NEWSLETTER: You May Disagree With Me on This, But …

We don't have to think the same way all the time, do we?

Two of my recent essays got a surprising amount of pushback from progressive readers. Well, maybe “surprising” isn't the right word. I expected some pushback about this piece, because it challenges something that has become a liberal article of faith: namely, that social media CEO's should decide who can participate in online society and who can't.

In fact, I argue that even the people who have pushed back on that position (like my friend Matt Taibbi) haven't completely understood just how bad it is when big tech censors political speech. It is, as I wrote in my article, “Ma Bell with Mind Control” – a form of thought manipulation that would have been unthinkable in George Orwell’s time.

I was surprised by the flak I got for another essay, “Every Person of Conscience is a Revolutionary Waiting to be Born,” but I guess I shouldn't have been. In it, I argue that millions of trump supporters and centrist- Democrat online trolls dash the kind of people who torment the economic left dash have good hearts and our potential allies in the fight for a better world.

I shouldn't have been surprised because people across the political spectrum have become deeply addicted to hating, and feeling superior to, people they disagree with politically. That attitude may be emotionally satisfying, but it is not the outlook of a successful activist or revolutionary. Victories are won and changes made when we speak to the hearts of others and win them over to our cause.

As always, I welcome your thoughts, even if you disagree with me.

In other news: Although I'll continue to clip interesting news stories for this newsletter, I've also set up a news feed that I will update on a daily basis. It can be found here. Also, I resisted this for many years, but I have finally set up a personal website (www.rjeskow.com).  

inboxes with email.

I finally figured out that we’ve misunderstood Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land” all along. Other short pieces I’ve written recently include How I Met the Queen (I did!),  Dream Houses of the Future of the Past, and Buddhist with a Gun.

In other news:

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Should We Block the Sun? Scientists Say the Time Has Come to Study It. -- New York Times.

Hey, what could go wrong?

Maine Should Take this Chance to Defund the Local Intelligence Fusion Center. -- Electronic Freedom Foundation.

I’ll be writing more about this.

A ‘System of Espionage’ Reigned at Ikea, a French Prosecutor Charges -- New York Times

I hate a corporate spy ring – especially when you have to put it together yourself.

Costly specialty drugs make up 40% of 2018 employer drug spending despite few prescriptions -- Fierce Healthcare

Predatory capitalism preys on its own.

People With Mental Health Conditions Are at High Risk for COVID-19, So Why Aren't They Being Prioritized? -- Healthline

It’s certainly a good question.

Senator Ossoff Drops a Bombshell: “The 12 or 13 Largest Banks” Got the Trillions from the Fed’s Repo Loans Last Year -- Wall Street on Parade

And nobody noticed.

California Faces ‘Critically Dry Year' -- Ecowatch

Hey, what could go wrong?

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That’s all for now. Thanks for reading – Richard