Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #BindingArbitration
Most recents (5)
America is a world leader in allowing private companies to levy taxes on its citizens, including (stay with me here), *a tax on paying your taxes*.
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If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2023/05/17/fre…
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pluralistic.net/2023/05/17/fre…
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In most of the world, tax authorities prepare everyone's returns, sending a form with all their tax details - collected from employers and other regulated entities, like pension funds and commodities brokers, who must report income to the tax office.
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Every year, Americans spend billions on #TaxPrep services, paying a heavily concentrated industry of giant, wildly profitable firms to send the #IRS information it already has. 1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2023/02/20/tur… 2/
pluralistic.net/2023/02/20/tur… 2/
Despite the fact that most other rich countries have a far more efficient process, many Americans believe that adopting this process here is either impossible, immoral, or both. 3/
When George Hayward was a Facebook data-scientist, his bosses ordered him to run a #NegativeTest, updating Messenger to deliberately drain users' batteries to determine how power-hungry various options were. Hayward refused. FB fired him. He sued:
nypost.com/2023/01/28/fac… 1/
nypost.com/2023/01/28/fac… 1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/bat… 2/
pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/bat… 2/
Hayward balked because he knew that among the 1.3 billion people who use Messenger, some would be placed in harm's way if Facebook deliberately drained their batteries. 3/
Here's a media literacy rule of thumb: any time you hear about how the courts have done something outrageous and absurd to some poor, long-suffering, gigantic, wildly profitable corporation...*dig deeper*. 1/
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/hot… 2/
pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/hot… 2/
The canonical example is the "McDonald's Hot Coffee Story" (aka *Liebeck v. McDonald's*). You know, that time an old lady got burned by her McDonald's coffee and sued for for $2.7 million?! Most people heard about it - and they heard it for a reason.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v… 3/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v… 3/
Ever hear of #BindingArbitration? That's a clause in a contract that says that you aren't allowed to sue the company you're doing business with, even if they cheat, maim or kill you. 1/
It was invented to let giant companies of equal size and power agree in advance not to spend billions and decades in court to resolve contractual disputes. 2/
Then, Federalist Society judges led by Antonin Scalia cleared the way for arbitration to be crammed down everyday folks' throats by powerful businesses. 3/
