So much to discuss, but the main threads here are how big money and corporate monopolies have rigged both our trade agreements and our political system against working people.
At the state level in West Virginia I talk about how Governor Patrick Morrisey seems to endure humiliation after humiliation from getting snubbed on flood relief in Southern West Virginia to getting “fat-shamed” last week by RFK Jr.
Speaking of RFK Jr. and the food dye ban in West Virginia: I want to be crystal clear, I want to get toxins out of our consumer products. But I think we need to do so by enforcing a strong precautionary principle that bans the sale of products until the products are proven safe.
It seems to me that the current law would still allow a corporation to leak Yellow #5 directly into the Kanawha River and people’s drinking water from a poorly regulated above-ground storage tank. I want them to address the dozens of drinking water violations so that people can drink their damn tap water!
On another note about West Virginia flood relief, I talk briefly about the community organizing and mutual aid that Blue Jay Rising is doing in the coalfields, putting both the state government and FEMA to shame, in my opinion. Learn more about that at this short documentary produced by 100 Days In Appalachia:
The real problem with our regulatory system is not that we have too many regulations and rules — it’s that the rules and regulations have been written by corporate lobbyists, hired by the most profitable companies, to ensure that our political system re-enforces their profits.
I talk a little bit about this bill in context of Jefferson County, West Virginia WV House passes amended version of Morrisey’s microgrid, data center bill sans requirements for coal. This just seems to be another in a long line of bad ideas from Charleston that have the potential to completely undercut Jefferson County’s thoroughbred horse economy, and I talk about some of the nitty gritty of the thoroughbred industry and it’s relationship to the casino in Jefferson County.
I also give a crash course on how corporations and companies went from historically being legal fictions chartered by people breaking bread together to do business, to today where now they are “persons” protected by our U.S. Constitution with unlimited speech via profits, and how that naturally has lead to a corporate capture of our political system.
Finally, I read off from a conversation I had with Elon Musk’s LLM “Grok” on the prompt: “what legislative actions would be most appropriate for West Virginia to secure the rights laid out in the 21st century Economic Bill of Rights?” I have to say, these proposals are really quite moderate, and I hope that the fact that the messenger is Grok means that maybe some Republican legislators can accept that these are reasonable proposals… I dare to dream!
There’s a lot more in the video, so I hope you check out the whole thing and let us know what resonates with YOU!
And finally, a reminder to find a rally near you on April 5, 2025 and make sure your voice is heard! You matter, your neighbors matter, and collectively WE matter a hell of a lot more than any corporate bottom line or half-baked idea from Elon Musk of what civilization should be.
Onwards,
Troy
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