We frame economic power as a contest between capital and labor, but the real star of the American economy is consumer spending, which accounts for 68% of GDP. The Great Recession saw a 3.4% drop in consumer spending — at the time, the most severe year-over-year decline since World War II. The U.S. economy registered a 9.8% drop in consumer spending during the second quarter of 2020, when Covid shut down the world as we knew it. In both instances the U.S. government responded aggressively, spending hundreds of billions, primarily on bailouts, to pull us out of the Great Recession, and trillions, primarily in direct aid, to get us through the pandemic. The lesson? When consumers stop spending, American leaders start listening. As Geo Hussar explained to his YouTube followers at the end of September, “this is not seizing the means of production, but seizing the means of consumption,” adding that if every American dropped their consumption, on average, by 2%, “that would be the most loud and potent form of protest.”
It's been exhausting trying to find real people who actually believe that better is possible and are willing to work towards it. I've seen this all coming for years now and it's maddening that our supposed leaders let it happen. I still believe we have to take back control from the money interests, and that we really need to a new constitution and to rebuild the federal government. It's most of what I've written about on here.
Few people seem willing to dream of a radically different, better world. Everyone's so disillusioned it feels like, and those who aren't are divided by race, gender, class, religion, or something else that prevents us from working together the way we have to.
I'm struggling a lot with depression right now anyways, and it's getting harder every day to feel like making a change is possible.
I hear you and I certainly understand the exhaustion. I think it’s about finding a place where you can be with likeminded people. Truth Matters is in my view a safe place to take refuge.
Hang in there and always feel free to to reach out - Martin
Thanks. I haven't really used substack much, just as a spot to host the writings too big for Bluesky. I don't really love how money/subscription focused it seems to be, but haven't managed to find the time, energy, and expertise to build a dedicated site.
I should probably update the newest versions of my ideas and proposals here, but it seems kinda pointless without any interaction taking place.
It takes a lot of effort to motivate a person, and what has been obvious to you and me has just started getting through to some others. When the avalanche of angry Americans breaks, many will rise and say “No more!”
It’s coming. Many are feeling it - leveraging those feelings into action is coming…
I have a friend that has been saying for as long as she has been working in housing the homeless that the safety net has been gone and is not coming back. She saw first hand that the people who were there are closing their doors because they are under funded. It makes no sense because housing people costs so much less than incarceration or institutionalization. The people who are currently complaining the most are the ones who have wrecked the safety net.
We are going to get through this and end up being better because of it.
Get help for your depression. I have had to go on an antidepressant For a few months in the past and it really helped me. You just need to get from here to there.
I've dealt with mental health issues pretty much my entire life, so it's not really new, but recent circumstances are making things rough. My therapist is pretty great at least.
I just want us to become our best selves, and as a species overcome the existential threats we face and become truly space faring and fulfill our true potential.
I can see how to do it, but getting others on board or to even listen is proving nearly impossible. It's hard to even have a conversation about it all.
Emergency care is the law. Just like we are expected to be treated the same when traveling to other countries.
Also, not speaking English fluently means you aren’t a citizen is just damn right ignorant. I knew plenty of European immigrants that became U.S citizens but lived in tight knit networks and still had heavy accents when speaking English. These MAGA republicans are uneducated racist bigots.
Whenever I hear anyone with an accent I remember my German grandmother who spoke with a heavy accent until the day she died. Despite attending night classes in English she was one of the many learners who struggle with adult acquisition of another language. As an adult I too have struggled to learn another language but due to an accident of birth, my primary/only language is English so no one is going zip tie me.
The Anglo-Norman pidgin we call "English" uses several sounds that are not common in other languages. The vocabulary and grammar are both half Germanic and half Romance. And our spelling still reflects the language as it was spoken half a millenium ago.
I know it must be a nightmare for language acquisition, but I kinda like all the archaic spellings and the tales they tell. As a kid it was a wonderful discovery when I found out why it was ‘an’ hotel instead of ‘a’ hotel, and though that ‘rule’ seems to have died out it sparked curiosity in all the weirdness and wonder.
We also have uneducated, racist bigots here in UK. Their figurehead, Farage is Trump's Mini-me. Like Trump and his puppet masters, Farage is bankrolled by fossil fuel, tech billionairres and probably, hostile foriegn countries. Your fight is our fight. How can we effectively support each other and save our flawed democracies from these Cannibal Capatilist ghouls?
I’m not sure the best ways to support each other than speaking up constantly. I wish we weren’t ever put in this situation. They want us to think there are more of them and that’s simply not true.
Reform UK get far greater access to and coverage of their agenda on both mainstream and broadcast media than their representation in Parliament merits. Farage makes headlines and generates algorythms. It's curious, reportage of the Labour government is almost always negative, reportage of the Liberal Democrats is generally about the antics of their leader, reports about the Conservative opposition are generally about its imminent death and the Greens? A brief mention of their new leader and then nothing. Curious. Who is it controls the media again.........?
It’s never to late I stand with Bernie and AOC, and democrats across the country, I stand with democratic governors trying to organize and peacefully dissent, I donate to act blue as much as I can. Mid terms are our last hope I’m praying 🙏🏼 for peaceful elections and never giving trump the opportunity to cancel them that’s what he wants so badly., we can’t let that happen
I think the DJT would relish the idea of totally destroying the ACA because it was passed by Obama, who Trump despises. Since he and Vance and Noem all believe that immigrants are vermin they do not believe they are entitled to any medical care whatsoever even if they are bleeding out in front of them!
Hi I am new to reading your substack and appreciate what you do. I cannot donate right now but I forwarded one of your recent posts to Senator Chris Murphy who has been donating to groups that are pushing back against the regime.
One of the phrases in this post could be interpreted in two different ways: „immigrants in the country LEGALLY continue to qualify for ACA coverage“. I think the placement of the word legally could be misconstrued to mean that immigrants currently get ACA coverage. Perhaps - „Those immigrants legally in the country continue to qualify for ACA“. My apologies for wordsmithing but the placement of the adverb could be confusing.
The other day while riding the bus, I helped a frail old lady phone her brother to let him know where she was headed. She cried out "Please help me, can I use somebody's phone?" She was talking to the air. No one cared. Why? Probably because she had no shoes on and she wore sheets and beddings, blond hair tangled, she'd obviously recently wondered from a facility. She remembered his number, I called her brother, he had no car and told her, "Go back to the place, I can't meet you today." I helped her return back... A couple of hours later, I headed home and over heard a young white female hollering for help. "Please sir, can you buy me a bus pass?" People were hurrying to their destinations, no one cared about a drug addict, all covered in dirt, skin oozing ulcers, insect bites and battle scars. She covered half her face with a rag, it was like a scene from a Christian movie, the poor, those afflicted with leprosy, begging for alms. "Please sir, can you get me a bus card?" I couldn't ignore her, she was stuck in an area, she needed to get away, she wouldn't last there much longer. The transit police tried to rush her away from the turn stall but her voice was still loud, a female, another human being in need. I stopped and gave her money. "Don't give her anything, she's only headed to get drugs." I ignored the black guy's warning. The next day, I walked pass an old man laying on the side walk, his walker still up against the curve, he must have tripped or didn't have the strength to left it, the grocery bags tied to the arms filled with food. He laid there, defeated, as cars drove pass...but I couldn't just walk pass, I stopped... even though he didn't cry out "help me", I asked him "Do you need help?" He wasn't a homeless man. He was a old white veteran trying to do for himself, headed back to U.S. Vets, out of steam, out of luck. Of course I helped him and he told me, "I was praying for someone to help me. Thank You. God bless you."
White people are hurting and no one really cares. Just look around, you'll see a different world out here filled with people needing someone to care. Stop and notice, American citizens, white ones and you will realize that this is not about harming the brown or black or yellow or red person. It is looking like a war torn battlefield. America! It is uglier than you think.
I really hope that congressional Dems hold the line instead of trying to "rescue" us as they are wont to do. A majority of Americans voted for Trump and until they feel the effects of this administration's irresponsible actions - really feel it - conservative legislators will continue to blame the dems for everything bad and the electorate will continue to believe it. The only serious people that will save us are us, but only if the slim majority slips.
Do not concede to Republican corruption. We need legal guarantees for anything they agree to. Trump and Republican lawmakers have proved they have no honor. We are being driven into White Nationalism.
Donald Trump: “The art of the deal is making them suffer until they break.”
As long as the regime has guns and goons, it cares little about what we do and say. It’s past time for the American people and the Democratic Party to call on the U.S. Armed Forces to intervene to stop ICE and the secret police from brutalizing the American people, whole cities, and civil society. Our military is the only power strong enough to stop them. But they need us to authorize such unprecedented action. October 18: Call out loudly. Pressure Democrats and previous presidents to empower the military to action, to defend the Constitution. Arrest the king and his henchmen!
The Politicians need to stay strong and not cave. Once the Maggots who voted for this. Are affected by their vote. Being a MAGA Politicians. Their constituents are going to have something to say to them.
From No mercy/No malice
By Professor Galloway
Strike | No Mercy / No Malice
We frame economic power as a contest between capital and labor, but the real star of the American economy is consumer spending, which accounts for 68% of GDP. The Great Recession saw a 3.4% drop in consumer spending — at the time, the most severe year-over-year decline since World War II. The U.S. economy registered a 9.8% drop in consumer spending during the second quarter of 2020, when Covid shut down the world as we knew it. In both instances the U.S. government responded aggressively, spending hundreds of billions, primarily on bailouts, to pull us out of the Great Recession, and trillions, primarily in direct aid, to get us through the pandemic. The lesson? When consumers stop spending, American leaders start listening. As Geo Hussar explained to his YouTube followers at the end of September, “this is not seizing the means of production, but seizing the means of consumption,” adding that if every American dropped their consumption, on average, by 2%, “that would be the most loud and potent form of protest.”
It's been exhausting trying to find real people who actually believe that better is possible and are willing to work towards it. I've seen this all coming for years now and it's maddening that our supposed leaders let it happen. I still believe we have to take back control from the money interests, and that we really need to a new constitution and to rebuild the federal government. It's most of what I've written about on here.
Few people seem willing to dream of a radically different, better world. Everyone's so disillusioned it feels like, and those who aren't are divided by race, gender, class, religion, or something else that prevents us from working together the way we have to.
I'm struggling a lot with depression right now anyways, and it's getting harder every day to feel like making a change is possible.
I hear you and I certainly understand the exhaustion. I think it’s about finding a place where you can be with likeminded people. Truth Matters is in my view a safe place to take refuge.
Hang in there and always feel free to to reach out - Martin
Thanks. I haven't really used substack much, just as a spot to host the writings too big for Bluesky. I don't really love how money/subscription focused it seems to be, but haven't managed to find the time, energy, and expertise to build a dedicated site.
I should probably update the newest versions of my ideas and proposals here, but it seems kinda pointless without any interaction taking place.
It takes a lot of effort to motivate a person, and what has been obvious to you and me has just started getting through to some others. When the avalanche of angry Americans breaks, many will rise and say “No more!”
It’s coming. Many are feeling it - leveraging those feelings into action is coming…
We will get there. Stay strong
I have a friend that has been saying for as long as she has been working in housing the homeless that the safety net has been gone and is not coming back. She saw first hand that the people who were there are closing their doors because they are under funded. It makes no sense because housing people costs so much less than incarceration or institutionalization. The people who are currently complaining the most are the ones who have wrecked the safety net.
We are going to get through this and end up being better because of it.
Get help for your depression. I have had to go on an antidepressant For a few months in the past and it really helped me. You just need to get from here to there.
Right foot, left foot, breathe.
I've dealt with mental health issues pretty much my entire life, so it's not really new, but recent circumstances are making things rough. My therapist is pretty great at least.
I just want us to become our best selves, and as a species overcome the existential threats we face and become truly space faring and fulfill our true potential.
I can see how to do it, but getting others on board or to even listen is proving nearly impossible. It's hard to even have a conversation about it all.
Very true
Emergency care is the law. Just like we are expected to be treated the same when traveling to other countries.
Also, not speaking English fluently means you aren’t a citizen is just damn right ignorant. I knew plenty of European immigrants that became U.S citizens but lived in tight knit networks and still had heavy accents when speaking English. These MAGA republicans are uneducated racist bigots.
I concur
Whenever I hear anyone with an accent I remember my German grandmother who spoke with a heavy accent until the day she died. Despite attending night classes in English she was one of the many learners who struggle with adult acquisition of another language. As an adult I too have struggled to learn another language but due to an accident of birth, my primary/only language is English so no one is going zip tie me.
The English language is the hardest to learn for foreigners. I have heard this from many people fluent in other languages.
The Anglo-Norman pidgin we call "English" uses several sounds that are not common in other languages. The vocabulary and grammar are both half Germanic and half Romance. And our spelling still reflects the language as it was spoken half a millenium ago.
The horror... the horror... 🤦♂️
I know it must be a nightmare for language acquisition, but I kinda like all the archaic spellings and the tales they tell. As a kid it was a wonderful discovery when I found out why it was ‘an’ hotel instead of ‘a’ hotel, and though that ‘rule’ seems to have died out it sparked curiosity in all the weirdness and wonder.
That’s interesting. I’ve read it, but haven’t heard it from actual learners. Thank you
We also have uneducated, racist bigots here in UK. Their figurehead, Farage is Trump's Mini-me. Like Trump and his puppet masters, Farage is bankrolled by fossil fuel, tech billionairres and probably, hostile foriegn countries. Your fight is our fight. How can we effectively support each other and save our flawed democracies from these Cannibal Capatilist ghouls?
I’m not sure the best ways to support each other than speaking up constantly. I wish we weren’t ever put in this situation. They want us to think there are more of them and that’s simply not true.
Reform UK get far greater access to and coverage of their agenda on both mainstream and broadcast media than their representation in Parliament merits. Farage makes headlines and generates algorythms. It's curious, reportage of the Labour government is almost always negative, reportage of the Liberal Democrats is generally about the antics of their leader, reports about the Conservative opposition are generally about its imminent death and the Greens? A brief mention of their new leader and then nothing. Curious. Who is it controls the media again.........?
I’m reading and watching this daily from Uk also, and fully agree with your assessment.
It’s never to late I stand with Bernie and AOC, and democrats across the country, I stand with democratic governors trying to organize and peacefully dissent, I donate to act blue as much as I can. Mid terms are our last hope I’m praying 🙏🏼 for peaceful elections and never giving trump the opportunity to cancel them that’s what he wants so badly., we can’t let that happen
I think the DJT would relish the idea of totally destroying the ACA because it was passed by Obama, who Trump despises. Since he and Vance and Noem all believe that immigrants are vermin they do not believe they are entitled to any medical care whatsoever even if they are bleeding out in front of them!
Please show us the videos and let us help make them viral.
Don’t worry I will, first one should drop tomorrow evening.
Hi I am new to reading your substack and appreciate what you do. I cannot donate right now but I forwarded one of your recent posts to Senator Chris Murphy who has been donating to groups that are pushing back against the regime.
One of the phrases in this post could be interpreted in two different ways: „immigrants in the country LEGALLY continue to qualify for ACA coverage“. I think the placement of the word legally could be misconstrued to mean that immigrants currently get ACA coverage. Perhaps - „Those immigrants legally in the country continue to qualify for ACA“. My apologies for wordsmithing but the placement of the adverb could be confusing.
Don’t worry Brenda my content will always be free to all.
Thanks for that. I got laid off from $BigITCorp recently, but when I'm employed again, I'll pony up for a paid sub.
Hi TM, I wrote a piece on Russell Vought. Thought I would share. Also great article!
https://open.substack.com/pub/esven99/p/the-russell-vought-special?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=j07re
Thank you, I’ll take a look
The other day while riding the bus, I helped a frail old lady phone her brother to let him know where she was headed. She cried out "Please help me, can I use somebody's phone?" She was talking to the air. No one cared. Why? Probably because she had no shoes on and she wore sheets and beddings, blond hair tangled, she'd obviously recently wondered from a facility. She remembered his number, I called her brother, he had no car and told her, "Go back to the place, I can't meet you today." I helped her return back... A couple of hours later, I headed home and over heard a young white female hollering for help. "Please sir, can you buy me a bus pass?" People were hurrying to their destinations, no one cared about a drug addict, all covered in dirt, skin oozing ulcers, insect bites and battle scars. She covered half her face with a rag, it was like a scene from a Christian movie, the poor, those afflicted with leprosy, begging for alms. "Please sir, can you get me a bus card?" I couldn't ignore her, she was stuck in an area, she needed to get away, she wouldn't last there much longer. The transit police tried to rush her away from the turn stall but her voice was still loud, a female, another human being in need. I stopped and gave her money. "Don't give her anything, she's only headed to get drugs." I ignored the black guy's warning. The next day, I walked pass an old man laying on the side walk, his walker still up against the curve, he must have tripped or didn't have the strength to left it, the grocery bags tied to the arms filled with food. He laid there, defeated, as cars drove pass...but I couldn't just walk pass, I stopped... even though he didn't cry out "help me", I asked him "Do you need help?" He wasn't a homeless man. He was a old white veteran trying to do for himself, headed back to U.S. Vets, out of steam, out of luck. Of course I helped him and he told me, "I was praying for someone to help me. Thank You. God bless you."
White people are hurting and no one really cares. Just look around, you'll see a different world out here filled with people needing someone to care. Stop and notice, American citizens, white ones and you will realize that this is not about harming the brown or black or yellow or red person. It is looking like a war torn battlefield. America! It is uglier than you think.
I really hope that congressional Dems hold the line instead of trying to "rescue" us as they are wont to do. A majority of Americans voted for Trump and until they feel the effects of this administration's irresponsible actions - really feel it - conservative legislators will continue to blame the dems for everything bad and the electorate will continue to believe it. The only serious people that will save us are us, but only if the slim majority slips.
Do not concede to Republican corruption. We need legal guarantees for anything they agree to. Trump and Republican lawmakers have proved they have no honor. We are being driven into White Nationalism.
Donald Trump: “The art of the deal is making them suffer until they break.”
Spending will go down “organically “ as the shut down continues, if you have no income… you stretch any savings for just the basic necessities!!
Those of us with “discretionary “ income need to do our part!!
Very thorough article on sad stuff. Thanks.
As long as the regime has guns and goons, it cares little about what we do and say. It’s past time for the American people and the Democratic Party to call on the U.S. Armed Forces to intervene to stop ICE and the secret police from brutalizing the American people, whole cities, and civil society. Our military is the only power strong enough to stop them. But they need us to authorize such unprecedented action. October 18: Call out loudly. Pressure Democrats and previous presidents to empower the military to action, to defend the Constitution. Arrest the king and his henchmen!
The Politicians need to stay strong and not cave. Once the Maggots who voted for this. Are affected by their vote. Being a MAGA Politicians. Their constituents are going to have something to say to them.
As AOC stated 👍