Privatization

How Trump’S 21st Century Version Of Fiscal Forestry Will Harm VA Care

April 13, 2025 Suzanne Gordon, Substack. Educate! Health Care, Privatization, Trump Administration, Veterans Administration

In his brilliant book, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed, James C. Scott, warned of projects “driven by utopian plans and authoritarian disregard for the values, desires, and objections of their subjects.” Although the Yale Professor of Political Science and Anthropology, who died last year, wrote Seeing Like a State in 1998, his message is more important than ever as Donald Trump and his allies try to destroy and privatize the VA healthcare system and other government services. Like the other authoritarian schemers that Scott analyzes, Trump, Elon Musk and their faithful servant, VA Secretary Doug Collins view the world through a narrow lens that ignores the “far more complex and unwieldly reality” in which human beings live their lives and, in the case of the VA, experience health and illness.

Why Oligarchs Want A Recession

April 8, 2025 Van Jackson, Labor Notes. Educate! Billionaires, Oligarchs, Privatization, Recession, Trump Administration

A recession is looming. Trump himself recently affirmed that his economic plans would induce a recession in the near term. He remarked when asked as much by an interviewer, “There is a period of transition because what we’re doing is very big.” And yet, before Trump crashed the stock market last week with his global tariff regime, America’s CEOs had the highest confidence in the U.S. economy that they’ve had in three years, according to a nationwide survey in the early weeks of the Trump administration. And Trump has simply been carrying out the promises he’s long made.

Postal Workers Throng To 500 Rallies To Save The Postal Service

March 29, 2025 Alexandra Bradbury, Labor Notes. Resist! National Day of Action, Privatization, US Postal Service, Worker Rights

From big cities to small towns, postal workers organized hundreds of rallies across the country in the past week to defend a beloved public service—and the nation’s largest union employer—against privatization and DOGE attack. “Whose Postal Service?” workers chanted in New York: “The people’s Postal Service.” “U.S. Mail Is Not for Sale” was the rallying cry March 20 at 250 rallies organized by the Postal Workers (APWU). “Fight Like Hell” was the theme March 23 for another 210 rallies led by the Letter Carriers (NALC). A hundred people came out to the NALC rally in St. Petersburg, Florida, covering all four corners of the busiest intersection in town, said Roger Ezra Butterfield, a recently minted steward in APWU.

A Land Bank Is Buying Property To Protect Altadena From Displacement

March 29, 2025 Eliana Perozo, Next City. Resist! Affordable Housing, Altadena, Privatization, Wildfires

On the evening of Jan. 7, the Eaton fire hit Altadena, destroying over 10,000 commercial and residential homes and displacing thousands of families. Just a little over two months later, and this historically Black community is facing a new threat. Shortly after the fire, a private developer paid $550,000 in cash for the first vacant lot left behind from the wildfires, about $100,000 above asking price. In the days since, at least 13 more properties have sold, at least half of them by offshore private developers. But community leaders are working to beat back the tide. Earlier this month, a Pasadena-based housing justice nonprofit purchased a burned lot in the neighborhood, marking the first Altadena property that has been removed from the market and protected in a community land bank.

What Is Esencia And What Will Happen If This Is Constructed?

March 26, 2025 Diaspora Pa'Lante Collective, Black Agenda Report. Resist! Esencia, Land conflict, Privatization, Puerto Rico

Esencia is a massive $2 billion colonial development project aiming to seize over 2,000 acres of land, spanning three miles of beaches in Punta Melones, Cabo Rojo, by 2028. The United States has long justified its imperial presence in Puerto Rico under the guise of “progress” and “development.” With the complicity of a local government that prioritizes U.S. interests, policies like Act 60—which grants foreign investors the ability to evade local and federal taxes—serve Puerto Rico on a silver platter to wealthy developers, speculators, and those eager to claim and exploit a slice of “paradise.”

Postal Workers Rally Against Proposal To Privatize USPS

March 24, 2025 Hank Lee, WCNC. Resist! Donald Trump, North Carolina, Postal Workers, Privatization, US Postal Service, USPS

Charlotte , NC - Charlotte postal workers held another rally Sunday, speaking out against a proposal to privatize the U.S. Postal Service. Sunday's rally was held at the post office in Ballantyne and led by the local branch of the National Association of Letter Carriers. Leaders said it's all about protecting rural communities that rely on the Postal Service. Conversations about privatizing the USPS have been ongoing and floated by President Donald Trump previously. "The NALC and all postal employees what the postal workers to know, and the president to know, that the Postal Service is not for sale," NALC Branch President Sylvin Stevens said.

‘Not For Sale’: USPS Workers Hold Day Of Action

March 21, 2025 Michael Sainato, the Guardian. Resist! National Day of Action, Privatization, Trump Administration, United States Postal Service, USPS

US Postal Service workers and advocates are holding a day of action today in more than 150 cities as they brace for the Trump administration to launch an “illegal hostile takeover” which they warn will slash jobs, boost prices and shut down post offices. Donald Trump’s officials are weighing plans to transfer the USPS to the Department of Commerce, stripping it of its independence. The president and his allies have also signaled they are willing to privatize the service. “This is the people’s postal service, emphasis on ‘service’,” said Mark Dimondstein, president of the American Postal Workers Union

Amtrak Doesn’t Understand Why Elon Musk Wants To Privatize Amtrak

March 18, 2025 Ryan Erik King, Jalopnik. Educate! Amtrak, Elon Musk, Privatization, Railroads

Elon Musk has eagerly positioned himself as a chainsaw-welding horror movie slasher with government agencies as his victims, instead of promiscuous high schoolers. The Tesla CEO set his sights on privatizing the USPS and Amtrak, but the federally-owned railroad released a response last week stating that it can't understand why it needs private ownership. Amtrak has turned a lemon from the 1960s into a decent lemonade by the 21st century. Musk spoke at a Morgan Stanley technology conference last week and advised travelers visiting the country to stay away from Amtrak.

Organizing To Stop Stealth Privatization Of The US Postal Service

March 17, 2025 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG Privatization, Trump Administration, US Postal Service, Wall Street

Beginning with the so-called Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006, which required the postal service to hold billions of dollars in reserve to fund retirement benefits for workers who have not yet been born, and then the sell-off of post offices, cuts to the workforce and price hikes, the ground for privatization of the US Postal Service, as was done in Canada and the United Kingdom, has been laid. Clearing the FOG speaks with Annie Norman, a leader of the Save the Post Office Coalition, about the current effort to begin privatizing the postal service in incremental steps. Norman also discusses the upcoming national days of action to protect our post offices and the People's Postal Agenda, a program to strengthen the postal service and add more services for people.

Wall Street Bankers Salivate Over Postal Privatization

March 13, 2025 Vishal Shankar, Revolving Door Project. Educate! Louis DeJoy, Privatization, United States Postal Service, Wall Street, Wells Fargo

At a Morgan Stanley conference last week, Elon Musk told attendees the federal government should privatize “as much as possible” – and singled out the U.S. Postal Service as a top target. Musk’s comments are the latest in an alarming push from Trump’s team to strip-mine America’s oldest and second-most popular agency (USPS narrowly trails the National Parks Service, another victim of Musk’s austerity chainsaw). Trump – who has long feuded with the Postal Service over mail-in balloting – stated in December he was “looking at” privatizing USPS.

Trump’s Deportation Drive Stalls; Is Prince’s Private Army On The Table?

March 10, 2025 Robert Inlakesh, MintPress News. Educate! Blackwater, Donald Trump, Erik Prince, Immigration, Mass Deportation, Privatization

Former CEO of Blackwater Erik Prince’s plan to create a privately run force to aid the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts is gaining renewed steam. First reported by Politico, A 26-page document details the proposal, which seeks $25 billion to establish a force capable of deporting 600,000 people monthly. The plan, which includes deputizing at least 10,000 private citizens, would be central to achieving Trump’s stated goal of removing 12 million undocumented immigrants. With Trump’s deportation agenda ramping up, new reports indicate the administration is looking for ways to overcome logistical hurdles that are slowing removals.

People vs Profits: China And US Health Care Systems Compared

March 5, 2025 K. J. Noh, The China Report. Resistance Report China, Health Care, Human Rights, New Cold War, Privatization

China's health care system has recently come to public consciousness in the US with “TikTok Refugees” on Red Note comparing healthcare in the two countries. In today's China report, we will explore health care under China's health system and contrast it with that of the US's privatized system. Our understanding of China — and U.S.-China relations — has become a defining feature of all global politics. The China Report is a new show produced in collaboration with Pivot to Peace where every week, journalist Amanda Yee and political analyst KJ Noh will be helping you through all the propaganda with an independent view of the country we are taught to hate, but know so little about.

Kerala’s Healthcare Revolution: A Triumph Over Corporate Greed

February 18, 2025 Anusha Paul, People's Dispatch. Create! Capitalism, Corporate greed, Health Care, India, Kerala, Privatization, Public ownership

The New Indian Express reported on February 10, 2025, that Kerala has seen the closure of 99 private hospitals since 2011, citing the data from the Kerala Private Hospital Association (KPHA). The association believes this number is a conservative estimate, with the actual figure likely much higher. Hussain Koya Thangal, President of the Kerala Private Hospital Association (KPHA), emphasized that while the cost of treatment has remained relatively stable, the financial burden of maintaining infrastructure and running hospitals has increased significantly.

The Latest Plot To Privatize Public Lands

February 10, 2025 Joseph Bullington, In These Times. Educate! Housing, Privatization, Public Lands, wealth inequality

On a recent visit to see old friends in Livingston, Mont., I found myself downtown, drinking the free art-walk wine, spearing the free cocktail weenies and admiring the fine skin of the expensively dressed couples bobbing in and out of the galleries that have proliferated here like some aggressive breed of plant. The light was retreating up the peaks of the Absaroka Range, and the summer evening’s golden stillness settled over town. Then a rip formed in this tranquility, and through it a ramshackle Subaru station wagon with local plates came trundling up Main Street, piled floor to ceiling with belongings. “Fuck!” shrieked the driver, as he pounded the steering wheel. “I fucking hate this!”

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