Benjamin Kunkel
@kunktation.bsky.social
Pinned
Benjamin Kunkel
@kunktation.bsky.social
· Apr 17
The Sameness of Different Things, by Benjamin Kunkel
Reading a new translation of Capital
harpers.org
I wrote about an obscure German contribution to the critique of political economy, for @harpers.bsky.social harpers.org/archive/2025...
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
new frontiers in the demand for art to directly gratify and intolerance for representation
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/a...
Did a TV Show Hurt You? ‘Fix-Its’ Offer Justice
Beloved characters are killed. Romances, too. But a subset of fan-fiction writers are taking matters into their own hands, “fixing” perceived wrongs.
www.nytimes.com
May 3, 2025 at 11:45 AM
new frontiers in the demand for art to directly gratify and intolerance for representation
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/a...
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
Last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined.
wapo.st/4luJyph
wapo.st/4luJyph
Opinion | Trump is killing one of our strongest exports
The president wants to balance U.S. trade deficits? He can’t do it without this industry he hates.
wapo.st
April 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Last year, the United States sold more educational services to the rest of the world than it sold in natural gas and coal combined.
wapo.st/4luJyph
wapo.st/4luJyph
I don't suppose the SEC might want to look into this?
April 17, 2025 at 3:38 PM
I don't suppose the SEC might want to look into this?
I wrote about an obscure German contribution to the critique of political economy, for @harpers.bsky.social harpers.org/archive/2025...
The Sameness of Different Things, by Benjamin Kunkel
Reading a new translation of Capital
harpers.org
April 17, 2025 at 1:21 PM
I wrote about an obscure German contribution to the critique of political economy, for @harpers.bsky.social harpers.org/archive/2025...
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
difficult to overstate how bad it would be for this effort to succeed
NEW: GOP lawmakers are preparing reconciliation bill with $90-175 BILLION in new funding for immigration enforcement.
ICE's entire annual budget is ~$9 billion.
Inside the Trump administration's plan for the real mass deportation campaign: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc... @theatlantic.com
ICE's entire annual budget is ~$9 billion.
Inside the Trump administration's plan for the real mass deportation campaign: www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc... @theatlantic.com
Trump’s Mass-Deportation Campaign Hasn’t Really Started Yet
The Trump administration’s campaign to remove millions of people from the United States could soon be supercharged by Congress.
www.theatlantic.com
April 16, 2025 at 11:44 PM
difficult to overstate how bad it would be for this effort to succeed
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
Some day we'll see the headline and people will cheer in the streets
April 17, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Some day we'll see the headline and people will cheer in the streets
In which our old friend Sebastian Gorka, Senior Director for Counterterrorism, suggests critics of the Trump administration be charged with "aiding and abetting terrorism": “Because aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists is a crime in federal statute.” www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-cou...
Trump's Counterterror Czar Proposes Terror Charges for Political Opponents
Either you love America or you don’t, he says
www.kenklippenstein.com
April 17, 2025 at 1:09 AM
In which our old friend Sebastian Gorka, Senior Director for Counterterrorism, suggests critics of the Trump administration be charged with "aiding and abetting terrorism": “Because aiding and abetting criminals and terrorists is a crime in federal statute.” www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-cou...
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
Benjamin Kunkel (@kunktation.bsky.social) reviews Paul Reitter’s translation of Capital.
“The task of reading Capital naïvely acquires a fresh jolt of plausibility in the case of Paul Reitter’s new translation of volume one,” writes Kunkel.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
“The task of reading Capital naïvely acquires a fresh jolt of plausibility in the case of Paul Reitter’s new translation of volume one,” writes Kunkel.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
The Sameness of Different Things, by Benjamin Kunkel
Reading a new translation of Capital
harpers.org
April 16, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Benjamin Kunkel (@kunktation.bsky.social) reviews Paul Reitter’s translation of Capital.
“The task of reading Capital naïvely acquires a fresh jolt of plausibility in the case of Paul Reitter’s new translation of volume one,” writes Kunkel.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
“The task of reading Capital naïvely acquires a fresh jolt of plausibility in the case of Paul Reitter’s new translation of volume one,” writes Kunkel.
harpers.org/archive/2025...
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
“The list included a 13-year-old and seven other minors. . . For now the immigrants added are being given supposed dates of death.”
Social Security Lists Thousands of Migrants as Dead to Prompt Them to ‘Self-Deport’
By placing migrants in Social Security’s “death master file,” the Trump administration is seeking to cut off their access to credit cards, bank accounts and other financial services.
www.nytimes.com
April 12, 2025 at 1:07 PM
“The list included a 13-year-old and seven other minors. . . For now the immigrants added are being given supposed dates of death.”
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
"Trump administration officials have discussed possibly denaturalizing and deporting activists and other individuals whom they label as having committed so-called 'fraud' on their applications for citizenship by subsequently supporting what Team Trump decides are 'pro-terrorist' causes or groups."
Team Trump Is Gaming Out How to Ship U.S. Citizens to El Salvador
Donald Trump’s administration is talking internally about denaturalizing American citizens — and potentially sending some to El Salvador.
www.rollingstone.com
April 12, 2025 at 2:12 PM
"Trump administration officials have discussed possibly denaturalizing and deporting activists and other individuals whom they label as having committed so-called 'fraud' on their applications for citizenship by subsequently supporting what Team Trump decides are 'pro-terrorist' causes or groups."
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
fucking monstrous
“Mommy, no. Mommy.”
Daughter captures the moment masked ICE agents smash the window of her mother's car in order to take her into custody.
The government claims the 52-year old seamstress is an associate of the MS-13 gang.
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/lo...
Daughter captures the moment masked ICE agents smash the window of her mother's car in order to take her into custody.
The government claims the 52-year old seamstress is an associate of the MS-13 gang.
www.thebaltimorebanner.com/community/lo...
Rejected at her door, ICE nabs a Maryland woman in her car after smashing her window
Video shows a U.S. ICE agents breaking the window of a Maryland woman, Elsy Noemi Berrios, after failing to detain her at home.
www.thebaltimorebanner.com
April 10, 2025 at 12:04 AM
fucking monstrous
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
If you are
1) a federal civil servant/contractor ordered not to release scheduled data or reports, or
2) an academic who has lost access to government data in the past week
...please get in touch. I'm happy to keep our conversations confidential.
crampell[@]washpost[dot]com
1) a federal civil servant/contractor ordered not to release scheduled data or reports, or
2) an academic who has lost access to government data in the past week
...please get in touch. I'm happy to keep our conversations confidential.
crampell[@]washpost[dot]com
January 25, 2025 at 10:44 PM
If you are
1) a federal civil servant/contractor ordered not to release scheduled data or reports, or
2) an academic who has lost access to government data in the past week
...please get in touch. I'm happy to keep our conversations confidential.
crampell[@]washpost[dot]com
1) a federal civil servant/contractor ordered not to release scheduled data or reports, or
2) an academic who has lost access to government data in the past week
...please get in touch. I'm happy to keep our conversations confidential.
crampell[@]washpost[dot]com
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
About 75% of immigrant farm workers did not show up for work this week in Bakersfield, California, as the threat of Trump’s immigration raids looms.
Trump’s Immigration Threats Are Already Wrecking the Food Industry
Immigrant farm workers are too scared to show up to work.
newrepublic.com
January 24, 2025 at 4:18 AM
About 75% of immigrant farm workers did not show up for work this week in Bakersfield, California, as the threat of Trump’s immigration raids looms.
Apollinaire's great poem "The Little Car," about feeling an era end, and another begin, from one day day to the next www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/apo...
The Little Car
www.ronnowpoetry.com
January 19, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Apollinaire's great poem "The Little Car," about feeling an era end, and another begin, from one day day to the next www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/apo...
“Expectations of economic losses stemming from the fires have more than doubled since yesterday to closer to $50 billion,” JPMorgan wrote in a note to clients.’ www.ft.com/content/db2c...
Insurers brace for losses of up to $20bn from California wildfires
JPMorgan analysts double estimates as blazes continue to rage
www.ft.com
January 9, 2025 at 5:37 PM
“Expectations of economic losses stemming from the fires have more than doubled since yesterday to closer to $50 billion,” JPMorgan wrote in a note to clients.’ www.ft.com/content/db2c...
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
Call me sour, but EVERY mention of this "victory" should acknowledge that it's funded entirely by the profits of ongoing fossil-fuel production.
Since the IEA said "no more new oil and gas fields if we are to hit net zero by 2050" in 2021, Norway has issued >150 new production licenses.
Since the IEA said "no more new oil and gas fields if we are to hit net zero by 2050" in 2021, Norway has issued >150 new production licenses.
Norway looks like it's going to hit its goal: 100% of new cars sold in 2025 onward will be electric. In 2024, it was 88%.
(Somebody should really tell them that EVs don't work in cold weather!)
(Somebody should really tell them that EVs don't work in cold weather!)
Norway on brink of victory in 100 per cent electric car sale push | The National
Target of ending petrol car sales by 2025 predicted to be met on time in a world first after the tax system targeted rapid change
www.thenationalnews.com
January 3, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Call me sour, but EVERY mention of this "victory" should acknowledge that it's funded entirely by the profits of ongoing fossil-fuel production.
Since the IEA said "no more new oil and gas fields if we are to hit net zero by 2050" in 2021, Norway has issued >150 new production licenses.
Since the IEA said "no more new oil and gas fields if we are to hit net zero by 2050" in 2021, Norway has issued >150 new production licenses.
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
“The only clue that users seemingly had of Siri's alleged spying was eerily accurate targeted ads that appeared after they had just been talking about specific items like Air Jordans or brands like Olive Garden,”
What a colossal gaslight that was.
What a colossal gaslight that was.
So it appears Apple has "agreed to pay $95 million to settle a lawsuit alleging that its voice assistant Siri routinely recorded private conversations that were then shared with third parties and used for targeted ads."
But it was "unintentional," so don't worry about it...
But it was "unintentional," so don't worry about it...
Siri “unintentionally” recorded private convos; Apple agrees to pay $95M
Apple users may get $20 each for up to five Siri-enabled devices.
arstechnica.com
January 4, 2025 at 1:43 AM
“The only clue that users seemingly had of Siri's alleged spying was eerily accurate targeted ads that appeared after they had just been talking about specific items like Air Jordans or brands like Olive Garden,”
What a colossal gaslight that was.
What a colossal gaslight that was.
'Private credit funds pose systemic risks to the financial system because of their interrelationship with the regulated banking sector, the opacity of the terms of loans, their illiquid nature, etc. No prizes for guessing where the next financial crisis will emerge' www.ft.com/content/b75b...
Where the next financial crisis could emerge
As the IMF has warned, the rise and rise of private credit brings systemic risks
www.ft.com
January 4, 2025 at 1:06 PM
'Private credit funds pose systemic risks to the financial system because of their interrelationship with the regulated banking sector, the opacity of the terms of loans, their illiquid nature, etc. No prizes for guessing where the next financial crisis will emerge' www.ft.com/content/b75b...
Probably the three things I wrote over the past year I'm happiest with are these. 1) Long essay on (de)growth in
@thenation: www.thenation.com/article/econ...
@thenation: www.thenation.com/article/econ...
The Intractable Puzzle of Growth
For more than a century, the key measure of a healthy economy has been its capacity to grow and yet if production and consumption continues to expand at their current rate we might risk the very healt...
www.thenation.com
December 30, 2024 at 1:29 PM
Probably the three things I wrote over the past year I'm happiest with are these. 1) Long essay on (de)growth in
@thenation: www.thenation.com/article/econ...
@thenation: www.thenation.com/article/econ...
Then we came to the end of another hot and lurid year www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...
World endures 'decade of deadly heat' as 2024 caps hottest years on record
UN secretary general, António Guterres, says ‘we must exit this road to ruin’ in annual new year message
www.theguardian.com
December 30, 2024 at 12:35 PM
Then we came to the end of another hot and lurid year www.theguardian.com/world/2024/d...
Reposted by Benjamin Kunkel
Isn’t this simply true? A world where there is less economic growth _is_ a more zero sum world. We can’t avoid distributional struggles when the pie isn’t growing. The already rich and wealthy have been winning these struggles for 45 years.
December 30, 2024 at 8:32 AM
Isn’t this simply true? A world where there is less economic growth _is_ a more zero sum world. We can’t avoid distributional struggles when the pie isn’t growing. The already rich and wealthy have been winning these struggles for 45 years.