News and commentary for understanding and coping with the years ahead...
Saving democracy in South Korea
For the rest of the world, though, South Koreans’ immediate and aggressive response to a man trying to take away their democratic rights is an inspiration. Among other things, it illustrates that for all the claims that autocracy can react to events more quickly than democracy can, in fact autocrats are brittle. It is democracy that is determined and resilient.
This take (alternative link here) on what just happened in South Korea is rich with references and history. It has early perspective on an event that I hope will be a longlasting lesson for everyone, and inspiration for Americans who worry that they will be risking too much to be active supporters of their own, deeply threatened democracy. Who came to the rescue of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021? Which Republicans tried to hold responsible the criminal leader of their party? They were the heroes that day, and we need many, many more going forward. (See the last item below for an example of how cowards operate.)
I also recommend the latest post from Tim Snyder, in which he writes: "The most important lesson applies to all citizens. It is easy to put the responsibility on the military, the legislators, the press. But the crucial element in South Korea was the reaction of citizens themselves."
Until Sun’s purchase, Trump’s crypto start-up appeared headed for failure with only $22 million in tokens sold, far short of its goal of $300 million in sales. The purchase not only keeps the WLF going, but also guarantees a windfall for Trump. A filing from the venture in October states that “$30 million of initial net protocol revenues” will be “held in a reserve … to cover operating expenses, indemnities, and obligations.”
Trump, once a crypto skeptic, had pledged to make the U.S. “the crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of bitcoin. Money has poured into crypto assets since he won. The value of bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, passed $100,000 Wednesday. And shares in crypto platform Coinbase have surged more than 70% since the election.
This New Republic article and AP story are drops in a bucket of financial sewage called Trump world. It will be filling during his entire presidency, at levels that dwarf the historically corrupt dealings the first time around. Trump was a cryptocurrency skeptic until he and his family figured out how they could cash in on what is undoubtedly the most sleazy – and dangerous to our economic stability – industry around. Crypto bros poured hundreds of millions of dollars into getting a president and Congress who'd be eager to loosen already feeble regulation, which will make it vastly easier for low-knowledge speculators to lose their savings to insiders.
Drip, drip: Trump named one of Elon Musk's billionaire "allies" to run the U.S. space program, which has already pumped billions of dollars into Musk's pocket via SpaceX – a company that is bidding to have a monopoly on the nation's space endeavors. (It's mystifying that the Obama and Biden administrations ignored the foreseeable dangers of this.)
When I think about the next four years, this is how I frame it: the victory of "that makes me smart" over "fairness and truth." For years, progressives have pointed out the right's hypocrisy, despite that fact that Americans have been conditioned to be so cynical that even the rankest hypocrisy doesn't register. But "caveat emptor?" That isn't just someone else's bad belief or low ethics: it's the way that your life is materially, significantly worsened. The Biden administration – divided between corporate Dems and the Warren/Sanders wing that went to war on "unfair and deceptive" – was ashamed and nearly silent on its groundbreaking work fighting for fairness and honesty. That was a titanic mistake.
This thoroughly link-annotated piece is a reminder that for all of its disappointments, the Biden administration was absolutely terrific in several areas, one of which was punishing and preventing what federal law calls "unfair and deceptive" business conduct. The "smart" reference is to Trump's 2016 bragging (long forgotten by Big Journalism) that cheating on his taxes made him smart. Cory recounts case after case where Trump's first administration was a gift to corporate types who cheated – and in many cases continue to cheat – their workers, investors, communities, customers. Biden's team, with the help of Democrats who had zero help from Republicans, curbed some of those abuses (and stupidly didn't talk about their achievements nearly enough). But winter is coming for the people who love unfair and deceptive tactics – and the rest of us are going to be their unwilling targets.
It is a very ominous thing if our leading forums for discussion of public affairs are already feeling the chill of intimidation and responding with efforts to appease....I do not write to scold anyone; I write because fear is infectious. Let it spread, and it will paralyze us all. The only antidote is courage. And that’s infectious, too.
Read this short mea culpafrom a TV show guest, and cringe. The MSNBC / "Morning Joe" bended-knee stance – capitulation to power and wealth – is infecting the programming. It is a disgrace, top to bottom, for a channel that once pretended to be a (very slightly) left-wing alternative to the Fox "News", the Murdoch family's increasingly extremist propaganda operation. One result is clear enough: You can remove MSNBC – owned and tendentiously operated by Trump-fearing (and apparently Fox-fearing) Comcast – from the dwindling list of "leading forums for discussion of public affairs." (See also Josh Marshall's take on this "bizarre" situation.)
While I do offer a kudo below to the writer of this semi-confessional piece, he should realize he is part of the problem. He effectively endorses the warped notion that that Fox is a legitimate journalism outlet because a few "good people" still work there. Garbage. No journalist with integrity should be part of that insidious channel, which has done more to inject poison into our civic bloodstream than any other media operation in the world, and has done so for decades.
This newsletter is a compendium of the reporting and commentary that best explains the America's political, economic, and social conditions – and, most important, how we can find a way back from the dark days ahead. You will rarely find anything here from the New York Times or Washington Post or any of the other Big Journalism companies that failed us so completely during the 2024 elections and are now sucking up – even more than usual – to Donald Trump, his cult, and corporate oligarchs. My focus will be on smaller, more honorable outlets (and individuals). I hope you'll support them with your attention and your money. For more details, please read my About page.
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Hafiz Rashid
ALEX VEIGA
Cory Doctorow
David Frum
