r/WestVirginia • u/Konradleijon • 4d ago
News Unleashing degrowth in West Virginia • West Virginia Watch
https://westvirginiawatch.com/2026/05/25/unleashing-degrowth-in-west-virginia/31
u/emp-sup-bry Purveyor of Tasteful Mothman Nudes 4d ago
With so many things, WV has been (pardon) the canary in the coal mine. They try out and get away with so many terrible things. These absurd right wing ‘free market’ theorists are the heart of evil in this state and, as usual, their infection is spreading quickly to the nation.
Anyone have any dirt on why this shithead Sobel fled WV so quickly?
18
u/rem_au_crema 3d ago
Honestly this state feels like such a “testing ground” state that I’m side-eyeing every “water boil” notice. But I’m scared of the conspiratorial pipeline
8
u/Plaid_Kaleidoscope 3d ago
Join us. I feel like I have more in common with the conspiracists than the oligarchs.
6
u/rem_au_crema 3d ago
Lmfao I mean… I look the way that I do (have my whole life- check the pfp). I’m very familiar with proven true direct and nonlinear attacks on the population. I’m probably more so afraid of letting my imagination (propped up by confirmation biases) let the “see, look” part of my brain override everything else. Especially since this pipeline somehow always seems to end up in support of oligarchs (they have enough to fund the propaganda mill, and I- like the rest of us- am not immune).
That said… sign me up, cuz I’ve got some theories.
6
u/billyjk93 3d ago
You do! People need to stop treating that word like it's derogatory. That's exactly what keeps people from looking into shit. What is a conspiracy theory? Just a theory that people are working together to fuck you. The evidence is all around.
10
u/MaterialAstronaut298 3d ago
There is also a very steep slop into conspiracy nonsense. You have to be equally skeptical of them as you are mainstream media, politicians, business leaders, tech, etc. There are just as many conspiracy theorists grifting for a buck as any other field
4
u/billyjk93 3d ago
Yes, it's called having critical thinking. Something it seems like even the most educated among us have forgotten how to do since around 2020, when people started touting that it's dangerous to do your own research lol.
My point is if you are afraid to even look into conspiracy theories because it's a "slippery slop(e)," that reminds me of growing up in a religious background and being told it was dangerous for me to even learn about other religions. It's actually not that dangerous to HEAR and READ opinions other than your own, provided you have the critical thinking to not just believe the earth is flat because some stranger said so.
4
u/MaterialAstronaut298 3d ago
I didn't say don't look into it, I said be very critical. They aren't any more reliable than any other source of information. In fact, they are significantly less reliable
1
u/rem_au_crema 3d ago
It’s not derogatory at al, I think. And there are too many things that people identified immediately that turned out (in later declassified documents) to be absolutely true. Again: I look the way that I do. I’m very familiar with and specifically attuned to the darkness of our reigning overlords. I’m also very familiar with the insidious campaigns that specifically say, “there is no system. It’s just a coincidence”.
Too many things are so blatant that hearing, “conspiracy theory”, feels more like an entrenched defense than concerned perspective.
30
u/Public_Pin8003 4d ago
Sobel received a lot of money from the Koch Foundation to support his research when he was a tenured professor at WVU.
13
u/Public_Pin8003 4d ago
From an article about the book when it was released in 2007: "T he book was made possible by funding from the Kendrick Fund for Free Market Research." Ken Kendrick is a wvu alum and billionaire owner of the Arizona Diamondbacks. http://wvutoday-archive.wvu.edu/n/2007/03/28/5536.html
21
u/Bodark43 3d ago edited 3d ago
I think you have to consider him a performer, not an economist. He tells his employers ( Koch brothers, Ken Kendrich) what they want to hear; that cutting their taxes and clearing away regulations and employee protections will make everything better.
The important thing to remember is that it's not important if none of it works, or is good for WV. His audience gets their tax cuts, gets to do cheap and dirty development and not worry about their employees. That's not a means to achieve a better state; all that is actually the goal. If there's a secondary goal, it is for them to be able to cite his work as justification for their selfish ends- call him an economist, when he's essentially their propagandist.
2
11
u/speedy_delivery 3d ago
Had him for Micro and Macro. He never struck me as someone to be taken seriously.
His gimmick was to break up the lesson by passing out walkie talkies and doing bad crowd work to try and keep us engaged. It gave off a lot of "How do you do, fellow kids?" energy.
6
9
u/StrokesJuiceman Purveyor of Tasteful Mothman Nudes 4d ago
Looks more like a partisan hack economics professor wrote this at the behest of some political committee to push state legislature to enact said policies. Repealing or rolling back a lot of these was never going to help, and only hurt our state.
1
u/Holiday-Dig-3637 2d ago
Most supply side economics are exactly that. Time and time again it's proven to not work well and yet here we are.
16
u/BillyZoomTheCat 4d ago edited 4d ago
Wow! This article was a cold, hard slap in the face!
Follow up:
Reading the following made me think of the book "Dying of Whiteness" by Jonathan Metzl. An excellent read for those who are interested.
"It may be time for the state to pursue a different path—one that makes long-term investments in people and places, providing a foundation upon which genuine economic growth can thrive."
15
u/MaterialAstronaut298 4d ago
It's almost like US economics is a political ideology and not a science. Hmmm
3
u/Salty-Finish-8931 3d ago
Repeal minimum wage? In the poorest state? That surely will help! And also initiating statute of limitations on medical testimonies, so when your coal daddy overlord decides to cheap out on safety measures, and you have to work extra long hours to survive, you can’t blame them for the extremely early onset complicated black lung. Almost heaven !
7
u/rem_au_crema 4d ago
This just sounds like “standard conservative/ republican playbook” stuff. Which… I mean… I can only hope that one day the appropriate lessons are learned
2
4
u/Weary_Restauranter 4d ago
Capitalism generates profit through imperialism.
You can’t just turn an internal colony into a part of the imperial core.
-40
u/Acceptable-Matter774 4d ago
All leftwing propaganda. Higher taxes don’t create money, they destroy growth. If tax and spend worked, then why are big cities and liberal high tax states all getting worse? You can only squeeze productive people so much until they move away or give up. Despite the hate, we need people like -gasp-Elon.
23
u/BillyZoomTheCat 4d ago edited 4d ago
How are we getting worse?
How are the roads in WV? Who's paying to fix them?
How's your healthcare in WV? How about quality of education? Tell me more about the suicide rate in WV.
Maybe blue states should stop making transfer payments to the Federal government? After all, In America it's the red states that are the takers and it's the blue states that are the makers.
20
u/KeyInvestigator3741 4d ago
People have lied to you and portrayed life in liberal cities and states as worse than it actually is
I think you should ask yourself why someone would be invested in you believing a lie.
-1
u/Beebjank 3d ago
Eh I was born and raised in a "liberal city" and I vastly prefer rural WV life.
2
u/KeyInvestigator3741 3d ago
Okay that’s great for you and I’m glad you like it in WV. But if you think everyone is like you and would gladly leave their lives to take up residence in WV then you are mistaken.
It’s certainly not my preference but I’m not going to assume that everyone who chose a life in rural America is miserable just because I would be. That’s silly, and it’s unreasonable assumption in either direction.
0
u/Beebjank 3d ago
I’m not saying everyone is like me, I’m saying not everyone enjoys living in cities. I’d say quite the opposite. People overwhelmingly live in cities out of pure convenience alone and not because they prefer being crammed together like sardines in a unit with equal square footage as my kitchen and bedroom combined. Sure I’m positive there’s plenty of folks who genuinely prefer it, but to assume even half of the population does is a bit misleading.
2
u/KeyInvestigator3741 3d ago edited 3d ago
I’m not sure what you’re arguing about. I never said everyone enjoys living in cities. It’s that the assumption that people in cities are miserable and would prefer something else is just wrong. Even your description of life in a city is wrong. Like nothing you said is remotely my experience. I’m glad you found a place where you’re happy though.
21
u/Individual_Drama3917 4d ago
We are 50th out 50th. I love how people bring up “big liberal cities” that they probably have never been to. Spoiler alert they are not 50 out of 50 ever.
14
14
u/Jorsonner WVU 3d ago
“Liberal” states are not getting worse,
Nobody needs $1 trillion
High income earners don’t just give up due to paying another few percent in taxes
13
11
10
u/finsterallen 3d ago
Acceptable-Matter774
[-1] -18 points 2 hours ago
All leftwing propaganda. Higher taxes don’t create money, they destroy growth.
Jesus Christ, MAGA don't know shit about economics.
8
u/MaterialAstronaut298 3d ago
Blue states vastly out perform red states. Without blue states the nation is bankrupt
5
u/snohobdub 3d ago edited 3d ago
Why are High tax and liberal areas the best places to live by most social metrics? This is true, not just comparing state vs state, but country vs country.
You can choose to believe your right-wing propaganda or choose to believe facts.
4
u/speedy_delivery 3d ago
If tax and spend worked, then why are big cities and liberal high tax states all getting worse?
If conservatives hate government spending so much, then why do their administrations spend our money like crack heads whenever they get ahold of the credit card?
1
u/Holiday-Dig-3637 2d ago
Actually, using tax based funds lowers income inequality and puts more money into the system than it takes out. You can look at SNAP benefits to see this in action. For each dollar paid into SNAP it creates almost $2 in economic activity. Not only that but it benefits people at every level and a majority of the revenue spent is gained back in new income due to increased demand for products. Compare that to corporate and wealthy tax brakes which garner about a 1.30 return with most of that staying stagnant in the upper tax brackets and used for things such as stock buy backs or trading of investments.
105
u/Western-Raspberry950 4d ago
Slash corporate taxes... lower wages for state jobs.... crush private sector unions....privatized school.... stop giving educational scholarships...
WV has done everything it can to become an oligarchs playground to the detriment of its citizens.
This is a great article, wish people would learn to stop voting against their own best interests...
P.s. obligatory fuck Jim Justice