The year is 2021.

No one under 25 will ever be able to own a home in Canada.

Starbucks has been gentrified by cannabis shops, the only companies that can afford to operate.

The biggest drug dealer is now the Province of Ontario, run by an alleged former pot dealer.
2/ The alleged former drug dealer’s only qualifications are helping his brother, the former mayor of the country’s largest city.

He had lost his gig due to being caught smoking crack numerous times. No one else was qualified they said, in a city filled with brilliant people.
3/ Above him, a mild mannered Chad who only received his position due to his father, who had also been the leader of the country.

The ruling party ran him, despite his years in leadership being less than the number of public videos of him in blackface. No one else was qualified.
4/ which didn’t matter. The country wasn’t so much a country as it was a front for transnational criminals to wash their money.

It became home to not just the largest transnational criminal organizations, but the top 3.
5/ The police weren’t corrupt, so much has handicapped by its management.

In one example, they had been informed of wide scale money laundering. Shortly after, budget cuts had eliminated the dept to investigate it
6/ The spy service and national police force had warned that a foreign country was purchasing its land to control leaders.

They tried to silence the reports. An agent fighting suppression leaked it for the greater good.

The gov labeled their own intelligence conspiracy.
7/ The economy was booming though. Largely due to home prices rapidly escalating. A boom led by real estate development.

No one would know that one of the biggest developers had been accused of being the real estate developer for organized crime in NYC during the 1980s.
8/ And why should they? The country had carefully constructed its laws so that journalists would need to have stronger evidence than law enforcement.

Ironically, law enforcement only acted when journalists revealed big stories.

No one could report. No one could act.

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More from @StephenPunwasi

4 Nov
Just so we're clear, inflation was never transitory.

Most central banks are ending quantitative ease (QE) now, and the US on track to end it by the middle of next year.

QE is a policy tool used to drive inflation higher. They meant their use of high inflation was transitory.
2/ "Keynes argues that inflation is “a method of taxation” which the government uses to “secure the command over real resources..."
-- US Federal Reserve (Richmond)

Most people think this is paid by the rich, but it really isn't.
3/ The rich have ways of avoiding the impacts of inflation. Not hedges, but ways to actually capitalize on this growth. Asset value growth is a consequence of QE.

It's the working-class wage earners that see their buying power disappear.
Read 4 tweets
26 Oct
Been a minute. What’s new with me?

Not much, but I’m in the middle of a fun dispute with @Facebook.

So here’s a quick thread on how social media shapes society, and unlike most platforms — Facebook is actually dangerous for democracy.

<thread> 🧵👇
2/ First, let’s talk about dopamine, likes, and how social media shapes your behavior.

Dopamine is how your brain rewards you for behavior it likes. Note, I said “it likes,” not what’s good for you.

The goal is to get you hooked on repeating that behavior.
3/ All humans crave social approval.

Social media makes that easier than ever. Make a post people like, they’ll favorite it.

The platform (or publisher) then sends you a push notification, along with a fresh hit of dopamine.

This isn’t an accident. It’s engineered this way.
Read 24 tweets
3 Sep
The Bank of Canada made borrowing cheaper than inflation.

Now just 3 massive funds own over 10% of primary rental housing in West Toronto... but concentrated in a 12-block radius.

Quick thread on 🇨🇦 serving up the poor on a platter.
🧵👇 #Toronto

@Hulchanski @Martine_August
2. Pensions and institutional investors usually have a massive fixed-income strategy. This is income that comes in regularly.

It's usually bonds. Bonds are essentially owning an issuer's debt, and the yield is the interest they pay to you regularly.
3. Bond yields are determined by how much capital is in the system. If everyone wants to lend you money, you don't have to pay a lot.

Think of Zuckerberg, who pays less than 1% on his mortgage.

The opposite is also true. Think of people with bad credit, that have to pay extra.
Read 11 tweets
1 Sep
Income taxes are a tax on labor.

Property taxes are a tax on the monopoly of public resources.

Why are property taxes so low, while labor taxes are so high?

Your first hint is the class of people who designed the tax system.
2. The one thing (real) capitalists and socialists agree on is land is prone to a natural monopoly.

Monopolies are against the public’s interest, so the theory is it needs to be made inefficient to hold land without a real use.

Thread for folks asking for an explanation.
3. Life is ideally a balance between private wealth and the interest of the public.

The Lauderdale Paradox is one of the first explorations into the concept.

Every gain a private person makes, uses public resources. Improvements to life come at the expense of the public. 🤷‍♂️🧵👇
Read 4 tweets
29 Aug
What if socialism is the secret to great hair? 🧐 Image
2. Exhibit B. @David_Moscrop before and after socialism. 🧐 ImageImage
3. exhibit C. @elonmusk before and after billions in government subsidies. Coincidence? 🧐🤷‍♂️ ImageImage
Read 4 tweets
26 Aug
🇨🇦 proving it’s a banana republic.

The first election where people under 40 will outnumber Boomers…

… and 🇨🇦 won’t be setting up campus voting for the first time in decades because of “… the minority government situation.”

#cdnpoli #ItsOurVote
What Elections Canada is doing is voter suppression.

If this happened in 🇺🇸, Canadians would talk about how GOP is corrupt and they’re so glad they live in 🇨🇦.

Now that the elections officer Trudeau appointed removed access to voters he polls poorly with? Silence. 🤷‍♂️

#Elxn44
I don’t think the Liberals know how shitty this looks, but give it a few days.

Elections Canada is galvanizing distrust in your governance with young people right now.
Read 4 tweets

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