Biden Doubles Down on Personal Responsibility Rhetoric Amid Omicron Surge

Disastrous Student Loan Repayment, Rahm Emanuel Made Ambassador To Japan, Misogynist Tech Violence Continues

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Dr. Linwood Tauheed, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City to discuss the looming continuance of federal student loan repayments as the economy continues to lag, how Joe Biden already has the authority to cancel this debt and refuses to do so, how this will impact working people who will have to add loan repayment back into their expenses as multiple economic crises continue to unfold, and the disproportionate impact of repayment on people of color.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Don Gross, organizer in Chicago with the Party for Socialism and Liberation to discuss the appointment of Rahm Emanuel to the ambassadorship of the US to Japan despite the attempted cover-up of the murder of Laquan McDonald, Emanuel’s broader record as mayor of Chicago around education and public health, and how placing Emanuel fits into the cold war drive against China

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, the editor of TechforthePeople.org to discuss the use of artificial intelligence to create pornographic deepfakes of women, the danger of a recently uncovered Log4j vulnerability and how its maintenance by volunteers highlights a risky foundation of important features, how volunteers maintain much of the global capitalist tech infrastructure, and Verizon’s push to collect data from its customers for advertising.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Dr. Charisse Burden-Stelly, assistant professor of Africana Studies and Political Science at Carleton College, Visiting Scholar with the Race and Capitalism Project at the University of Chicago, and author of the book, “W.E.B. Du Bois: A Life in American History.” to discuss Joe Biden’s COVID-19 containment plan and its shortcomings, the individualization and “personal responsibility” messaging coming out of the White House about the pandemic, the legacy of Thomas Sankara in light of current struggles around student loan debt and the failure to pass the Build Back Better bill, and the performativity of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her congratulating of Gabriel Boric.

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