Spending — I finally get it.

I finally get it.

A few days ago, I bought some stuff from a new local bakery, not because I needed what I bought or even because I really wanted it, but because I wanted to support the business, I wanted to help the owner and her small staff stay in business, because so many local businesses in the area’s towns do not survive and our main streets look like ghost towns.

And so I finally got it. How buying something can be seen as supporting someone. Until just a few years ago, I either spent my money on stuff I needed or saved it—to later buy what I really wanted or for “a rainy day” (i.e., the day on which I was laid off from one of the many part-time jobs upon which I depend for self-sustaining income). But now that I have more income than I need and my savings account is reasonably robust, I can afford to do what I did, I can afford to make a purchase in order to support. And I realized that’s how rich people look at spending.

And so now I understand how/why Trump sees over-spending as being overly generous. Rather than, as most of us see it, as buying more stuff than you can afford.

And how/why he sees a trade deficit as charity. Rather than as just buying more from the other person than they buy from you.

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“Banking on Climate Chaos”

“Last year was the hottest year on record, but that did not stop global banks from walking back climate pledges and significantly increasing fossil fuel financing. Over 65 banks across the world, including CIBC, TD Bank, and Royal Bank of Canada in the top 15, have committed $10.8 trillion to fossil fuel financing since 2016 …”

from “Banking on Climate Chaos”
https://thepointer.com/article/2025-06-24/across-canada-politicians-are-forcing-laws-in-the-national-interest-and-dismantling-our-democracy-along-the-way

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How to win the war against terrorism?

Stop doing the shit that makes you a target.

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Mountainhead (on Crave)

Maybe I’ve just been naïve, but I found this movie very frightening. It gets a bit silly about 1.5 hours in, but otherwise …

Via ‘new’ tech that exacerbates to the nth degree everything that’s horrifying about AI and apps that enable fake pictures, videos, and text/news—essentially, lying—it shows
the concentration of power
in the ‘hands’ of four white men
who are puerile, narcissistic, delusional, and so out of touch with their own selves, nothing is personal
who speak in metaphor, as cowards do, afraid to admit what they really mean, what they really do
and in a sort of insider ‘bro’ code, so desperate are they to be considered cool and winners (as measured by net financial worth)…

It’s certainly an argument in favour of a profit ceiling.

And it makes me wonder whether only tech from China, where the pursuit of profit is fettered, should be trusted/used.

Pity our choice seems to be between capitalism and dictatorship (though Trump seems to be marrying the two). Where is ‘pure’ communism? Or even socialism? Sweden?

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An exit strategy (for Trump)

(You seem to be painting yourself into a corner, and you’re 79, and you need an exit strategy …)

‘You know, someone asked me the other day, what am I gonna do next? Well, I’ll tell you. I’m gonna quit. Quit while I’m ahead. That’s the smart thing to do. I’m the richest man on Earth. No one else can say that. I’ve tripled my money in just the last few years. No one else can say that. America’s great. I love America.’

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The trade war

You know, I’m confused about this whole trade war thing. Better a trade war than a nuclear war, for sure, but … Isn’t it good for a country to reduce its dependence on other countries? Isn’t it good to reduce one’s deficit, to balance the budget?

If the States doesn’t want to buy as much oil from us, that’s a good thing! It means we can drill less. We shouldn’t be drilling in the first place. Read Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything.

If they don’t want to buy as much lumber, that’s also a good thing. We can stop cutting. Given the forest fires of 2023 and 2025, don’t we need every single tree that’s standing? To absorb some of the global-warming carbon dioxide that’s filling our atmosphere?

I guess Trump’s decisions are a problem if he’s breaking promises to purchase, especially if we’ve already prepared to sell. But can’t we either just sell to someone else or keep it for ourselves? Maybe then our own prices for gas, wood, etc. could go down.

And/or maybe the problem is the system. Why shouldn’t countries be able to increase or decrease how much they buy and sell from each other? Is the problem that he just suddenly decided to reduce purchases rather than renegotiate trade agreements that bound him to said purchases?

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Trump on trans rights

https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2024/05/10/trump-promises-rollback-on-trans-rights-heres-what-hes-said/

Yes! (Canada, take note!)

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Strip Search – movie by Tom Fontana – highly recommended NOW

I watched this years ago, but happened to watch it again today (it’s on CRAVE), and WOW. Talk about timely. The current political context in the States adds so much to the viewing. Highly recommended.

(Though I the classroom ‘What if?’ bookends are unnecessary and, actually, reduce the film.)

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Trump and the ban on food additives

Love the idea. Wish it were worldwide policy. Should’ve gone further to address the entire food process, banning harmful chemicals in fertilizers, pesticides, etc.

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American workers / Mexican workers / GM

“Think of how handily Detroit’s auto workers were distracted from GM’s greed when they were given Mexican free-trade-zone labor to treat as a scapegoat; the American worker’s enemy isn’t the Mexican worker, it’s the auto manufacture who screws them both.”

from Overclocked, Cory Doctorow

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