Yanis Varoufakis's Techno-Feudalism is a bold and incisive critique of the current economic system. He argues that the rise of Big Tech has fundamentally transformed our society.
VOLATILE Disruption for TechnoFeudal TESLA. TWO U.S. Lithium Ion Battery Plants EXPLODED within 2.5 months
AND in the midst of Federal Government IGNORING a DEADLY FIRE EQUIPMENT MONOPOLY ARBITRAGE that’s DOUBLED PRICES AND Delivery Time of LIFE SAVING Fire Trucks & Equipment, as well as repair times.
▪️Initial Local News Coverage after Moss Landing Lithium Battery Plant fire exploded Jan 16 ( North of Monterey & Santa Cruz)
* State of Emergency Declared Jan 21 for Monterey County- “America’s Salad Bowl” (where approximately 50% of Immigrant Farmworkers will be Deported btw)
* SAME DAY Federal Health Agencies enact a Communications BLACK OUT til Feb 1
Moss Landing CA, 300 MegaWatt Array, Lithium Battery Fire ~
@ PG&E, “Energy Storage Facility” just commissioned in 2020
“ The 300-MW battery array that burned is part of the 750-MW Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility, which occupies a decommissioned gas-fired power plant dating back to the 1950s. . . . a fire suppression system housed within one of the facility’s battery racks had failed, allowing the fire to spread. . . About 80% of the plant, and the lithium batteries it housed, were consumed in the fire, said Joel Mendoza, chief of the North Monterey County. . . this was *the fourth fire since 2020* on the property that houses Moss Landing and an adjacent 182.5-MW battery energy storage facility owned and operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. . . .”
That’s the same PG&E of the 2010 Natural Gas Pipeline explosion that levelled a Residential Area of the densely populated city of San Bruno, just south of SanFrancisco and right next door to SFO International Airport
▪️FROM Anti-Trust Economist MATT STOLLER’s BIG Substack
Did a Private Equity Fire Truck Roll-Up Worsen the L.A. Fires?
During the LA fires, dozens of fire trucks sat in the boneyard, waiting for repairs the city couldn't afford. Why? A private equity roll-up made replacing and repairing those trucks much pricier.
by BASEL MUSHARBASH Anti-Trust Attorney
JAN 25, 2025
. . . The cost of fire trucks has DOUBLED in recent years––going from around $300 -500,000 for a pumper truck and $750-900,000 for a ladder truck, in the mid-2010s, to around
⚠️$1 million for a pumper truck and $2 million for a ladder truck in the last couple years.⚠️
Meanwhile, . . . New Fire Truck Delivery Time has increased dramatically,
⚠️ from less than a year before the pandemic to anywhere from 2 to 4.5 years today⚠️
AND
It’s not just trucks, ALL FIRE EQUIPMENT is rapidly increasing in price, from air supply packs to maintenance contracts. . . .
. . . a result of a private equity firm, American Industrial Partners, consolidating the fire truck industry and forcing up prices across the board. . . .
We all have varying perspectives where some will mesh others derived from misunderstood axis. I find myself conflicted with Owen Jones, Gaza yes, but he is a russiaphobe! His writings like yannis great, one of the most disappointing was Paul mason, great post capitalist book but 5 years later politically right wing! Go figure! Only a few who totally mesh with my current perspectives, Jeffrey Sachs, Michael Hudson, Steve Keen.damien Willey., afshin rattansi.
How about we both write that social contract?
Love the Outline Format ! Thank You
VOLATILE Disruption for TechnoFeudal TESLA. TWO U.S. Lithium Ion Battery Plants EXPLODED within 2.5 months
AND in the midst of Federal Government IGNORING a DEADLY FIRE EQUIPMENT MONOPOLY ARBITRAGE that’s DOUBLED PRICES AND Delivery Time of LIFE SAVING Fire Trucks & Equipment, as well as repair times.
▪️Initial Local News Coverage after Moss Landing Lithium Battery Plant fire exploded Jan 16 ( North of Monterey & Santa Cruz)
* State of Emergency Declared Jan 21 for Monterey County- “America’s Salad Bowl” (where approximately 50% of Immigrant Farmworkers will be Deported btw)
* SAME DAY Federal Health Agencies enact a Communications BLACK OUT til Feb 1
https://youtu.be/-ehDI0Zj8IU?si=k9A8Jd58YZmx6UT8
From “Utility Dive”
Moss Landing CA, 300 MegaWatt Array, Lithium Battery Fire ~
@ PG&E, “Energy Storage Facility” just commissioned in 2020
“ The 300-MW battery array that burned is part of the 750-MW Moss Landing Energy Storage Facility, which occupies a decommissioned gas-fired power plant dating back to the 1950s. . . . a fire suppression system housed within one of the facility’s battery racks had failed, allowing the fire to spread. . . About 80% of the plant, and the lithium batteries it housed, were consumed in the fire, said Joel Mendoza, chief of the North Monterey County. . . this was *the fourth fire since 2020* on the property that houses Moss Landing and an adjacent 182.5-MW battery energy storage facility owned and operated by Pacific Gas & Electric. . . .”
That’s the same PG&E of the 2010 Natural Gas Pipeline explosion that levelled a Residential Area of the densely populated city of San Bruno, just south of SanFrancisco and right next door to SFO International Airport
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/moss-landing-battery-fire-vistra/737837/
▪️October 30, 2024
FredrickTown Missouri, EXPLOSION ROCKS LITHIUM BATTERY RECYCLING PLANT, Critical Mineral Recovery Facility, just south of St. Louis.
https://youtu.be/KPpMrc81cMs?si=pNl8-LwUaf9Z3BUo
National Fire Protection Agency
https://www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-and-articles/blogs/2024/11/01/missouri-battery-plant-fire
▪️FROM Anti-Trust Economist MATT STOLLER’s BIG Substack
Did a Private Equity Fire Truck Roll-Up Worsen the L.A. Fires?
During the LA fires, dozens of fire trucks sat in the boneyard, waiting for repairs the city couldn't afford. Why? A private equity roll-up made replacing and repairing those trucks much pricier.
by BASEL MUSHARBASH Anti-Trust Attorney
JAN 25, 2025
. . . The cost of fire trucks has DOUBLED in recent years––going from around $300 -500,000 for a pumper truck and $750-900,000 for a ladder truck, in the mid-2010s, to around
⚠️$1 million for a pumper truck and $2 million for a ladder truck in the last couple years.⚠️
Meanwhile, . . . New Fire Truck Delivery Time has increased dramatically,
⚠️ from less than a year before the pandemic to anywhere from 2 to 4.5 years today⚠️
AND
It’s not just trucks, ALL FIRE EQUIPMENT is rapidly increasing in price, from air supply packs to maintenance contracts. . . .
. . . a result of a private equity firm, American Industrial Partners, consolidating the fire truck industry and forcing up prices across the board. . . .
https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/did-a-private-equity-fire-truck-roll
I used to admire Varoufakis and quoted him in my book, How to Dismantle an Empire, in the chapter Greece Lightning: https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/greece-lightning. But since Ukraine, I've had to rethink his economic and political astuteness: https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/yanis-varoufakis-is-naive-on-ukraine.
We all have varying perspectives where some will mesh others derived from misunderstood axis. I find myself conflicted with Owen Jones, Gaza yes, but he is a russiaphobe! His writings like yannis great, one of the most disappointing was Paul mason, great post capitalist book but 5 years later politically right wing! Go figure! Only a few who totally mesh with my current perspectives, Jeffrey Sachs, Michael Hudson, Steve Keen.damien Willey., afshin rattansi.
But techno- feudalism is pretty accurate.
Nice to chat, thanks, Neil editor
What was the title of your book, I will read.
Hello, Neil! Thanks for asking, my book is here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Dismantle-Empire-2020-Vision/dp/1733347607.
I've been reading chapters into my Substack, with the text. So far, in order, I have:
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/01-a-democracy-of-slaveowners
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/02-making-a-market-for-plunder
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/03-white-slavery
And a few others I've put in out of order, like the one on Greece and:
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/libya-swept-away-by-the-currency
https://thirdparadigm.substack.com/p/what-if-money-was-no-object