RethinkingScotland

If we are going to change this world for the better we need to start in our own communities & our own hearts & minds, believe change is possible and work for it

[William Dalrymple @DalrympleWill]

Find time to read this quite astonishingly good piece by
@ArwaM Mahdawi. Brilliant on our government's appalling moral confusion over Gaza

"Why is Hasan Piker ‘not conducive to the public good���? Because on Gaza, we punish the witness, not the crime"

https://t.co/lxF64weMUN

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

New Internationalist is an excellent magazine, and they need support to keep doing their work: brilliant independent journalism with a commitment to internationalist values. Please consider donating and subscribing. @newint https://t.co/pRqrALqTka

[BeSmart @smartthumb]

@jeremycorbyn

[Stop the War Coalition @STWuk]

Europe is in the grip of the most enormous war-driven austerity. The cost of living is about to mushroom due to the war in Iran and European govt budgeting for increased armaments but decreases in welfare. The International Anti-War conference comes at a vital time.

@JohnWRees on why we must be there on 20 June!

[Richard @ricwe123]

What most people already understand, even without the economic terminology, is that firms like BlackRock operate less like investors and more like modern feudal landlords.

They buy essential infrastructure,water networks, ports, energy grids, data centres, and other public necessities, often using vast amounts of borrowed money and paying prices that ordinary market participants cannot match.
Once the acquisition is complete, the debt is pushed onto the acquired company itself.

The result is simple: the public pays.

Consumers repay that debt through higher water bills, rising energy prices, increased fees, and declining service quality.
The infrastructure becomes a cash-extraction machine.
Profits flow upward to shareholders and executives, while the financial burden flows downward to households.

When the model inevitably breaks down, the consequences are socialised. Communities are left with crumbling infrastructure, polluted rivers, and failing services.
Thames Water's £14 billion debt mountain and repeated sewage scandals are a stark example of what happens when financial engineering takes precedence over public stewardship.

The executives who loaded the company with debt have already collected their bonuses.
The investors have already taken their returns.
And when the system finally reaches breaking point, taxpayers are expected to pick up the bill.

Privatise the gains.
Socialise the losses.
That is the business model.

[Novara Media @novaramedia]

“The battle between oligarchic forces and democratic forces is the battle of the 21st century.”

On Downstream, French economist @Gabriel_Zucman explains that billionaires save almost 100% of their income – so their wealth grows faster than everyone else.

“If we don’t break that spiral, we’re going to see more wealth at the top and more concentration of power,” he explains.

A century ago, the world invented progressive income taxation. Now, Zucman argues, we need progressive wealth taxation.

Watch the full conversation between Zucman and @AaronBastani on our YouTube.

[Future Economy Scotland @FutureEconScot]

If we want a fairer and greener Scotland, we must be honest about how we pay for it.

As members of #TaxJusticeScotland, we’re urging the First Minister to use the powers he has to tax wealth more fairly.

Read the open letter: https://t.co/3hxVpA09M3

[Prof. Katharine Hayhoe @KHayhoe]

This article says climate change is “believed to have played a role” in the UK's extreme heat this week.

As a climate scientist, let me fact-check that.

First, climate change is not a religion. No belief is required. It is about evidence.

And the evidence has been crystal clear for more than two decades: climate change is making heat waves hotter, longer, more frequent and more dangerous.

In fact, science has advanced far beyond saying climate change merely “played a role.” Today, we can quantify how much more likely and how much hotter climate change made a specific event.

Here's the bottom line:

Climate is changing. Humans are responsible. And we are experiencing the impacts now. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that solutions already exist, and the majority of people care - 89%, around the world!

But meaningful action depends on helping people understand not just what is happening: we need to know how it affects our lives (this heat wave being example A today) and what we can do about it.

That’s the opportunity this reporting missed.

https://t.co/vYfPDKcWWf

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

This editorial led by Omer Tayyab situates degrowth as part of a broader world-system transformation, with greater democratic control over production to meet human needs within planetary boundaries. https://t.co/fvgjBmFAD2

[The Resonance @Partisan_12]

British MP Kit Malthouse unleashes on the UK Government: No ceasefire in Lebanon. Daily double-tap killings.

"If this is what they do to British & European citizens on camera... what are they doing to Palestinians off camera?"

"We're all fed up with the gaslighting!"

[RethinkingScotland @RethinkScotland]

Wow

[James Kennedy ✊ @JamesKennedyUK]

There's only ever been one story...and it's the story of Us and Them. We dropped this tune today out of rage at the state of our world & the psycho's who run it. If you feel the same, crank it up & enjoy some bouncy punk rock catharsis ✊
https://t.co/G3eHCIUoou

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

38 million deaths since 1971. “When you consider the scale of the violence and damages, it becomes clear that this system is not something we can continue to accept.”

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

🇧🇴 Protesters from Bolivia’s indigenous movements filled the streets of central La Paz on Monday, with demonstrations stretching across Plaza San Francisco, Plaza Murillo, the Casco Urbano Central, and near the Casa del Pueblo and national legislature.

Photos obtained by Drop Site show massive crowds moving through the capital as security forces repeatedly fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse demonstrators. According to reporting from Drop Site contributor Joseph Bouchard (@GeopolWonk), protesters avoided direct attempts to storm government buildings, instead using decentralized pressure tactics designed to exhaust and scatter police units across multiple flashpoints in the city.

Bouchard reports the demonstrations centered on demands for President Rodrigo Paz to resign, with protesters describing the mobilization as a defense of indigenous sovereignty against political and economic forces they believe are trying to dismantle indigenous movements and disempower Bolivia’s indigenous majority.

[Good Law Project @GoodLawProject]

NHS campaigner reveals how spy-tech giant Palantir tried to secretly hire influencers to smear Good Law Project.

Listen to The Shadow Contract now: https://t.co/YoCZoUP7E9

[Global Intifada @gintifada_en]

@gbsumudflotilla https://t.co/5QAPZNr6sZ

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

This evening I'll be giving a talk at LSE as part of the Miliband Lecture series, together with @BrankoMilan. Join us if you're in London: https://t.co/qWLWN55pWl

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

Dear fellow Germans,
if it were 1930s' and this happened to a Jewish person: would you behave like many of your compatriots at the time, ie do not care and even think that may be right? or, would you do like Hanno and strongly oppose it?
NEVER AGAIN IS NOT A TRIBAL SLOGAN.

[Jason Hickel @jasonhickel]

I was honoured to give the @IDS_UK Annual Lecture this spring, on capitalism, imperialism and ecology. A really wonderful group of researchers, students and staff, thank you all for welcoming me.

The talk and discussion is available online here: https://t.co/C1tY3CedsZ

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

BREAKING! US court ha suspended the US sanctions against me!
As the judge says: "Protecting the Freedom of speech is always just the public interest".
Thanks to my daughter and my husband for stepping up to defend me, and everyone who has helped so far.

Together we are One.