• lanolinoil@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        end citizens united – corporations aren’t people

        end lobbying so shell oil doesn’t have 10000000X time and money to affect the government as a person does.

        Quit assigning good/bad labels to companies that operate within the law and furious pursue laws that make us more equal, richer and safer overall

        ???

        profit

        • MartianRecon@lemmus.org
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          5 months ago

          Yeah, but how are you going to realistically do that?

          I’d love to know. Because I hate citizens united. But what do you propose people do about this?

          • lanolinoil@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            I don’t know – It feels like we should be able to use the internet to make grass roots new and hard to corrupt political movements but I don’t see that happening at all.

            There’s also the 250 year empire rule which we’re at now against stability with the current system.

            I honestly have no answer other than a “vote or die” but we all know that doesn’t work.

            • MartianRecon@lemmus.org
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              5 months ago

              The answer is you vote or we lose democracy. That’s the simple end-all be-all answer here.

              Biden might not be what every single leftist wants, but I guaranfuckingtee that it won’t just be illegal aliens in his camps. It will be you as well.

              I personally don’t want to live in Gilead. I don’t want to fight in a civil war. I’d rather much prefer we vote in Biden, let the Silent/Boomers die off, so we can fix this shit.

              • lanolinoil@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                yeah but that just kicks the can down the road, not that I disagree or anything. I don’t know of any real solution.

                The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.

                • Julius Nyerere
                • MartianRecon@lemmus.org
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                  5 months ago

                  Okay so what’s your option then?

                  Because sitting out wont do anything, and acting like nothing is happening for people is also not doing any good.

      • Refurbished Refurbisher@lemmy.sdf.org
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        5 months ago

        Force all companies to be worker-owned cooperatives, Richard Wolff-style.

        Also the stock market doesn’t really need to exist. It’s just gambling with extra steps, and the people who win at that game end up having control over way more than one person should ever have. Also goes along with the above, which is complete worker ownership over companies.

        • Mango@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          😁

          I just kinda put together recent adages that make sense together. Sometimes I feel like I think the way most people expect AI does.

          I’m the guy who came up with the phrase “if buying isn’t owning, pirating isn’t stealing.”

          I might have a thing for putting 2 and 2 together to get 5.

          • lolrightythen@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Simplicity is powerful. I’ve mumbled a few things that turned out to be far more meaningful than I intended.

            Not you, though. A Lazer of human consciousness, that’s you!

            • Mango@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              😁

              I’m pretty super flattered right now!

              I mostly expect people to just not believe me when I claim I coined a viral phrase. I actually keep links to the source and stuff. Credit or none, I’m happy about it every time I see someone say it! I imagine it’s how people feel who make open source software and this mentality is what defeats the capitalist notion that nobody would contribute for free.

              • lolrightythen@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                Dad once told me that money can’t buy happiness, but poverty can buy misery. Whatever that’s worth.

                Good job, yo. And thanks. We need to share our fresh, creative ideas.

                • Mango@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  If we weren’t so fixed on concentrating wealth and hoarding tools and IP, we could pretty well eliminate poverty. More can be made when everyone can access tools to be productive. There’s just always the issue of how people won’t CARE to nicely maintain things they aren’t claiming ownership of. High economy of scale tools like flexographic presses need to be carefully maintained and it’s best done with personal interest at stake it seems.

    • lanolinoil@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      isn’t that the point? The corruption has tricked us to believing they can regulate themselves or are even not amoral about social issues. Companies make profit – that is their singular goal. The laws and regulations control their behavior, not ‘good will’ or whatever we pretend motivates individuals

    • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      It’s money. Every other form of economy has also exploited people for gain.

      • WhatIsThePointAnyway@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Money existed before capitalism. Capitalism started in the 1700s. Money far predates capitalism. Plus, my comment is that capitalism must be regulated by outside regulators like governments. Conservatives have pushed deregulation forever and it’s made things worse. Capitalism worked far better in the heavy regulation days after WW2.

        • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          Money existed before capitalism. Capitalism started in the 1700s. Money far predates capitalism.

          Yes, thank you explaining what I said. Mucho appreciato

        • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          If that’s what you want to do, go for it. I didn’t say anything like that.
          I’m just pointing out it’s not capitalism.

    • zabadoh@ani.social
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      5 months ago

      In this case, I can believe that Chiquita didn’t set out to finance the AUC, but was unfortunate in that their banana plantations fell into AUC-controlled territory, and therefore were extorted for protection money.

      It’s like if I owned an Italian restaurant, the mafia comes in and extorts me for protection money, then the feds come and arrest me for financing the mafia. What was I supposed to do?

    • Zron@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Implying they ever stopped.

      You can’t think all of those private military contractors get all of their money from Uncle Sam.

      Corporations have been using mercenaries for hundreds of years, they’ve just refined their PR departments lately.

  • Fidel_Cashflow@lemmy.ml
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    5 months ago

    The fine? $38 million.

    Chiquita Brands International’s profits in 2023? $3.1 billion.

    That’s a slap on the wrist if anything. Just the cost of doing business I guess.

    • dornad@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      To put that into context:

      if all you had was a $100 USD Note, the equivalent of that “slap on the wrist” fine would be $1.23

  • Cosmos7349@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Damn that’s crazy. I’ve never heard of bananas being associated with violence… anytime in the last 120-140 years…

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    Again?

    At this point it’s not a surprise, it’s when asked to name paramilitary financers, first name that comes up is chiquita.

    PEOPLE DIED

    PEOPLE NEED TO BE JAILED OVER THIS

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldM
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    5 months ago

    As someone who hates both bananas and corporations financing death squads, I consider this a win.

    • dornad@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      For Colombians who suffered at the hand of the guerrilla-paramilitary conflict, it was not 70 years ago.

      The paramilitary group mentioned in the article, AUC, disbanded around 2006-2008.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    5 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    A Florida jury on Monday found banana company Chiquita Brands International liable for financing the Colombian paramilitary group Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC).

    The jury in the civil case, in federal court in the Southern District of Florida, found that “Chiquita knowingly provided substantial assistance to the AUC to a degree sufficient to create a foreseeable risk of harm to others.”

    Chiquita, one of the world’s largest banana producers, has been ordered to pay a total of $38.3 million to the families of eight victims of the AUC, which was a far-right paramilitary group that was designated a terrorist organization by the US.

    In 2007, Chiquita pleaded guilty to making over 100 payments to the AUC totaling over $1.7 million despite the group being designated a terrorist organization.

    An unnamed company executive had told the Justice Department that the payments had been made under the threat of violence, according to the release.

    In a social media post, Colombia’s president, Gustavo Petro, reacted to the American jury’s Tuesday decision and asked why the same ruling was not made in his home country.


    The original article contains 414 words, the summary contains 181 words. Saved 56%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!