how did this happen?

High control groups will trawl astrology communities looking for the despondent directionless mfers with few community ties. This trick works even better on college campuses, which are full of despondent directionless mfers with few community ties.

Let's say you owe a private hospital ten thousand dollars, but you have very few assets, so they're pretty sure they're never getting any of that back. There's ninety nine other people who also each owe the hospital ten thousand dollars. (It doesn't have to be a hospital; any debt can be sold this way.) The hospital has shit to do and the low chances of you paying them mean it's an unnecessary drain on their time and resources to hound you all for it. But they can get *some* money, by selling your debt to a third party.

Let's say the sell each ten thousand dollar debt for ten dollars (I'm making all these numbers up for simplicity). So a third party gives the hospital one thousand dollars, and now all hundred of you owe that third party ten thousand instead! You're in the clear with the hospital, you owe it to these guys now! And their job is to hound and harrass you for the money you owe. If one of you pays up more than a thousand dollars, you've covered their initial investment. These guys are gambling on the likelihood that enough of you can pay your debts that you make it worth the time they spend tracking you and harrassing you.

Or, instead of trying to get the money out of you, they can just... decide you don't owe them. Why not? They own the debt. They can fork out a thousand bucks, buy a million in debt, and forgive it. That's what these guys did. (This is also a favourite move of John Oliver; if you ever see headlines about John Oliver forgiving debt, this is what he's doing). A small payment can take a massive weight off the shoulders of a lot of struggling people.

In countries with universal healthcare, this is a non-issue during a strike. Our access to healthcare isn't tied to working. It's an unconditional right for each and everyone of us.

I’m not doing the Thing, but if I were to do the Thing, what would be the first bit to tackle?

eg: I’m having trouble washing up. I’ll start by just getting all the dishes into one place and emptying the drying rack.

Often, you might find that the first bit was what you were stuck on, and now you’ve done that, you feel ready to do the whole Thing. But if not, that’s fine, you’ve set things up to be easier later! Similarly:

What can I do to set things up for when I’m ready?

eg: I need to apply for a job vacancy I’ve seen. That feels really overwhelming and I don’t have the energy right now. I will create an email with the correct address in and open the files I’ll need for tomorrow.

Half-done is half more than you had before, and it will make things easier when you come back. Reduce the friction and complexity as much as you can.

Will this task actually be any easier if I do it later?

eg: I need to re-spray my waterproofs. It’s sunny today but it’s going to be raining all week, so it would actually be easier to do it now so I can do it outside and let them air. ‘Kay FINE, guess I will.

or: I want to make progress on my Creative Endeavour. I’m having a lot of trouble focussing at the moment but tomorrow I’ll be better rested and my Creative Group will be meeting. It will genuinely be easier then so I should stop worrying about it for now.

Sometimes, you realise that it would legitimately be easier to do a task later. Other times, you realise it would suck more to put it off, and that can help give you a nudge to do it sooner. It also helps reframe it in your head from “will I do the Thing?” to “when will I do the Thing?”

join a union

this is such a good interview because he’s basically narrating the reason why the working class is actually the most powerful force in society. by striking and shutting down production, the writers are showing that they are truly the profit producers because when they withdraw their labor profits don’t get made. and by withdrawing their labor they flex their power as the gears grind to a halt.

it can be the same for climate change if the same tactics were applied instead of trying to always approach things from an individualist or consumer activist standpoint. fossil fuel workers withdrawing their labor and inviting other unions and members of public to join and/or support the pickets in solidarity would actually grind the system to a halt. manufacturing workers withdrawing their labor and demanding their workplaces be refitted to manufacture parts for renewable energy could tip the scales.