
Millions of Americans could lose their electricity as shutoff moratoriums expire - claudeganon
https://carbonswitch.co/energy-insecurity-and-covid-19
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noodlesUK
Why is punitive electricity shutoff a thing at all, let alone in a pandemic?
Losing A/C or a fridge’s worth of food can be a death sentence for some people
who are on the edge, or more commonly push them over into homelessness. Same
goes for water. Society is judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. Liens
can be placed on houses, collections can be done other ways, or we can just
forgive and forget. The taxpayer built the grids, and in many places
subsidises generation. We don’t have to be cruel.

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dopylitty
The cruelty is the point.

The US is a country where farmers destroy food while people go hungry. It’s a
country where houses sit empty for months while people go homeless. It’s a
country where one person amassed $200 billion while millions of others have to
ration their life sustaining medications because they can’t afford to pay for
them.

The economic system is totally unfit for purpose and the values system is
completely inverted, valuing channeling wealth to the already wealthy while
punishing those who aren’t every step they take.

~~~
bonchicbongenre
This. It is an intended feature, not a bug, and it's either willfully
ignorant, stunningly uninformed, or intentionally malicious to obfuscate this.
To whoever reflexively downvoted the parent comment just because it tells an
uncomfortable truth about America: your actions are part of the problem.

~~~
SpicyLemonZest
I didn't downvote the comment, but this seems like an extraordinarily
combative response to what you assume others are thinking about a pretty
unclear issue. When you say it's an intended feature, for example, who is it
specifically that intends the feature? I've never seen anyone say it's a good
thing for poor people to go without electricity, but perhaps you have.

~~~
aaomidi
Generally anyone who believes in free-market capitalism will say this is an
intended feature.

Have you never heard of "actions have consequences?"

You're probably not going to hear someone just outright say this is good but
they will allude to it.

Deep down they know it's bad, hence why most won't just come and say
homelessness is a good thing.

~~~
SpicyLemonZest
If they don't say it's good, and they know deep down it's not good, in what
sense do they support it? Again, I'd be interested to read up on it if you
have examples in mind, but every "free market capitalism" person I'm familiar
with agrees it'd be great if everyone had electricity and nobody was homeless.

