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[Caitlin Johnstone @caitoz]

That story about Google killing hundreds of thousands of trees in Finland for its data center project is such a perfect microcosm of what capitalism is doing to our world.

Recent mass media headlines are saying the tech giant "illegally" cut down "250,000" trees, but both claims paint an inaccurate picture of what actually happened. Google killed 400,000 trees (250,000 near a town called Muhos and another 150,000 near the village of Otanmäki), and unless the company's executives actually wind up going to prison for this, their actions cannot properly be described as "illegal".

I don't know who first coined the saying "If the penalty is a fine, then it's legal for rich people," but it certainly applies here. The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Authority has reportedly ordered Google to suspend all “measures that significantly change the environment," saying it will "consider enforcement proceedings and fines" if the megacorporation does not comply. Google's parent company Alphabet has a net worth of around four trillion dollars. Whatever paltry penalties Finland might impose for these ecocidal actions, it won't have any meaningful effect on Google.

Giant corporations do this shit all the time. They calculate that the fines incurred by their abusive actions will be dwarfed by the massive profits they generate, issue fake apologies as needed, and leave it to their armies of lawyers to minimize the damage. That's why the Sackler family is still worth billions despite all the fines Purdue Pharma was slapped with while creating the US opiate epidemic.

A 2017 Harvard study titled “The Opioid Epidemic: Fixing a Broken Pharmaceutical Market" contains the following paragraph:

"Although civil claims and criminal charges were brought against Purdue and its executives, the resulting penalties paled in comparison to extended-release oxycodone profits. In May 2007, the company and its president, chief counsel, and former chief medical officer pled guilty to falsely marketing extended-release oxycodone as 'less addictive, less subject to abuse and diversion, and less likely to cause tolerance and withdrawal than other pain medications.' As part of the plea bargain, Purdue agreed to pay the federal government $600 million and 27 states $20 million. The three executives agreed to $34.5 million in fines but avoided jailtime. By contrast, Purdue has earned an estimated $31 billion in total revenues from extended-release oxycodone since its launch. Rather than deterring fraudulent marketing, the penalties simply became a cost of doing business."

A cost of doing business.

That's how things work under capitalism. The law primarily exists not to protect people or the environment, but to protect the interests of capital. If you destroyed a Google data center you'd probably be charged as a terrorist and spend decades in prison, but Google can destroy the natural world around you and get off with a finger wag and a symbolic fine. If you stole millions of dollars from your employer you'd go to prison for grand larceny, but if your employer steals millions from its employees you need to win a class action lawsuit to get back what they stole from you.

Proponents of capitalism often pretend they support minimal government intervention in civilian affairs, but their entire model is at all times propped up by state power using force to protect the haves from the have-nots at every level of our society. Corporations are free to destroy the environment, destroy your health, rob you, exploit you, and manipulate your government to their advantage, and if you ever take action to stand up to this world-devouring onslaught, the state will lock you in a cage.

In school we are taught that that the law exists to protect ordinary people from bad people, but that's not true at all. Under capitalism, the law exists to protect the very worst among us from everyone else. That's why we are seeing our planet being turned into dust and ashes for no reason other than shareholder profit.

It's an insane system, and it needs to end. These freaks are feeding our entire biosphere into the woodchipper.

[d @duuhhao]

I got this email about the empty ass box you shipped me that I shipped back with all the packing tape and stuff still intact and everything. lol

[d @duuhhao]

Hi @AmazonHelp I want to know what you want me to do because you shipped me an empty box instead of a laptop, which I DID NOT OPEN and promptly shipped back, and then you got mad at me for shipping you an empty box 🤡🤡

[d @duuhhao]

I ended up having to call my credit card company as a last resort to charge back this purchase. They are currently negotiating with your side right now.

[d @duuhhao]

@AmazonHelp Yes I have called you twice, both times you gave me uncertain, conflicting information, and then I sent an email to the vendor who shipped me an empty box and they never responded.

[Gravel Institute @GravelInstitute]

Today, the minimum wage would be $23 if it had grown at the rate of productivity since 1960.

You are being exploited.

[d @duuhhao]

@SkintyStan Hi Andi, not sure if you remember, but in the Summer of '08 before I started at Mitty you saw me in my Mitty shirt and introduced yourself as part of ASB and welcomed me to Mitty. That small gesture really made me feel welcome going into my freshman year! :^)

[d @duuhhao]

@claireeurban Yeah I was part of the Badminton team too and we basically got no respect from the staff or from our peers. In fact other coaches and students would look down on us. Such a wack culture. Cool to hear that the team is still popping off though LOL

[d @duuhhao]

@madeon Can I get an FL Studio Key 🥺

[d @duuhhao]

@MarieKondo changed my life

[d @duuhhao]

@209arugula ya, stay strong my dude 👍

[d @duuhhao]

@chrysannarose chaotic neutral

[d @duuhhao]

@resetbomb why isnt pokemon showdown in this

[d @duuhhao]

@chadwickboseman Details on that hoodie you wore in the interrogation scene in #BlackPanther ? 😌

[d @duuhhao]

@soonjukwon No

[d @duuhhao]

@resetbomb @fountainofyume oh no hows the meta looking now