Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/10/16/midwestern-dickens.html
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My country is truly full of grifty, cruel people.
How does one teach basic human decency? We sorely need a college for that, and empathy.
If only it were possible to teach these things to adults
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Greed begets greed, cruelty begets cruelty.
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A new Coffeyville Massacre; only this time it is appalling. Corporate America is so cruel.
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I wonder how many of the people suffering under these wealth extracting practices voted for the people who put them in place. The republican party has done a remarkable job of convincing people to vote against their own best interest.
Those republicans would say that the dems have done the same in convincing me to vote against my best interest except they fail to recognize that I see the greater good as being in my best interest too.
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Having lived there for several years I felt there was a reason all the zip codes started with 666 … the place is hell. When I read Dark Tower and they talked about Gage Park all I could do is nod and think yeah there was something off about this place and It’s gotta be super natural.
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Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner.
As long as the “people in place” make sure that the blame is on the brown-skins and not their ever-expanding bank balances, the middle class will keep getting hit and I’ll keep feeling %0 sympathy for (R) voters.
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Kansas has a Democrat governor. Hopefully she can fix it.
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Brown skins in Kansas? Kansas City maybe, either one.
Malanin challenged folks are reaping this whrillwind.
Meanwhile…
So remember folks. The reason this is happening is because the greedy people want all the money. Fuck you for wanting to live in their world. (thanks to my wife for the John Oliver link)
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What’s the point of debtors prison. If someone owes me a debt, and I cut them off from all possible avenues of making money. What expectation do I have that the debt will get paid? Close to zero.
Liens, garnishing, etc are reasonable final steps. The first steps are obviously sending frequent notices and making calls to the debtor. Working out a payment plan with the debtor is not only an ethical solution, it’s far more successful than throwing them in a cell at the taxpayer’s expense.
(obviously we should have a healthcare system where those who cannot afford to pay are covered by the state. putting people in debt over unpredictable and non-optional emergencies is unacceptable)
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The only zip codes in Kansas that start with 666 are in Topeka, which makes sense to anyone who has ever been to Topeka. It’s nice here in Lawrence though.
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Essentially a free prison labor pool for cronies to draw from.
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There’s quite a clean-up job.
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I lived in Topeka for a bunch of years in the 90s and seeing the Fred Phelps assholes protesting and just the over all ick of the place really made the place feel like hell. Yeah I never checked the zip codes of Laurence and that was a much better place and I used to rush over there on occasion to watch movies.
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You put them to work in Prison call centers for no wages.
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If I had to guess the strategy is to buy debt low, imprison the debtors, and also have a business stake in the prisons either directly profiting from the labor or through investment. That way you basically are buying long-term labor for the low low price of uncollected debt. If you collect on the debt great, if you don’t then even more great. It’s win-win for everyone except the victims and so far as I can tell under US Capitalism that is what win-win means.
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My wife is a lawyer and when she explains how stuff like this works, it just makes me outraged - and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. The underlying reality is always so much worse than the reporting.
Can you imagine “The Depression, Part II: Nazi Farmers and Cops Run Things for Awhile”
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Maybe today. Maybe tomorrow. But what about the day after?
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