Carl Beijer
@carlbeijer.bsky.social
Socialist writer. Read me at The People's Line at http://www.peoplesline.org. Other links at https://linktr.ee/carlbeijer
Pinned
The SNAP Freeze Shows Charity Is No Substitute for Welfare
The Trump administration suspended funding for food stamps this weekend, and local food banks are already overwhelmed by hungry Americans — belying conservative arguments that private charities can fi...
jacobin.com
ICYMI: My latest in Jacobin.
Conservatives want to use the SNAP freeze to replace the entire program with private charity. But they're already failing.
jacobin.com/2025/11/snap...
Conservatives want to use the SNAP freeze to replace the entire program with private charity. But they're already failing.
jacobin.com/2025/11/snap...
How about we just eliminate the billionaire class instead
DOGE is one of the greatest failures of the Trump administration. The next Democratic administration should pick up that issue and actually work to cut government waste, fraud, and abuse. I’d suggest starting by taking a look at Elon Musk’s government contracts.
November 24, 2025 at 8:42 PM
How about we just eliminate the billionaire class instead
lol Taleb liked my tweet and McArdle *instantly* jumped in to defend herself
November 24, 2025 at 7:15 PM
lol Taleb liked my tweet and McArdle *instantly* jumped in to defend herself
"Advocates for one country can't be based in another" is an incredible line of criticism to hear from AIPAC
November 24, 2025 at 4:04 AM
"Advocates for one country can't be based in another" is an incredible line of criticism to hear from AIPAC
Don't agree with everything here but good discussion about how poverty in the US is much, much higher than outdated measures suggest. www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
Part 1: My Life Is a Lie
How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America
www.yesigiveafig.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Don't agree with everything here but good discussion about how poverty in the US is much, much higher than outdated measures suggest. www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
A lot of antiwar commentary on Trump's proposed "peace plan" seems weirdly uninterested in the detail that it just freezes the conflict, leaving the central question of the war (ownership of territory) completely unsettled
November 24, 2025 at 2:43 AM
A lot of antiwar commentary on Trump's proposed "peace plan" seems weirdly uninterested in the detail that it just freezes the conflict, leaving the central question of the war (ownership of territory) completely unsettled
Wait until he finds out that nationalism is weird identity stuff
November 24, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Wait until he finds out that nationalism is weird identity stuff
It's gratifying to know that the richest people in the world are having just the absolute worst parties you could possibly imagine
November 24, 2025 at 12:52 AM
It's gratifying to know that the richest people in the world are having just the absolute worst parties you could possibly imagine
Imagine how he thinks this bio hits
November 24, 2025 at 12:36 AM
Imagine how he thinks this bio hits
I have pretty thick skin but I really don't know how I would handle the kind of scorching high-profile abuse that Noah Smith takes on a regular basis
November 24, 2025 at 12:19 AM
I have pretty thick skin but I really don't know how I would handle the kind of scorching high-profile abuse that Noah Smith takes on a regular basis
When journalists working in the hyper-competitive, precarious, and morally corrupt liberal media industry roll out broad-brush criticism of independent bloggers, you just know it's coming from a place of principle
November 23, 2025 at 11:45 PM
When journalists working in the hyper-competitive, precarious, and morally corrupt liberal media industry roll out broad-brush criticism of independent bloggers, you just know it's coming from a place of principle
Right-wing website
November 23, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Right-wing website
"This account is from country X" is a good start, but I'd also like to see the notice: "This account gets all of its political information from steamers"
November 23, 2025 at 9:10 PM
"This account is from country X" is a good start, but I'd also like to see the notice: "This account gets all of its political information from steamers"
This probably explains part of it but doesn't really tell us how why these accounts are so disproportionately right-wing since Twitter still has a substantial liberal-left userbase.
I think Republican dark money outsourcing to cheap foreign troll farms explains that.
I think Republican dark money outsourcing to cheap foreign troll farms explains that.
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 8:53 PM
This probably explains part of it but doesn't really tell us how why these accounts are so disproportionately right-wing since Twitter still has a substantial liberal-left userbase.
I think Republican dark money outsourcing to cheap foreign troll farms explains that.
I think Republican dark money outsourcing to cheap foreign troll farms explains that.
"There will be rich & poor...who will labour under all the hardships of life, & secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of its blessings...How is this danger to be guarded against?" - James Madison
I keep waiting (in vain?) for some INTELLIGENT Democrat to point out reality:
OUR FOUNDING FATHERS WERE DEMOCRATIC "SOCIALISTS"!
#Historian
OUR FOUNDING FATHERS WERE DEMOCRATIC "SOCIALISTS"!
#Historian
November 23, 2025 at 7:32 PM
"There will be rich & poor...who will labour under all the hardships of life, & secretly sigh for a more equal distribution of its blessings...How is this danger to be guarded against?" - James Madison
Reposted by Carl Beijer
NEW: Why are so many right-wing accounts based outside the United States?
Simple: Republican oligarchs are outsourcing their media campaigns. www.peoplesline.org/p/blowback-a...
Simple: Republican oligarchs are outsourcing their media campaigns. www.peoplesline.org/p/blowback-a...
Blowback and the international troll industry
Why are so many Twitter reactionaries from outside of the United States?
www.peoplesline.org
November 23, 2025 at 7:16 PM
NEW: Why are so many right-wing accounts based outside the United States?
Simple: Republican oligarchs are outsourcing their media campaigns. www.peoplesline.org/p/blowback-a...
Simple: Republican oligarchs are outsourcing their media campaigns. www.peoplesline.org/p/blowback-a...
Good article on how allowing a private insurance "option" is destroying Sweden's welfare state www.socialeurope.eu/how-swedens-...
How Sweden’s Welfare Experiment Became a Warning to Europe
Sweden pioneered welfare privatisation, and its controversial model is now being exported across the continent.
www.socialeurope.eu
November 22, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Good article on how allowing a private insurance "option" is destroying Sweden's welfare state www.socialeurope.eu/how-swedens-...
My only take about Trump / Mamdani is that extremely online reactionaries love to pose as alphas on Twitter and then lower their eyes and smile nervously in person
November 22, 2025 at 10:48 PM
My only take about Trump / Mamdani is that extremely online reactionaries love to pose as alphas on Twitter and then lower their eyes and smile nervously in person
Yeah that was Pete Buttigieg's line. Even Elizabeth Warren had a planned phase-out of private insurance. Kat's plan is the Buttigieg plan.
It’s Medicare for all who want it. This will help persuade more people to support it.
Under Medicare for All "private health insurers and employers may only offer coverage that is supplemental to, and not duplicative of, benefits provided under the program".
If it has a "private option" it is not Medicare for All.
If it has a "private option" it is not Medicare for All.
November 22, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Yeah that was Pete Buttigieg's line. Even Elizabeth Warren had a planned phase-out of private insurance. Kat's plan is the Buttigieg plan.
Under Medicare for All "private health insurers and employers may only offer coverage that is supplemental to, and not duplicative of, benefits provided under the program".
If it has a "private option" it is not Medicare for All.
If it has a "private option" it is not Medicare for All.
This is false Carl. Kat supports single payer. You’re just upset she said she’s ok if people want to opt out of it and pay for private insurance if they want to.
Kat Abughazaleh supports retaining private insurance while her opponent Daniel Biss backs Medicare for All, which gets rid of it. What are we doing here people
November 22, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Under Medicare for All "private health insurers and employers may only offer coverage that is supplemental to, and not duplicative of, benefits provided under the program".
If it has a "private option" it is not Medicare for All.
If it has a "private option" it is not Medicare for All.
From her official platform:
"...we need a universal single-payer healthcare system — with an opt-out if you’re a private insurance super-fan"
www.katforillinois.com/issues/reima...
"...we need a universal single-payer healthcare system — with an opt-out if you’re a private insurance super-fan"
www.katforillinois.com/issues/reima...
November 22, 2025 at 6:15 PM
From her official platform:
"...we need a universal single-payer healthcare system — with an opt-out if you’re a private insurance super-fan"
www.katforillinois.com/issues/reima...
"...we need a universal single-payer healthcare system — with an opt-out if you’re a private insurance super-fan"
www.katforillinois.com/issues/reima...
Kat Abughazaleh supports retaining private insurance while her opponent Daniel Biss backs Medicare for All, which gets rid of it. What are we doing here people
November 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Kat Abughazaleh supports retaining private insurance while her opponent Daniel Biss backs Medicare for All, which gets rid of it. What are we doing here people
I wonder if there's any connection between socioeconomic problems created by Julian's libertarian politics and the impulse to blame them on a scapegoat instead of capitalism
November 20, 2025 at 8:20 PM
I wonder if there's any connection between socioeconomic problems created by Julian's libertarian politics and the impulse to blame them on a scapegoat instead of capitalism
Extremely mad that Olivia Nuzzi slept her way to the top. Journalists should achieve success the old-fashioned way: through cynical interpersonal networking, ideological compliance with corporate sponsors, and ruthless backchannel politicking
November 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Extremely mad that Olivia Nuzzi slept her way to the top. Journalists should achieve success the old-fashioned way: through cynical interpersonal networking, ideological compliance with corporate sponsors, and ruthless backchannel politicking
Reposted by Carl Beijer
NEW: It looks increasingly like Trump is hoping to "freeze" the conflict in Ukraine - a non-resolution that will only guarantee more war in the future. www.peoplesline.org/p/trumps-pla...
Trump's plan for Ukraine won't bring peace
It kicks the can down the road with "freezes" and probably concedes too much for an opening bid.
www.peoplesline.org
November 20, 2025 at 12:14 AM
NEW: It looks increasingly like Trump is hoping to "freeze" the conflict in Ukraine - a non-resolution that will only guarantee more war in the future. www.peoplesline.org/p/trumps-pla...