A thread for Democrats Only
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UPDATED: Sunday, September 6, 2026 15:36
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The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality
The traditional concepts of the common law of property were created for and by the ruling classes at a time when the bulk of their capital was land. Nowadays the great wealth lies in stocks, shares, bonds and the like, and is not just movable but mobile, crossing oceans at the touch of a key-pad…. In terms of legal theory and technique, however, there has been a profound if little discussed evolution by which the concepts originally devised for real property have been detached from their original object, only to survive and flourish as a means of handling abstract value. The feudal calculus lives and breeds, but its habitat is wealth, not land.
The enduring entanglement of modern property law with this original “feudal calculus” is a thread running throughout Pistor’s book. Most importantly, it informs her skepticism about the alignment that is commonly assumed in liberal grand narratives among progress, property rights, and the rule of law (understood in the sense of the universal applicability of general rules, such that no one class received preferential treatment by the state). There have been revolutionary moments, Pistor concedes, in which property owners did line up behind the demand for general rights—the American and French Revolutions being cases in point. But once their property was established, owners became, like their feudal predecessors, defenders of privilege. They have advocated not universal binding rules, but what Max Weber called a “modern particularism,” finding ways around the law when it suited their interests.
In the twenty-first century, examples of this modern particularism are rife. Pistor describes, for instance, the exceptions from general bankruptcy rules negotiated by the derivatives industry. In normal bankruptcy cases, secured creditors can claim access to their collateral first, and unsecured creditors have to divide what remains of the company or estate. For fast-moving financial transactions, that procedure is too cumbersome, so the collateral pledged in derivatives deals is granted an exemption from the usual queue of claims. In cases of bankruptcy, it is transferred directly to the counterparty, leaving unsecured creditors empty-handed. Another example would be the right claimed by foreign investors to challenge the normal operation of national courts in their host countries. Or the deals negotiated annually with the authorities by large taxpayers over what their tax bill will actually be. Or the haggling between regulators and banks over whether they meet the criteria laid down by the Dodd-Frank legislation of 2010.
The result is a legal order that is relentlessly insistent on the priority of rights, and of property rights above all, and yet shot through with special exceptions and reservations.
More at www.nybooks.com/articles/2020/02/13/how-big-law-makes-big-money/
The Code of Capital by Katharina Pistor PDF
https://1337x.to/search/The+Code+of+Capital/1/
https://1337x.to/torrent/4211386/The-Code-of-Capital-by-Katharina-Pist
or-PDF/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Does it matter who the Democrats choose for President?
It’s still far from clear who will come out on top in the primary, but it’s enough to think about what would happen if either of the two current front-runners, Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden, were to become president — and also have strong enough coattails to produce a Democratic Senate, because otherwise nothing will happen.
Sanders has a hugely ambitious agenda; Medicare for All is just part of it. Paying for that agenda would be difficult — so turning Sanders’s vision into reality would require large tax increases, not just on the wealthy, but on the middle class; without those tax increases it would be highly inflationary.
But not to worry: it won’t happen. Even if he made it to the White House, Sanders would have to deal with a Congress (and a public) considerably less radical than he is, and would be obliged to settle for a more modest progressive agenda.
It’s true that Sanders enthusiasts believe that they can rally a hidden majority of Americans around an aggressively populist agenda, and in so doing also push Congress into going along. But we had a test in the midterm elections: Progressives ran a number of candidates in Trump districts, and if even one of them had won they would have claimed vindication for their faith in transformative populism. But none did; the sweeping Democratic victory came entirely from moderates running conventional campaigns.
The usual take on this progressive setback is that it raises questions about Sanders’s electability. But it also has a very different implication: Moderates worried about a radical presidency should cool it. A President Sanders wouldn’t be especially radical in practice.
What about Joe Biden? The Sanders campaign has claimed that Biden endorsed Paul Ryan’s plans for sharp cuts in Social Security and Medicare; that claim is false. What is true is that in the past Biden has often gone along with the Beltway consensus that we need “adjustments” — a euphemism for at least modest cuts — in Social Security.
But the Democratic Party as a whole has moved left on these issues, and Biden has moved with it. Even if he has a lingering desire to strike a Grand Bargain with Republicans — which I doubt — he would face such a huge intraparty backlash that he would be forced to back off.
So in terms of policy, here’s what I think would happen if Sanders wins: we’ll get a significant but not gigantic expansion of the social safety net, paid for by significant new taxes on the rich. On the other hand, if Biden wins, we’ll get a significant but not gigantic expansion of the social safety net, paid for by significant new taxes on the rich.
More at www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/opinion/does-it-matter-who-the-democrats-ch
oose.html
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Does it matter who the Democrats choose for President?
Nope. They're not going to win either way.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:The Dems can show Trump voters that they have been used and betrayed by Trump. The Dems would be wise not to focus on their candidate but instead pour money into negative advertising, shaming Trump for making promises that he knew he wouldn’t deliver on: Hillary has not been prosecuted; Mexico has paid for no wall; great manufacturing jobs are not going to Ohioans; there are more suicides, drug overdose deaths, and grieving families. Negative advertising will increase the likelihood that these folks stay home on Election Day and not vote for Trump.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Does it matter who the Democrats choose for President?
Nope. They're not going to win either way.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:The Dems can show Trump voters that they have been used and betrayed by Trump. The Dems would be wise not to focus on their candidate but instead pour money into negative advertising, shaming Trump for making promises that he knew he wouldn’t deliver on: Hillary has not been prosecuted; Mexico has paid for no wall; great manufacturing jobs are not going to Ohioans; there are more suicides, drug overdose deaths, and grieving families. Negative advertising will increase the likelihood that these folks stay home on Election Day and not vote for Trump.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by second:
Does it matter who the Democrats choose for President?
Nope. They're not going to win either way.
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
That's all you got left.
Negativity. The heart and soul of the Democrat.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:The Dems could praise V.P. Mike Pence as calm, thoughtful, intelligent, truthful, pays his taxes, never bribed hookers, never bankrupt, never been sued then forced to pay millions in compensation. Vote for Vice President Pence because if Trump dies America will need someone who is the complete opposite of the President.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
That's all you got left.
Negativity. The heart and soul of the Democrat.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:The Dems could praise V.P. Mike Pence as calm, thoughtful, intelligent, truthful, pays his taxes, never bribed hookers, never bankrupt, never been sued then forced to pay millions in compensation. Vote for Vice President Pence because if Trump dies America will need someone who is the complete opposite of the President.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
That's all you got left.
Negativity. The heart and soul of the Democrat.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
Or they could just do nothing. Because if Trump dies then America gets President Pence.
Are you huffing glue on Saturday or something?
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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Quote:6ix, you can get all the same Trump policy from President Pence, but without the mental instability. Pence won't nuke N Korea or Iran, but Trump might in his second term, out of frustration that he can't get either to shutdown their nuclear weapons program.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:The Dems could praise V.P. Mike Pence as calm, thoughtful, intelligent, truthful, pays his taxes, never bribed hookers, never bankrupt, never been sued then forced to pay millions in compensation. Vote for Vice President Pence because if Trump dies America will need someone who is the complete opposite of the President.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
That's all you got left.
Negativity. The heart and soul of the Democrat.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
Or they could just do nothing. Because if Trump dies then America gets President Pence.
Are you huffing glue on Saturday or something?
Do Right, Be Right. :)
There Is No Check on Trump's Rage Going Nuclear - His aggressive boorishness, entitlement, and belief that he can do whatever he wants, Trump has absolute authority to launch nuclear weapons—without anyone's permission.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/22/theres-no-check-on-trumps-rage-go
ing-nuclear/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Your Piece of the American Pie
If a pie represented the estimated $98 trillion of household wealth in the United States, nine pieces, or 90% of the pie, would go to the wealthiest 20% in the country, according to a National Bureau Of Economic Research study of household wealth trends in the United States from 1962 to 2016. Out of those nine slices, four would go to just the top 1%.
The upper middle class and the middle class would share one piece, or about 10%, and the lower middle class would get .3% of the pie. The poorest Americans, people in the bottom 20%, wouldn't get any. On average, they are more than $6,000 in debt.
www.cbsnews.com/news/income-inequality-in-america-how-98-trillion-of-h
ousehold-wealth-is-distributed/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
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Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:6ix, you can get all the same Trump policy from President Pence, but without the mental instability. Pence won't nuke N Korea or Iran, but Trump might in his second term, out of frustration that he can't get either to shutdown their nuclear weapons program.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:Quote:
Originally posted by second:Quote:The Dems could praise V.P. Mike Pence as calm, thoughtful, intelligent, truthful, pays his taxes, never bribed hookers, never bankrupt, never been sued then forced to pay millions in compensation. Vote for Vice President Pence because if Trump dies America will need someone who is the complete opposite of the President.
Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
That's all you got left.
Negativity. The heart and soul of the Democrat.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
Or they could just do nothing. Because if Trump dies then America gets President Pence.
Are you huffing glue on Saturday or something?
Do Right, Be Right. :)
There Is No Check on Trump's Rage Going Nuclear - His aggressive boorishness, entitlement, and belief that he can do whatever he wants, Trump has absolute authority to launch nuclear weapons—without anyone's permission.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/05/22/theres-no-check-on-trumps-rage-go
ing-nuclear/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly
Pence is an unknown variable. You don't know anything about Pence.
But more importantly, Pence isn't running for President.
So, once again, I'm left here wondering what the hell is going on in that twisted mind of yours before you type out your incoherent thoughts.
Do Right, Be Right. :)
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