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cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5977980
We are constantly told that solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing poor and working class people in the U.S. do not exist. Meanwhile, billions taxpayer dollars are being used to fund the genocide of Palestinians.
That very money could have ended homelessness in the United States.
Money for our needs, not the U.S.-Israeli war machine!
Kamala got asked directly by a caller on Charlemagne's pod, radio, whatever thing basically "Why the fuck are we sending billions to other countries but people here are struggling?"
Obviously a question borne from a mixture of good logical thinking but lacking substance (or something) to avoid the somewhat reactionary framing around "Why would we ever help anyone?!"
Anyway, she gave the typical non-answer common from politicians and said some shit like "We do both." Then listed a bunch of nothing-burger BS from a memorized list.
No, we don't do both. We could, but we don't. Even within the warmongering liberal mindset, it probably should tingle some brains to think about how we committed to $100B to Taiwan, Israel and Ukraine to continue US imperialism abroad yet if you said even something like "Oh, I love wars! Cool! Can we match that $100B for... new roads? Healthcare? Anything?" You're immediately ignored, scoffed at, called stupid, greedy, "pie in the sky!" and whatever else.
I feel like one of the biggest issues people have beyond their own ignorance and ideological hangups (gained through indoctrination, yet they do maintain the regardless) is... math skills. I was thinking about it and I'm not joking, I think many people, including politicians at times, simply cannot conceive of magnitudes. You see it with billionaires and millionaires. People can't conceive the wealth gap even between those groups much less the gap between themselves, and a millionaire and then a billionaire. And I think it's the same for spending bills. They don't stop and think "$100Billion dollars... wow. How much was the bridge replacement quoted at?... $10M? Hmm. How many bridges and how much road would $100B get?" it's just "Big money pot! Other big money cost!"
And I'm not trying to shit on anyone because I also have to stop and purposely imagine the dollar amounts in my mind and do quick math like "oh this is 1000x more...Jesus" to understand it. It's a similar phenomenon in astronomy.
And I also know this isn't the only problem, but I do believe it is a significant part of why people don't really think all that much about stuff. It's also all purposely out of sight. The news won't talk much about it except to say "Why isn't Congress giving more money right NOW?"
Anyway, fuck Kamala. I'm writing in President Xi in November.
I always point to the fact that a million seconds is 11.5 days and a billion seconds is about 31.6 years