Conversation

Notices

1. Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:32:27 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

   Just finished reading Every Man A King, the autobiography of Huey P. Long.

   Long, the governor of Louisiana and namesake of Huey P. Newton, was known for raising taxes on corporations and building an impressive amount of public infrastructure.

   • Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:32:34 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     His first battle was to give free textbooks to primary school students. It's amazing now to imagine that not only were poor kids excluded from school for lack of funds to buy books, but he actually encountered fierce resistance when passing that law.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:32:41 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Now of course this is his own words, and I'm sure he was far more shrewd and ruthless than he describes himself.

     But roads, bridges, schools and hospitals speak for themselves, and apparently he built a lot of them.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:32:46 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     After becoming a US senator, and in the depths of the depression, Long began a program called Share Our Wealth, a set of works and welfare programs which would be funded by a progressive wealth tax that would ensure nobody has more than $50mn (roughly 1bn in today's money).

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:32:46 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     This program gained significant public support and is credited with pressuring FDR into creating such programs as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and
     Food Stamps as part of the 2nd New Deal.

     But this proposal was not without its enemies.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:32:47 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     One of his arch adversaries was Standard Oil, who (it is said) bankrolled Long's impeachment after he proposed an oil refining tax.

     The actual charges levied against him read more like a "tabloid bombshell" than anything worthy to be heard in a court of law, much less a senate.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:33:43 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     • Christian

     @christian_zerfass
     He became governor in 1928, as far as the reforms, yes definitely. He openly called out FDR for the weakness of his New Deal and pressed for a much more robust program, which it is believed resulted in many of the programs in the 1935-1936 Second New Deal. These include Social Security (pension), labor union rights and rural electrification. FDR even went so far as to pass a REVENUE tax which was called "The Wealth Tax Act", directly addressing Long's Share Our Wealth.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:33:49 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Long describes in his book having been assaulted by an unknown assailant, and claimed that the J. P. Morgan company was offering reward money to whoever did it.

     This kind of blatant disregard for the law is beyond even even what Long accused Standard Oil of doing.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 repeated this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:33:49 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Furthermore, (Long charged that) Wall Street banks decided to revoke credit to the state of Louisiana on account of their dislike of Long's Share Our Wealth program.

     A couple of years after this book was published, Long ran for US president but was shot before the '36 election.

   • Christian (christian_zerfass@fediscience.org)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:33:49 UTC Christian

     in reply to

     @cjd

     Too many unheard stories out there.. thanks for sharing!

     So Mr Long happened to be governor in the aftermath of the 1929 financial crisis, correct? I am aware that the US had major welfare reforms at the time, to cope with the crisis consequences. Does this suggest Mr Long had a major impact on the development of these?

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:35:54 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Some accuse bankers of maintaining elite assassination squads to dispatch of politicians who dare to challenge them.

     This is at best idle conjecture and at worst veiled racism, but one need not believe any of it to find private banking an unconscionable centralization of power.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:35:55 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Both had their fights with Wall Street banks, with Jackson famously ending the charter of the Second Bank of the United States and ushering in a period of the US government not issuing any form of centralized paper currency - which lasted until the Civil War in 1863.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:35:55 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Whether or not one man should enjoy so much power as a Long or a Jackson is a fair point of debate.

     But a power far less discussed is the power to decide who is, and is not, worthy of credit. Who will be the great captain of industry and who will be the struggling businessman.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:35:56 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Though Long's program was diametrically opposed to that of Andrew Jackson, there are yet significant similarities between the two.

     Both were highly popular, and have been called demagogues. Both fought for expanded suffrage and against monied aristocracy and monopolies.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:35:57 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     The assassination was, as these things go, subject to debate and conspiracy theory. However, it did match the way Long had predicted his enemies would try to kill him with "one man, one gun, one bullet".

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:35:59 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Some will argue that 2008 was an Unforeseeable Chain Reaction which Caught Everyone Off Guard.

     I think this position is manifestly indefensible, and history will regard it as an arrogant and uninspired excuse.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:36:00 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     An undeniable projection of Wall Street's power was in 2008 when they essentially engaged the US government in a deadly game of chicken, and won.

     Whether the timing in Bush's lame duck session was intended is up for debate, but the fact is they demanded a blank check and got it

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:19 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     The Marxists to their credit, have a very simple phrase: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs."

     Now nobody has any idea how to implement it and people put a lot of despotic dictators in power thinking they did, but at least it's a goal.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:20 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     If there's anything I would fault the crypto community for, it's failure to imagine the world as it could be.

     Satoshi made a snide Jacksonian challenge to the banks in his genesis block time proof, but too many crypto enthusiasts fail to envision anything more than "being rich"

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:21 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     In the words of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson: "History is hard to know, because of all the hired bullshit".

     Looking back at the era of Huey Long, it's clear to see the establishment papers had reduced themselves to low grade gossip mills in their efforts to shut him down.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:21 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     What's less obvious is where the battle lines are today. Nobody puts up a sign saying "we represent the rich and powerful", but we know that this war is never really over.

     Despite record low readership, no major paper has ever stopped printing. Someone must be buying the ink.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 repeated this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:22 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     But even if we grant them that most charitable interpretation that the dog really did eat their homework. It's still their dog, which they created, when they lobbied for the gutting of the Glass-Steagall legislation in the late 1990s.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:24 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     I want the crypto community to stop letting the money trust control the narrative with their yellow newspapers, paid shills and unpaid toadies who are too dumb to know they're shills.

     And to do that, we need to imagine an actual future, not "like 5 years ago but with lambos".

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:27 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     The right has decided to go hardcore, fantasizing about the 1950s, or the 1930s, and much of the bitcoin community is stuck in the 1830s when Jackson killed the bank.

     Things Are Better Now.

     Yes, for everyone.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:28 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Across the whole political spectrum, everyone's been taken with a bout of conservatism. Everyone is thinking about getting back to 2019,
     when we were thinking about 2015,
     when we were thinking about 2007,
     when we were thinking about 2000

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:39:39 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     What if rents went down every year as building techniques improved ?
     What if you could live anywhere you want without a car ?
     What if work was optional ?

     Can blockchain technology make this happen? Possibly. But it can't until we have a stated goal.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:40:07 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     Can we imagine a world without Bullshit Jobs?
     A world where nobody domineers over anybody else?
     What about a world where work is optional?

     But ownership, entrepreneurship, and individual liberty are good, fulfilling, and fun, can we still have those too?

     #FirstYouHaveToAsk

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 repeated this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:40:07 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     I don't know how to solve these things, and I'll be the first to admit it.

     In my corner I'm focused on dis-intermediating internet monopolies because I think I know how, and the internet remains one choke-point where we can all get shut down.

     Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 likes this.
   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:40:08 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     This is why Warran Buffet is so furious about crypto, there isn't a single one of his companies that can outperform the cryptosphere and he knows it.

     The Achilles heal of the 20th century market economy is the speculative bubble, and we've isolated it. Checkmate Randians.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:40:08 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     But holding something powerful enough to bring about the end of an era is not enough. We need to actively envision the next era or else we risk a new dark age.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:40:09 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     > That sounds great, but what's blockchain got to do with any of it?

     More than you might think.

     Ever since the fall of communism, the Randians had TINA. There Is No Alternative. "Our system will win because it's the most efficient so cope".

     TINA is dead, Satoshi killed her.

   • Caleb James DeLisle (cjd@mastodon.social)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:40:46 UTC Caleb James DeLisle

     in reply to

     But everyone in the crypto, and larger decentralization community needs to at least dare to hold our heads high and declare:

     I am decentralizing political power structures to the benefit of humanity, and I am excited by the future that I am helping to build !

     /end

   • Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅 (clacke@libranet.de)'s status on Thursday, 30-Dec-2021 06:45:47 UTC Santa Claes 🇸🇪🇭🇰🎅

     in reply to
     Calling @Chartodon