I scrolled by this like 3 times before the words “In key swing states” really sunk in

They only fucking care because of the election.

I help with a trans housing network and all the people offering free housing to trans people are basically completely full

but are the grapes of wrath growing ripe for the vintage?

The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country. Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth.

There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificate- died of malnutrition- because the food must rot, must be forced to rot. The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quick-lime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.

Quick, send another 20 billion to isntreal

See these people are lining up at the food banks in record numbers because of vibes and because they don’t understand how great the economy is. Surely it’s not because they can’t afford food, that definitely isn’t it. They probably just don’t realize how good the economy is! Vote blue!

In Michigan, Phil Knight, executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan, said he’s also seeing more regulars. In the past, most people he’d see coming to his food banks needed short-term assistance because of a health issue, a family emergency or a job loss. Now, he said, the food banks have become a routine necessity for households.

“It’s almost become a form of income replacement,” said Knight. “This is becoming a regular practice for lower-income families.”

We gotta get our strongest canvassers out there immediately to make sure they know about the dick cheney endorsement. You really can’t let a captive audience like that go to waste

i’ve been thinking a lot recently about how much actual real revolution depends on food insecurity and hunger, at bottom. in my view pretty much no other material deprivation - lack of access to healthcare, for example - can drive people to the lengths necessary to attempt to overthrow the status quo. which essentially means that here in amerikkka we are a loooooong way from really entering The Cool Zone, because while most people are miserable, they are not hungry. realistically nobody’s gonna start or join a revolution unless the alternative is literally starving to death

Death to America

My parents have helped out at food shelf in the rural Midwest for a couple decades now, and the demand is way up, although not as high as it was during 2007-2008. The real unemployment rate is at record lows in that area, and wage growth is actually increasing, but not enough to keep up with ballooning grocery bills and rent hikes. So the families with lots of kids might have more income coming in from wage labor, but their costs are just out of control, and food aid is absolutely essential to keep the household afloat. I think what is not really appreciated is that there’s a huge shortage of rentals that have 5+ bedrooms (renting a house is the only real option).

I think the really cynical calculus from the political establishment is that these people are mostly non-voters, and so actually trying to address these problems is a waste of political capital.

wait, I have an idea for how the dems could gain favorability in key locations that could help them gain power that they can then use to enrich themselves, cement their legacies, and secure future elections instead of being deadlocked in arguments with single-mindedly cruel people.

What…? They don’t give a fuck?

we may have to start making excuses for the lack of terror

Woah there OP! I think we’re going to need you to NSFW that image.

You should have opened a small business for 3 years in an opportunity zone if you wanted food, bucko

: “Shouldn’t have voted in the scary blue tie! The friendly face of the red tie will stop scaring porky and he’ll just magically go against his interests!”