Dear friends,
A cautionary tale comes to us from El Salvador. In October, President Nayib Bukele pushed El Salvador to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
[It] has cost the national treasury up to $22 million worth of precious reserves. The country’s bonds have tanked. Fears of diminished financial transparency, meanwhile, has stalled a vital loan deal with the International Monetary Fund, which urged El Salvador on Tuesday to drop bitcoin as legal tender.
“El Salvador now has the most distressed sovereign debt in the world, and it’s because of the bitcoin folly,” economist Steve Hanke told Fortune.
In addition to the volatility of Bitcoin, it is an environmental disaster and a threat to the rule of law.
Call on your state legislators to support a legislative moratorium on crypto mining and to require a comprehensive environmental impact statement review. This action is ready-made!
On Tuesday, there were statewide actions to call for the passage of a pile of climate legislation. Help amplify the street action with some phone calls.
Call NYS leadership today to talk about the urgency of passing the legislative package and investing in climate resiliency. There is a call script from Climate Can’t Wait.
We’re not going to bother today trying to get the mayor to see the problems of Bitcoin, as he has been feeling its volatility personally and he is, understandably, preoccupied by public safety.
We are, however, going to discuss the rule of law. The mayor talks a great deal about law and order, and we have had a disturbing couple of weeks in New York City. On Monday, following the fatal shootings of two police officers, Adams released his public safety plan:
The proposal called for significant policing efforts to combat gun violence, including the restoration of an anti-gun police unit. Mr. Adams also urged state lawmakers to make changes to New York’s bail law and to a law that altered how the state handles teenage defendants.
Unfortunately, Adams’s proposal reflects his militaristic ‘boots-on-the-ground’ mentality and his general bias for addressing all problems with “more police.”
The plan for revamping anti-crime units, which were disbanded in 2020, has stoked particular controversy, with even some of Mr. Adams’s typical ideological allies expressing reservations. But the most vociferous criticism has come from supporters of criminal justice reform who are to his left.
Council woman Kristin Richardson Jordan, from Harlem, is among those who are troubled by what could be
“an excuse to over-police and continue oppression in the community.”
The prior iteration of the plainclothes units was done away with after accounting for a disproportionate number of police shootings and citizen complaints. Adams has vowed that the new anti-gun unit won’t repeat the same mistakes.
Although the number of officers is fewer than the 600 who staffed the former anti-crime squad, the anti-gun units will be concentrated in just 30 patrol areas rather than being citywide.
Write to the mayor and demand to know what measures are in place to prevent anti-gun units from repeating patterns of racialized over-policing. This action is ready-made.
Read Practicing Abolition, Creating Community from Project NIA, with text by Benji Hart and illustrations by Emma Li.
The fate of the bail law — a hard-won reform to reduce the criminalization of poverty — and the crypto-mining moratorium, and all the other important matters before the state legislature depends on functioning representative government, which is not something we can take for granted.
The NYS John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act would provide protections against vote dilution and suppression, increase language assistance, strengthen laws to prevent voter intimidation, and improve transparency of voting data.
Sign the NYCLU’s petition to NYS lawmakers to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York.
It appears that Democrats who control the state Legislature are planning to redraw the lines around NY 11, which includes all of Staten Island, extending the district into Sunset Park, Red Hook, Gowanus, Windsor Terrace and Park Slope.
Democrat lawmakers are also rejiggering suburban and upstate congressional maps, which could cost Republicans several other seats. At least one Republican seat upstate will be eliminated because of a decline in population.
Asher Ross, who directs a redistricting advocacy campaign called “Mapping our Future” for the New York Immigration Coalition, said Democrats’ attempt to weaken U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from Staten Island, would come at the expense of a largely Latino and Asian American community in Brooklyn that could wind up in what is now her district.
The Democratic plan would also redraw lines for the district now held by U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez. The proposal would cleave Asian American voters in Manhattan’s Chinatown from those in Brooklyn.
I’m not sure if New York State’s John Lewis Act can fix this.
Adherents to the “big lie” that the 2020 election was stolen have organized a national effort to elect right-wing extremists as election officials in crucial swing states. They are pouring money into races that typically see little engagement.
In response, MoveOn is launching a multimillion-dollar effort to defeat Trump-backed secretaries of state across the country and elect individuals who will count every vote and ensure fair elections.
Support MoveOn’s campaign to protect elections from extremists.
There are, of course, other ways to use our money to work for justice. I’ve become involved in a new group called TH!RD ACT,
a community of experienced Americans determined to change the world for the better.
The idea is that those of us who’ve lived long enough to accrue experience, skills, and resources have an opportunity — and an obligation — to work collectively to create a more sustainable society. This is a solid idea.
The meeting I attended last night was focused and inspiring. Here’s the move:
Big Banks are playing a key role in propping up the oil and gas industry that is polluting our atmosphere. We don’t want our money to be used to bankroll climate destruction. Who can influence the banks? We can!
According to Th!rd Act, 70 percent of the country’s financial assets are in the hands of Americans who are 60 and older. Th!rd Act is asking us to sign a Banking Pledge (no age discrimination here. . . younger folks can also sign):
If by the end of 2022, Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, or Bank of America are still funding climate-destroying fossil fuel projects, I pledge to close my account and cut up my credit card.
We must follow through if the banks don’t divest. One beauty of the move is that the group is working to prepare everyone who pledges with viable options if we must follow through.
The BIG IDEA is that we can apply enough pressure to the big four banks to force them to divest from fossil fuel projects.
Even if you have already moved your money into a credit union or one of the socially responsible smaller banks, like Amalgamated, a survey of your credit cards is likely to turn up plastic from one or more of the big four.
Sign Th!rd Act’s pledge to Move Your Money if Your Bank Won't Move Away from Fossil Fuels.
And, in case you are motivated by FOMO, this is where the cool ‘kids’ ended up. The advisory council for Th!rd Act is full of heavy-hitters, including Bill McKibben (The End of Nature) and Robin Wall Kimmerer (Braiding Sweetgrass).
Have a great day!
with love,
L