's the scary truth
about what's happening
to our crops
Guy Singh-
Watson
The climate crisis is making the farming
business unsustainable - and without
support for us, food security will suffer too
Guy Singh-Watson is the founder of
organic veg box company Riverford
Follow Guy Singh-Watson
0))
Notifications off
258
Wed 8 May 2024 15.26 BST
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§”34/n #ClimateDiary

We had a veg box for 12 years from Hankham Organics; 3 weeks ago we suddenly had a note with our box that they were closing, as it wasn’t working financially any more. 😱😱😱

And a fish merchant who we got smoked salmon for Christmas from closed this year too, for the same reasons. Plus Goldsmiths’ woes of course (#AcademicVenting). So many good, small organisations struggling and ending.

Photo of a veg box from above, eggs on top, note saying they were closing.
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§” 36/n Here a positive, progressive use of money flows:

1400+ Columbia University alumni from its 20 schools have pledged to withhold all “financial, programmatic, and academic support” until school meets demands related to divestment, student discipline, and community safety.
Group website says over $63 million of donations at risk. #Gaza #studentprotests

Thousands of Columbia University Alumni Pledge to Withhold All Contributions to School Until Pro-Palestinian Student Demands are Met
New York, NY - A group representing thousands of Columbia University alumni from its 20 schools and across decades of graduating classes has pledged to withhold all "financial, programmatic, and
academic support" in an open letter to Columbia University's President Minouche Shafik and its trustees until the university meets demands related to divestment, student discipline, and community
safety.
In the letter released this week, alumni estimate that the pledge puts $41 million in financial contributions at risk. It was issued in addition to petitions calling for a stop to the unjust expulsion and
suspensions of student protesters, and nearly two score letters previously sent to the administration representing thousands of alumni who graduated between 1966 and 2023 from all of the University's
schools, and identify across a variety of racial, ethnic and religious groups.
"I sign because my Jewish values of inquiry, empathy, and moral courage compel me to," said an alumna of CC '03 and CLS '10 who grew up in both New York and Jerusalem.

(Half of text can provide more on request)
Pauline von Hellermann replied to Pauline von Hellermann

#FollowTheMoney đŸ§”37/n

Even though all of us living in the UK know that homelessness is terrible (and has grown exponentially since 2010), it is still shocking to see this graph.

(There are notes on methods: all countries included both rough sleeping and invisible homelessness).

oecd.org/social/homelessness-c

Experiencing homelessness
As per 10 000 people, 2023 or latest year (point-in-time data)
UK (England) *
France
Czechia
Germany
United States
New Zealand
Australia
Canada
Portugal
Denmark
Sweden
Spain
Mexico
Norway
Korea
Finand
30.7
28.4
25.9
19.2
13.5
12.4
10.5
10.3
6.3
5.5
5.4
3.6
2.6
1.6
1.6
42.6
10
20
Note: People experiencing homelessness (PIT data) who are living rough or staying in emergency
accommodation (ETHOS Light 1, 2, 3), as reported by governments. *Data for the United Kingdom
(England) refer to the number of households experiencing homelessness per 10 000 households for
ETHOS Light 2 and 3; data also include people enumerated in the Rough Sleeping Snapshot (ETHOS 1).
Source: OECD Affordable Housing Database, HC3.1 People experiencing homelessness.
30
40
OECD
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