There's a truly comforting sociopathy snuggled inside capitalism ideology: if markets are systems for identifying and rewarding virtue, ability and value, then anyone who's failing in the system is actually *unworthy*, not unlucky; and that means the winners are not just lucky (and certainly not merely selfish), but actually *the best* and they owe nothing to their social inferiors apart from what their own charitable impulses dictate.
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Ten wpis został zedytowany (8 miesiące temu)
Michał "rysiek" Woźniak · 🇺🇦udostępnił to.
Cory Doctorow
•https://pluralistic.net/2024/06/17/lovilee-jubilee/#debts-that-cant-be-paid-wont-be-paid
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/3
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/4
Bronze Age jubilees were periodic celebrations in which all debts were canceled.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/5
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Cory Doctorow
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The best answers to this question can be found in the scholarship of historian Michael Hudson, who has written extensively on the subject. Hudson doesn't just write for a scholarly audience, he's also a fantastic communicator with a real commitment to bringing his research to lay audiences:
https://michael-hudson.com/
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Michael Hudson
Admin (Michael Hudson)Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/7
https://pluralistic.net/2021/09/29/jubilance/#debt
Let's start with a simple model of debt and credit in an agricultural society. In agricultural societies, everything exists downstream of farming, which is the core activity of the civilization.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/8
To farm successfully, you need credit. Farmers enter the growing season in need of inputs: seed, fertilizer, labor; they need still more labor during the harvest. Without some way to acquire these inputs *before* the farmer has a crop that can pay for them, there can be no crop.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/9
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/10
So over time, every farmer loses a crop. When that happens, the farmer can't pay off their debts and must roll them over and pay them off with future harvests.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/11
That means that, over time, "farmer" becomes a synonym for "debtor." Farmers' productive output is increasingly claimed by the rich and powerful. No matter how badly everyone needs food, the whims of the hereditary creditor class come to dictate the country's agricultural priorities.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/12
That's where jubilee comes in. Without some way to interrupt this cycle of spiraling debt, society becomes so destabilized that the system collapses:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/07/08/jubilant/#construire-des-passerelles
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/13
Jubilee is long gone, but that doesn't mean that debts that can't be paid will get paid. Modern society has filled the jubilee gap with bankruptcy, a legal process for shriving a debtor of their debts.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/14
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/15
Limited liability means that companies can take on debt without exposing their investors to risks beyond their capital stake. If you buy $1,000 worth of Apple stock, that's all you stand to lose if Apple makes bad decisions.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/16
Economists like this because it means you can invest in Apple without having to be privy to its daily management, which means Apple can accumulate huge pools of capital, "lever them up" by borrowing even more, and then put all that money to work on R&D, product development, marketing, and, of course, "incentives" for key employees and managers.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/19
For a corporate person, shedding debts through bankruptcy is honorable. Far from being a source of shame, the well-timed, well-structured bankruptcy is just evidence of financial acumen.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/29/impunity-corrodes/#morally-bankrupt
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/22
https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/01/j-and-j-jk/#risible-gambit
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/23
https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/16/texas-two-step/#david-jones
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/24
https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/11/justice-delayed/#justice-redeemed
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/25
https://pluralistic.net/2020/12/04/kawaski-trawick/#strike-debt
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/26
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/27
But the most powerful arguments against bankruptcy are rooted in the idea of providence. In an efficient market, anyone who goes bankrupt was *necessarily* reckless.
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/30
https://docs.iza.org/dp17047.pdf
The study follows Danish bankruptcies following the introduction of continental Europe's first modern bankruptcy system, which Denmark instituted in 1984.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/31
After 1984, Denmark bankruptcy system imported features of US/UK/Commonwealth bankruptcy, including the ability to restructure and discharge your debts.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/32
But for the (un)lucky people who qualify for bankruptcy discharges, there's a fascinating natural experiment in which the fortunes of people who see debt relief can be compared to bankrupt people who couldn't get their debts wiped out.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/33
After people are given the benefits of bankruptcy, they are less likely to rely on public benefits. They get better jobs.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/34
As Jason Kilborn writes for Credit Slips, "the benefits of debt relief are not only substantial but robust, as debtors learn their lesson (if there was one to learn) about managing their finances, and they capitalize (literally) on their fresh start."
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/35
Americans should take note of these findings. After all, Danes are insulated from the leading American cause of bankruptcy: medical debts. In America, breaking a bone or getting cancer or even kidney stone can wipe out a lifetime of hard work, careful planning and prudential spending.
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/36
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/06/11/fact-sheet-vice-president-harris-announces-proposal-to-prohibit-medical-bills-from-being-included-on-credit-reports-and-calls-on-states-and-localities-to-take-further-actions-to-reduce-medical-debt/
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FACT SHEET: Vice President Harris Announces Proposal to Prohibit Medical Bills from Being Included on Credit Reports and Calls on States and Localities to Take Further Actions to Reduce Medical Debt | The White House
The White HouseCory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/37
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Cory Doctorow
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/eof
https://laist.com/events/go-fact-yourself-live-with-aida-rodriguez
On June 21, I'm doing an online reading for the @Locusmag Awards at 16hPT.
On June 22, I'll be in Oakland, CA for a panel and a keynote at the Locus Awards:
https://locusmag.com/2024-locus-awards-weekend/
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Go Fact Yourself LIVE with Cory Doctorow and Aida Rodriguez
LAistTerryB
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/9
Jo being generally creative.
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/5
It was the main form of governance and community. The better care you take of community, the more honour is given to you by community.
The more balance restored, the more you and the community are united & leaders fit to lead.
It’s a regular reconciliation & redistribution of wealth.
Cory Doctorowudostępnił to.
TerryB
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/4
Pteryx the Puzzle Secretary
•At your 9th birthday, obviously that does nothing.
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Cory Doctorowudostępnił to.
TerryB
•Ostrzeżenie o treści: Long thread/3
andrei!
•1. How Republicans Really Think - 12:26:17
SoundCloudCory Doctorowudostępnił to.
fanf42
•You can't imagine the quietness it brings to me.
The kind of quietness you reach before a well prepared fight.
Cory Doctorow
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