2020-05-11: Social Media Postees

Please be social by posting these 'POSTEES' on social media! (Copy the text of the postee below, then paste it on social media and the story images will also appear.)

Mass Unemployment Is a Failure of Capitalism
Richard D. Wolff | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-11
The difficulties caused to workers by record unemployment during the pandemic are a product of capitalism. Most of the time, employers decide to hire or fire workers depending on which choice maximizes employers' profits. Profit, not the full employment of workers nor of means of production, is "the bottom line" of capitalism and thus of capitalists. That is how the system works. Capitalists are rewarded when their profits are high and punished when they are not. It's nothing personal; it's just business.
counterpunch.org/2020/05/11/mass-unemployment-is-a-failure-of-capitalism/

Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, America's Billionaires Thrive and Prosper
Lawrence Wittner | counterpunch.org | 2020-05-11
Although most Americans currently face hard times, with unemployment surging to the levels of the Great Depression and enormous numbers of people sick or dying from the coronavirus pandemic, the nation's super-rich remain a notable exception. Financially, they are doing remarkably well. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, between March 18 and April 28,…
counterpunch.org/2020/05/11/amid-the-coronavirus-pandemic-americas-billionaires-thrive-and-prosper/

Essential For Survival: The Need Of Global Solidarity
The People's Collective | indybay.org | 2020-05-11
People are dying, every day. Many people are dying too early. People are dying through war, poverty, disease, lack of healthcare or lack of food. People are dying of starvation. Now, in the year 2020, a new disease is spreading around the globe, killing hundreds of thousands and affecting everybody's life.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/11/18832973.php

Right-wing ideologues in Germany demand sacrifice of human lives in coronavirus pandemic
wsws.org | 2020-05-11
Three-quarters of a century after the end of the most brutal war in world history, the German ruling elite is returning to authoritarian and ultimately fascist policies to enforce militarism and inequality.
www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/05/11/rech-m11.html

6 months after the civic-military coup in Bolivia, Evo Morales denounces setbacks
Peoples Dispatch | peoplesdispatch.org | 2020-05-11
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales pointed out that "fascism and racism have been reborn" in Bolivia and that "the de-facto government itself is promoting inequality"
peoplesdispatch.org/2020/05/11/6-months-after-the-civic-military-coup-in-bolivia-evo-morales-denounces-setbacks/

The welfare state – anchor of stability in the crisis
Joseph Woss | indybay.org | 2020-05-11
Work, income and wealth must be distributed more fairly, and a number of "rules of the game" in our society must be changed. The upheaval forced by the crisis will hopefully force even hard-boiled defenders of the existing to rethink – if only because otherwise dramatic distribution conflicts threaten.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/11/18832972.php

Nuclear Weapons: Stopping the War That No One Wants (livestream)
The Commonwealth Club | indybay.org | 2020-05-11
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/11/18832982.php

Celebrating 50 Years of San Francisco Pride (webinar)
The Commonwealth Club | indybay.org | 2020-05-11
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/08/18832922.php

What Does Politics Demand of Black Women? w/ Rep. Barbara Lee & others (livestream)
The Commonwealth Club | indybay.org | 2020-05-11
Online via livestream…
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/10/18832970.php

Trumka proposes universal federal jobs payments
Mark Gruenberg | peoplesworld.org | 2020-05-11
WASHINGTON –Sticking to a here-and-now solution to coronavirus-caused joblessness, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka proposed the federal government guarantee paid employment

Real Unemployment is 35.7%; The Internationale
Workingclass Is The Essential Class | indybay.org | 2020-05-11
The real unemployment rate for April 2020 as of May 8, 2020 is 35.7% Peak unemployment during the 1930s Great Depression was 24.9%. April job losses were 20.5 million, preceded by March's job losses of 30 million. California's unemployment claims were 4 million in the past 7 weeks. San Francisco's unemployed to date are 17,500. The economic crisis preceded the pandemic which is accelerating the economic crisis of the capitalist profit motive. Only a serious labor movement capable of carrying out a general strike to abolish the profit motive can end this Great Depression of the 21st Century.
indybay.org/newsitems/2020/05/08/18832923.php

Elon Musk resorts to insults in RUSSIAN to defend capitalism
rt.com | 2020-05-10
As Elon Musk sues Californian authorities for stopping a Tesla factory from reopening, he has found a somewhat novel way of dealing with his critics

Congress Members Who Invest in Real Estate Got a Tax Break in the Stimulus Bill
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-10
Congress slipped a provision into the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill that will save wealthy real estate investors billions in taxes. Some lawmakers stand to profit from the legislation meant to weather the impact of the coronavirus pandemic that has killed tens of thousands and left tens of millions out of work. | Members of Congress invest more cash in real estate than any other industry. That's been the case every ye…
truthout.org/articles/congress-members-who-invest-in-real-estate-got-a-tax-break-in-the-stimulus-bill/

New York pandemic spending favors wealthy over workers
Vincent Tsai and Camden Goetz | liberationnews.org | 2020-05-10
New York politicians have recently barreled forward with plans for massive cuts to public spending.
liberationnews.org/new-york-pandemic-spending-favors-wealthy-over-workers/

The U.S. Response to Covid-19 Has Lavished Wealth on the Rich
Miles Kampf-Lassin | commondreams.org | 2020-05-09
Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO and already the richest person in the world, saw his fortune inflate by $24 billion in the first three months of the year, a surge the report's authors say is "unprecedented in the history of modern markets." (Photo: Getty Images) | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/views-article/thumbs/bezos_0_0.jpeg
commondreams.org/views/2020/05/09/us-response-covid-19-has-lavished-wealth-rich?cd-origin=rss

Minnesota: Advance a People's Agenda!
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-05-09
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Coalition to Advance a People's Agenda. | Working and oppressed people are facing the biggest crisis we've experienced in generations. The government's disastrous mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic combined with deepening unemployment and economic collapse are throwing millions of working people into crisis. So far the government is doing what they usually do

Employers in Ohio Urged to Snitch on Workers Who Stay Home to Avoid COVID-19
Staff | truthout.org | 2020-05-09
Ohio officials are encouraging employers to report what they've designated "Covid-19 fraud" as the state begins reopening some industries. Workers who refuse to report to work in light of the pandemic, which has killed more than 1,300 Ohio residents so far, can be reported via a government website and have their unemployment benefits taken away. | According to the Washington Post, less than a…
truthout.org/articles/employers-in-ohio-urged-to-snitch-on-workers-who-stay-home-to-avoid-covid-19/

Hunger rises dramatically in America
Yves Smith | mronline.org | 2020-05-09
Given the dramatic rise in unemployment, cuts in hours, and sharp decline in gig economy work, it isn't surprising that hunger is becoming more common, particularly among families with children. Nearly half the U.S. couldn't withstand a $400 emergency, and most households that have taken hits are seeing bigger income losses than that.
mronline.org/2020/05/09/hunger-rises-dramatically-in-america/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hunger-rises-dramatically-in-america

White Unemployment Rose More than Black Unemployment and No One Notices
Dean Baker | cepr.net | 2020-05-09
One of the most striking items in a very striking employment report yesterday is that white unemployment has actually risen slightly more than black unemployment in this crisis. White unemployment has risen from 3.1 percent in February to 14.2 percent in April, a rise of 11.1 percentage points. Black unemployment rose from 5.8 percent to …
cepr.net/white-unemployment-rose-more-than-black-unemployment-and-no-one-notices/

Unemployment highest since the Great Depression
Fight Back | fightbacknews.org | 2020-05-09
San José, CA – On Friday, May 8, the U.S. Department of Labor released their monthly Employment Report for the month of April. The report said that the official unemployment rate soared from 4.4% in March to 14.7% in April, a jump of more than 10% in just one month. This is the highest monthly unemployment rate on records going back to 1948, and the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s when unemployment peaked at about 25%. | As usual, oppressed nationality workers (African American, Chicano and Latino, and Asian American) were hardest hit. The unemployment rate for Chicanos and Latinos hit a record high…
fightbacknews.org/2020/5/9/unemployment-highest-great-depression

Amid the Coronavirus Pandemic, America's Billionaires Thrive and Prosper
Lawrence Wittner | zcomm.org | 2020-05-08
Although most Americans currently face hard times, with unemployment surging to the levels of the Great Depression and enormous numbers of people sick or dying from the coronavirus pandemic, the nation's super-rich remain a notable exception. Financially, they are doing remarkably well. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, between March 18 and April 28, Read…
zcomm.org/zblogs/amid-the-coronavirus-pandemic-americas-billionaires-thrive-and-prosper/

Pandemic Causes Loss of 20,500,000 Jobs, Unemployment at 14.7 Percent
Matt Sedlar | cepr.net | 2020-05-08
Temporary layoffs make up 78.3 percent of unemployment. As expected, the April jobs report showed a catastrophic hit to the labor market stemming from the pandemic. The economy lost another 20,500,000 jobs in April after losing 870,000 jobs in March. This is an order of magnitude higher than any previous two-month decline on record. The …
cepr.net/jobs-2020-05/

Ohio Government invites employers to secretly report "work refusal" due to coronavirus
Eds. | mronline.org | 2020-05-08
AS OHIO BEGINS to ease restrictions and reopen its economy, the state is inviting employers to report employees who don't show up for work out of concerns about the coronavirus for possible unemployment fraud. This means that workers who stay home because of concerns about unsafe conditions at work may be investigated and potentially stripped …
mronline.org/2020/05/08/ohio-government-invites-employers-to-secretly-report-work-refusal-due-to-coronavirus/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ohio-government-invites-employers-to-secretly-report-work-refusal-due-to-coronavirus

Why It's Wrong (and Racist) to Blame Covid-19 on Chinese 'Wet Markets'
Joshua Cho | fair.org | 2020-05-07
The New York Times ( 1/25/20) says the eating of unusual animals like turtles and snakes is "driven as much by the desire to flaunt wealth as by a mix of superstition and belief about the health benefits of wildlife." Whereas people eat frog legs at Coney Island because, well, they like the way they taste. | The stigmatization of Asian people and their culture as "inferior" or "exotic" isn't a ne…
fair.org/home/why-its-wrong-and-racist-to-blame-covid-19-on-chinese-wet-markets/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=why-its-wrong-and-racist-to-blame-covid-19-on-chinese-wet-markets

Senior UN official calls for universal basic income to tackle growing inequality
news.un.org | 2020-05-06
The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health crisis, but it is also proving to be an economic disaster for huge numbers of people worldwide. A senior UN official with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is calling for countries to provide citizens with a universal basic income, to help the millions who have lost their jobs, because of measures to curb the virus, combined with increasing levels of inequality.
news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2020/05/1063312

Pompeo Likens Iran To Nazis On 2nd Anniversary Of US Nuclear Deal Exit
Zero Hedge | iranian.com | 2020-05-11
Perhaps attempting to ensure the anti-Iran 'maximum pressure' campaign remains front and center, even in the midst of a pandemic and historic unemployment, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has resorted to the one of the most common

'About As Evil As It Gets': As State Reopens, Ohio Urges Employers to Snitch on Workers Who Stay Home Due to Covid-19 Concerns
Julia Conley, staff writer | commondreams.org | 2020-05-08
Ohio officials are encouraging employers to report what they've designated "Covid-19 fraud" as the state begins reopening some industries. Workers who refuse to report to work in light of the pandemic can be reported via a government website and have their unemployment benefits taken away. | www.commondreams.org/sites/default/files/styles/cd_special_coverage/public/headline/thumbs/gettyimages-1207245537_1.jpg
commondreams.org/news/2020/05/08/about-evil-it-gets-state-reopens-ohio-urges-employers-snitch-workers-who-stay-home?cd-origin=rss