Will Beaman

Will Beaman

@greenbackbetter.bsky.social

Will (he/him) on Zoom Bassist for HR Lady and the Smoothgroins @moneyontheleft.bsky.social

2.4K followers2.9K following4.5K posts

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I wrote about the political implications of detaching public financing from zero sum taxpayer mechanisms. In the context of the Seattle Loop here, but that is the bigger picture. Hope you share and enjoy!! 💥💸

Money on the Left@moneyontheleft.bsky.social

✨ New Essay! ✨ Against Councilmember Robert Kettle’s recent call for budget austerity, @greenbackbetter.bsky.social shows how the Seattle Loop enlarges the city's fiscal capacity while reorganizing the relationships among public commitments, institutions, & constituencies. Please read & share! 👩‍💻 🙌

Will Beaman reposted

I would love to live in a world where "President faces new rape allegation" isn't treated like a dog bites man story in the major media.

Will Beaman reposted

Two things one hears often in Left spaces: "They've got money, we've got people" + "to pay for it, tax the rich." But the fuller, more powerful truth is that the Left can build monetary power—for money is a product of politics. Public finance is the terrain of struggle that connects to all others.

Money on the Left@moneyontheleft.bsky.social

"Whereas the luminaries of Ancient Greece adopted a complex allegorical view of the gods, modern economic commentators across the political spectrum worship revenues as deadly literal deities, imagined to be the supreme fulcrum of all future finance."

Will Beaman reposted

Frederick Douglass Haynes III's congressional priorities sound great to me: ✅ Abolish ICE ✅ End US imperialism ✅ Third Reconstruction ✅ Race-conscious economic justice ✅ Keep impeachment *on* the table ✅ Create a “true cost-of-living wage” ✅ Name and oppose white (supremacist) Christian nationalism

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Will Beaman reposted

I really don't understand why this isn't done EVERYWHERE!!!

Money on the Left@moneyontheleft.bsky.social

"By creating a city-owned public bank, Seattle can not only provide residents with low-cost financial services; it can also buy its own debt and pay interest to the city instead of private creditors."

Yes and beyond technology, nation-states have NEVER been these tenuous temporary achievements of interdependence among individuals and their families. Shared and inescapable problems of ecosocial provision come first. Then borders, families etc. participate in and often obfuscate these problems.

Dan Mauler 🎃@meelar.bsky.social

I just think Matt's wrong about this. We're at a point in our technological development where a ton of problems spill over national borders--if Flavio Bolsonaro burns down the Amazon, that will flood houses in Miami.

It’s just wild that so many progressives assume that penciling in space for people to fail and be punished by market forces will lead to progressive outcomes. You’re basically just offering reassurance that there will still be an underclass that deserves what it gets.

I hate that where progressive Dems are at rhetorically is “I want Americans to get a fair opportunity to succeed,” like the problem is the laws of the jungle aren’t being enforced correctly

This is good but progressive Dems must be willing to investigate and embarrass their Third Way colleagues who are obstructing accountability. Paint them rhetorically as collaborators.

Leaders of the No Kings movement are already gearing up for the next major grassroots campaign: Making sure congressional Democrats don’t wimp out. My first piece at @newrepublic.com! (Reposted to update link card) newrepublic.com/article/2168...

I’ve already sent this to multiple family members. A wonderful, clear statement useful beyond 2026.

Erin Reed@erininthemorning.com

The elections are on next Tuesday, and so much is at stake, including the soul of the Democratic Party when it comes to transgender people. I am asking you to leave a very small number of races blank in which a Democrat has embraced extreme anti-trans hate. I make my case here.

Matt Yglesias follows and roots for the global far right, which is why he doesn’t want anyone else to be paying attention

Dan Mauler 🎃@meelar.bsky.social

I just think Matt's wrong about this. We're at a point in our technological development where a ton of problems spill over national borders--if Flavio Bolsonaro burns down the Amazon, that will flood houses in Miami.

The main point of national borders is to traumatize the global problem of dependence and responsibility by coming up with an artificial starting point and organizing responsibility and irresponsibility around it

Good thread. I’ll add that the task of theorizing existing institutions on terms on terms other than national sovereignty is urgently important. Even institutions that claim to originate in the nation-state, sovereign law, etc. are involved in and shaped by the social order beyond those scales.

Dan Nexon@dhnexon.net

National borders have *never* been containers for politics and political processes. I don't have time to write a full thread, so here are some resources.

View full thread

This impulse to localize and contain politics and dependence is everywhere, including in theories of interdependence that are built from this micro foundation. It’s a dead end, it’s anti-social and reactionary in its implication.

Good thread. I’ll add that the task of theorizing existing institutions on terms on terms other than national sovereignty is urgently important. Even institutions that claim to originate in the nation-state, sovereign law, etc. are involved in and shaped by the social order beyond those scales.

Dan Nexon@dhnexon.net

National borders have *never* been containers for politics and political processes. I don't have time to write a full thread, so here are some resources.

And in fact, rejecting sovereignty ad the basis for allegedly sovereign institutions makes all kinds of psychoanalytic explanations available for the patterns of institutional violence that are formed to shore up sovereignty’s false claims to exception and unilateral control.

Will Beaman reposted

The elections are on next Tuesday, and so much is at stake, including the soul of the Democratic Party when it comes to transgender people. I am asking you to leave a very small number of races blank in which a Democrat has embraced extreme anti-trans hate. I make my case here.

erininthemorning.comDon’t Vote For The Worst Anti-Trans DemocratsThe Democratic Party should, and likely will, win big in the midterms. We must not send the worst anti-trans voices to join them.

Will Beaman reposted

Will Beaman reposted

Replying to @brunodias.dev

It is also, obviously, ethically grotesque, just a fucking evil thing to do, which is perhaps something we ought to start caring about with regards to elected officials.

Will Beaman reposted

Replying to @brunodias.dev

It is in a lot of ways just an abdication of responsibility, of taking a role in forming the political environment. It's the fundamental problem of shallow popularism; you assume you're just a powerless actor reacting to the "preferences" of the "median voter", which is a loser's way of thinking.

Will Beaman reposted

Replying to @brunodias.dev

There's a constant low-level discussion on English-language bluesky about the electoral consequences of transphobic rhetoric from left-liberals but I think it's honestly worse than "they might not vote for you", it's more like, you're cutting yourself off from political labor and talent.

We need all hands on deck tracking the bizarre geography of soft defections from Trump

Amanda Marcotte@amandamarcotte.bsky.social

Ha, we watch a lot of Jesse Watters clips for "Standing Room Only" and have been joking about this. Jesse is an evil piece of shit, etc. But also it's pretty funny how even he seems bored by the Fox News culture war crap. www.salon.com/2026/10/25/e...

Will Beaman reposted

Lula has been reelected president, Brazilian media has now called. An extraordinary comeback for the left-wing politician who trailed by 2 points in round 1 but managed to hold off Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president's son.

Will Beaman reposted

In his acceptance speech, Lula says he will work to regulate digital platforms in Brazil. “Digital crimes must be dealt with like real-life crimes.” This comes after Meta directly interfered with the Brazilian elections, favouring Flávio Bolsonaro.

Will Beaman reposted

it is my deepest and most fervent wish that the tech oligarchs suffer consequences for openly allying with fascism the world over maybe we can extradite zuck in 2029

Rafa Sales Ross@rafiews.com

In his acceptance speech, Lula says he will work to regulate digital platforms in Brazil. “Digital crimes must be dealt with like real-life crimes.” This comes after Meta directly interfered with the Brazilian elections, favouring Flávio Bolsonaro.

You wouldn’t take bricks out of your house to make it look more sustainable on paper, because that would obviously be at odds with its actual material sustainability. Yet this is where we’re at with public finance…

Will Beaman reposted

Yesterday, Josh Turek released one of the worst anti-transgender ads to come from a Democrat this election cycle. It called for a federal funding ban on gender affirming care, which would impact countless trans Americans. Here is our article on the ad you have all undoubtedly seen by now.

erininthemorning.comIowa Dem Josh Turek Releases Anti-trans Ad Calling For A Federal Funding Ban On Trans CareThe impact of Turek’s proposal would be profoundly harmful for transgender people.

Will Beaman reposted

one thing I will say about the preemptive pardon bullshit is it is not the behavior of a group of people who have a definitive plan to retain power forever

Matt Yglesias should at least *acknowledge* the opposing view: You’re more likely to secure trans rights in the long run if compromise on that issue is considered untenable in the Democratic Party chip. The outcome of one race is less important than that long term stake in the party.

Matthew Yglesias @mattyglesias.bsky.social

I haven't studied Kaptur's race closely, but I've been following Iowa and Turek winning seems pretty clearly better for trans rights.