I know that I've posted a lot today, but this is one of the best writings I've ever read. Strongly, strongly, strongly recommended.

BBC
US judge orders release of ex-intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, held for refusing to testify in Wikileaks probe
Article, Comments

Democratic Left - Spring 2020

we must remember that that feminism is not a cut-and-dry political program. It is a political struggle. We often forget or elide this fact, which results in confusion all around. Characterizing feminism as a political struggle highlights the obvious but essential point, that women often have radically divergent political worldviews.

If we think that capitalism is, with some tweaks here and there, the most just and appealing system, the best way to organize the planet, our feminism will reflect this worldview. This feminist struggle will orbit around goals to give women opportunities and rewards within capitalism equal to those accorded men. This feminism will strive to realize conditions that allow each woman to compete in the marketplace and to maximize their human capital.

jacobinmag.com/2020/03/feminism-socialism-anti-capitalism-working-class/

official Chelsea fundraiser
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-chelsea-pay-her-court-fines

there is strong, direct link between what the major political parties spend and the percentage of votes they win – far stronger than all the airy dismissals of the role of money in elections would ever lead you to think, and certainly stronger than anything you read in your political science class.

https://evonomics.com/evidence-that-shows-how-money-shapes-amerian-elections-lynn-parramore/

Mutual Aid is wholesome as fuck

Check out for the list here for the Mutual Aid Initiatives in your local area!

itsgoingdown.org/autonomous-groups-are-mobilizing-mutual-aid-initiatives-to-combat-the-coronavirus/

a thread on building mutual aid programs:
twitter.com/IGD_News/status/1238266465788276736

The coup shattered the work of the most progressive government in Haiti’s history. In the period of governance by Fanmi Lavalas, the party founded by President Aristide, more schools were built than the total constructed between 1804 and 1994. Twenty percent of the country’s budget was mandated for education. Women’s groups and popular organizations helped coordinate a literacy campaign that brought over 320,000 people, mostly women, into literacy classes in over 20,000 literacy centers. The minimum wage was doubled. A powerful initiative was undertaken to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Health clinics were established in the poorest communities. The government also launched an aggressive campaign to collect unpaid taxes owed by the wealthy elite. Aristide disbanded the notorious Haitian military, and empowered women’s and victims’ groups to bring cases against the military for its use of rape as a political weapon.

www.counterpunch.org/2020/03/12/the-final-chapter-has-still-not-been-written-remembering-the-2004-coup-in-haiti/

It would be absurd to deny that trade-offs exist. But the idea that they are a universal feature of the world – that as a rule, we are forced to choose between two economic goals; or between an economic and a social, political, or environmental goal – is often just assumed in economics with little evidence. Take the purported trade-off between equality and economic growth when an IMF study found that, if anything, the relationship goes in the opposite direction. Or, as per Mankiw’s environmental example, consider the many studies showing that reducing pollution can increase productivity and reduce health costs. Economist Anna Stansbury has listed a number of other counterexamples, such as criminal justice reforms, where efficiency and equity are complementary. Yet standard economics embodies the idea that the economy and the government cannot bear the burden of catering to human needs through its focus on scarcity.

www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/take-care-people-and-economy-will-take-care-itself/