In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Greg Palast, known for his investigative reports for The Guardian and BBC Television and author of New York Times bestsellers including The Best Democracy Money Can Buy to discuss the state of voting rights in Georgia and Florida as Florida’s right-wing Governor Ron DeSantis has established an Office of Election Crimes and Security that has arrested Black voters, how Black voters in Georgia were disenfranchised in Georgia by right-wing officials who challenged their eligibility, and the historical legacy of Black voter disenfranchisement in Georgia that reaches back to Reconstruction.
In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Sputnik News journalist and correspondent Wyatt Reed to discuss an on-the-ground report on the wave of strikes over inflation and increases in the cost of living in France, the selection of Rishi Sunak as the new Prime Minister of the UK and how the economic crisis in that country may affect his premiership, and what these issues imply about politics in western Europe as the effects of sanctions on Russia continue to have a blowback effect on the countries which imposed sanctions.
In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, co-host of the CovertAction Bulletin podcast to discuss a new report which details how going viral on TikTok can open creators up to harassment and what that reveals about alienation after the pandemic, how Ring cameras and other surveillance technology has outsourced surveillance of “gig economy” delivery workers to customers and fostered an attitude of fear, a new lawsuit in Texas challenging Google’s use of biometric data without consent as challenges in other states continue, and Elon Musk’s proposal to cut up to three quarters of Twitter’s workforce.
Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Maurice Cook, founder of Serve Your City to discuss the upcoming midterm elections and why the concept of harm reduction is misunderstood and not applicable to voting for Democrats, how the Democrats’ failure to deliver on their campaign promises and to address the top issues on voters’ minds is what ultimately set the stage for their failure, how the failure of Democrats provides an opportunity for organizers to present a real alternative to the electoral system, and why the disempowerment of Black people in America can only be challenged by a movement outside of the electoral system.
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