"The World As it Is"
Stories from around the world that have caught my attention. I hope they catch yours.
The Pandora Papers
Surely, you’ve heard of this groundbreaking investigation, that uses over 11 million documents to reveal the flows of money, property, and other assets concealed in the offshore financial system. It’s the largest investigation in journalism history. World leaders on five different continents (King of Jordan and President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya to name a few), 130 Forbes billionaires, and celebrities use the offshore system.
The U.S houses one of the most secretive tax havens in the world: South Dakota (who would’ve thought).
In case you needed another reason for us to be taxing the rich— this is it. But also, it should offend all of us: imagine being so wealthy that you need to pay into a system that helps you hide some of it……at a time when wealth inequality is crippling nations around the world.
Facebook: an Outage and a Whistleblower
Frances Haugen testified before Senate to share some disparaging information: from eating disorders targeting young teens to harboring extremists and human traffickers— Facebook knows everything, and refuses to do anything about it, opting instead to increase their profits.
Facebook has the largest number of users out of all of the social media platforms, and the fact that they are being so reckless and so harmful—isn’t surprising, but it is incredibly disappointing. Imagine using such a powerful platform to ruin lives, when instead you could be bringing them together (you know…the reason social media was created in the first place).
If that wasn’t bad enough Facebook (and by nature, WhatsApp, and Instagram) all experienced a multi-hour outage. Globally. It was easy to make fun of it on Twitter here in the States, but for the rest of the world……Facebook is the internet. WhatsApp is the main messaging tool for many, for example, translators in Afghanistan. People’s entire income relies on the outreach that Instagram provides.
What was a minor inconvenience for some of us, was a major blunt to another person’s livelihood.
Break up big tech.
We might be living through one of the biggest labor movements in our modern lifetime….and yet it’s getting little coverage (from the big media outlets, I should say). But from Instacart shoppers to Hollywood workers—people who are often invisible to us are demanding higher wages, respect, and basic care as they watch their bosses line up their pockets with higher profit.
Everyone, every single person, no matter your job, deserves the basic living conditions to protect themselves and their loved ones. And if you’re putting in a set number of hours a week, you deserve a paycheck that allows you to obtain all of your needs (and your wants). You do not negotiate dignity. We should be doing all we can to support and amplify workers everywhere.
John Deere
Heaven Hill
Other Stories, Podcasts, Info
Utilities cut power to US customers while taking huge Covid tax credits | The Guardian
The California oil pipeline spill could endanger sea life for years, experts say | NPR
How education reforms can support teachers around the world instead of undermining them | The Conversation
What does child care look like when it works? | The 19th
Haitian migrants at the border: An asylum law scholar explains how US skirts its legal and moral duties | The Conversation
US Supreme Court gets set to address abortion, guns and religion | The Conversation
featuring a professor from the Ford School!!!!!
what stories have you been following lately??
cover image by https://unsplash.com/@nsx_2000