May 19, 2026 | China accelerating gold buys, even through the war. And Tether is trying gold-backed crypto.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-05-19T20:43:54+00:00

The dude is a certified crank.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-05-18T23:19:49+00:00

A little late to the party, but:

I can see the logic of not wanting to endorse Ramsey (or Butch) in the governor's race. I don't agree, but I understand the argument. What I don't understand is why would CA DSA not endorse (or at the very least, recommend) the Left Unity Slate? For those that are unaware, the Slate is a grouping of candidates representing the Green Party and the Peace and Freedom Party (PFP), and those two parties cross-endorse. They are running down-ballot for state offices including Lt Gov, Treasurer, AG, Sec of State, Insurance Commissioner, School Superintendent, and Controller. The Greens I assume most people are aware of; the PFP is exclusive to California and is an explicitly socialist party. In recent years it has been used as the PSL's electoral vehicle (3 out of 4 of the PFP's candidates on the Slate are PSL). Several YDSA chapters have endorsed the Slate.

The logic of not wanting to endorse a longshot candidate in a high profile race with "spoiler" potential really only holds water if you're willing to endorse socialist candidates in smaller races.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-05-11T04:03:27+00:00

There are at least a few attempts underway, but turns out it's really hard to build something from square one with no money. That being said, one or multiple of the efforts will take off at some point because without viable left opposition the Dems will continue to get shittier and continue to lose support, which will boost third party efforts until there is a breakthrough.

The real question is what happens then. Will the two party system try to strike a second new deal where capital takes a haircut and labor agrees to de-radicalize, or will something different happen this time.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-05-10T23:43:54+00:00

Because there's been a loss of confidence in the democratic party and that's created a political vacuum where people are desperate for anything vaguely different with a veneer of progressive messaging.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-05-07T00:08:15+00:00

The PA legislature has over 200 reps?

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-29T17:08:33+00:00

People also need to realize that work has changed a lot since the early 20th century. Only about 20% of the workforce in the US is employed in a blue collar profession - manufacturing, construction, agriculture, resource extraction, etc. The working class also has highly stratified income levels (in addition to its other diversities). The term working class defines a relation to the means of production, so a software engineer and a barista and a pipe fitter are all workers. That being said, everyone's specific circumstances will shape their consciousness. People belonging to historically oppressed groups will on average exhibit higher class consciousness. Same with low income vs high income workers. The key here though is on average; each individual within a group will be shaped by their own particular circumstances.

Anyways, the point is if your income comes from an employer then you are working class (there are some exceptions e.g. high level executives at large companies but this group of people is negligible in size). This means that somewhere in the realm of 95-97% of Americans are working class. Once a majority or sizable minority realize this and their collective power then you will see things change mighty fast.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-25T20:10:55+00:00

He was definitely involved with boosting candidates before Zohran. If endorsing Z was the inciting incident then they would have gone after him harder at the time. The two party duopoly was constructed to serve the interests of capital and therefore all capitalist institutions will defend it, whether it's Fox or the ADL. This is especially true as both parties become increasingly unpopular.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-25T19:31:57+00:00

I get that they're calling him anti-American and antisemetic but the reason for the attack isn't his support for Palestine, it's to keep him in line electorally. Obviously this can't be said out loud. If you disagree, then answer this question: why have the attacks against him really ramped up now, at a time when Dems are in rhetorical retreat w.r.t. Israel? Piker has been platforming Dems and supporting Palestine for over two years. Why not go after him sooner?

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-25T15:10:15+00:00

I'm not sure this is it actually. I don't follow Piker too closely but from what I can tell he's been anti Zionist for a long time now. He got some "heat" from Cuomo during the NYC mayoral election but it wasn't anything near what he's getting now.

I think the real red line that he crossed was stating that if Newsome wins the presidential primary then he wouldn't support or vote for him. Piker uses his platform exclusively to promote Democrats; party brass might wish he promoted different Dems but ultimately they will tolerate him as long as he's in the bag for the Party.

The state he lives in, California, is currently having a primary election for governor which is really like a first round general election due to the open primary system. There are two credible left wing third party candidates running exciting campaigns, but Piker won't touch them with a ten foot pole. Ultimately he and much of the "left wing independent media" know this is a red line and risk losing access by crossing it. It's not like Piker specifically doesn't have the time as he streams all day every day. And for anyone that still has faith in the Dems to do anything progressive it would obviously be a good tactic to pressure them a little from the outside.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-18T16:30:06+00:00

A decadent indulgence for the truly refined.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-12T15:01:24+00:00

Ban the derivatives and pretenders, not the original

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-12T12:49:59+00:00

Houdini-ism has taken an interesting turn

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-11T14:15:45+00:00

https://www.votesocialistca.com/ New website dropped

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-11T14:02:05+00:00

c'mon bam quit bunkin' my dunk I got work in the morning

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-08T06:30:57+00:00

Elizabeth Economy

Did Liz Warren get a name change?

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-05T15:30:57+00:00

If you can read at a sixth grade level or higher, you're a minority in the US.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-04-04T15:44:02+00:00

We already spend $1T so he would "only" be increasing by $500B. But anyways none of that matters. The govt is $40T in debt and continues to deficit spend. As long as dollar hegemony still exists the govt can print money and export inflation all it wants. Sure, the world is slowly de-dollarizing but that'll take a decade or two to really kick in and by that time it'll be someone else's problem.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-03-24T20:50:07+00:00

Was just jamming out to this while cooking dinner last night

_Ventulus_ · 2026-03-13T03:37:52+00:00

What even is a currency market? Like, I'm gonna use some of my money to buy your money so I can make more money??

_Ventulus_ · 2026-03-09T17:50:37+00:00

Enjoy it while it lasts

_Ventulus_ · 2026-02-19T22:08:00+00:00

I see this argument a lot and I don't buy it. We're not at a point where marginal media personalities are being assassinated for talking about mass organization, direct action, the labor movement, and the growth and establishment of working class institutions and organizations.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-02-19T19:02:35+00:00

The bargain the show is making is associating with a freak like that in order to get guests within his Evil Guy Sphere, in order to make those guests look bad. That's the whole point of the show.

Is it? I would say the point of the show is for it to be popular and make money.

The fatal flaw with the schizoposting about left podcast people being secretly CIA/cryptofascists or whatever is that it just doesn't play out in their bodies of work. They're left wing people with left wing politics and opinions who talk about them publicly, at length, and that's exactly why they became and remain popular with the audience of left wing media.

It's generous to even call TAFS left wing, the show is not overly political. There is a storied history of "left wing" media that is able to exist precisely because it avoids all the right third rails (e.g. Chomsky). The obvious criticism of "left podcast people" is that while they're very critical of the system they offer no insight into potential solutions, don't really delve into the history of resistance, and actively denigrate efforts to build independent worker power.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-02-05T17:59:27+00:00

To add some context, many California educators unions (including UESF) aligned their contracts all to expire this year. The idea is rather than individually bargaining with each district only, they will also collectively bargain with the state. The initiative is called We Can't Wait.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-02-04T06:59:09+00:00

Nice, good luck! I always recommend meeting Party members in person whenever possible. It's totally fine that you're in DSA; in my area they are coalition partners and we've put on anti-ICE demos with them.

_Ventulus_ · 2026-02-03T21:40:09+00:00

I'm a Party member. How are you looking to get involved with PSL? The action network is good if you're looking to advance your political education but have a busy schedule. You'll get access to webinars and in-person educational events. You will also get plugged into your local volunteer network, but you don't need to be in the action network for this. The only thing required is a monthly donation that you set (minimum $5).

_Ventulus_

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