Trudeau bans Tiktok from operating in Canada, but not banning Canadians from using it? Essentially just forcing Tiktok to close their Canadian offices and lay off their employees. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/tiktok-canada-review-1.7375965
He knows he’s dead. He may as well destroy as many drones as possible going out. An Incredible man. Also great post… Totally correct about fascists. Their inversion of good and evil is what drives their whole world. An Israeli will look at the video and see weakness. Then they will make a tik tok dance wearing Palestinians underwear. They have no basis in truth
We were banning TikTok because it is a huge national security threat, but also we need to roll the TikTok ban back because it hurts the influencers! Congress panics realizing no one is going to buy TikTok before the ban (a problem they created!), with Sen. Schumer saying: " It’s clear that more time is needed to find an American buyer and not disrupt the lives and livelihoods of millions of Americans of so many influencers who have built up a good network of followers." https://x.com/kenklippenstein/status/1880007290830688609
Prediction markets are scamming the working class. Polymarket and Kalshi claim they are “democratizing finance,” but their business model enables a handful of elites to fleece their customers. On Polymarket just 0.04% of traders capture 70% of the profits. Producer, Trevor Hayes Editor, Joey Yee Animation, Joey Yee Videographers, Justin Feltman, Jack Belisle, Cristian Peña Sound, Paul Schmitz Video Production Manager, Isabel Atalaya Video Production Coordinator, Jodi Clemens VIdeo Production Fellow, Astrid Dong More Perfect Union is an Emmy-winning, nonprofit newsroom whose mission is to build power for working people. Here’s what that means: We report on the real struggles and challenges of the working class from a working-class perspective. We attempt to connect those problems to potential solutions. We report on the abuses and wrongdoing of corporate power. And we seek to hold accountable the ultra-rich who have too much power over America’s political and economic systems. To support our independent journalism, subscribe, donate, and follow our other pages through the links below: Help fund our reporting: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mpu-splash Substack: https://substack.perfectunion.us/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moreperfectunion Twitter: https://twitter.com/MorePerfectUS Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/moreperfectunion.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MorePerfectUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perfectunion/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@perfectunion Website: https://www.perfectunion.us/ From More Perfect Union via This RSS Feed.
SC has upheld the ban on Tiktok lmao https://www.cnbc.com/2025/01/17/supreme-court-rules-to-uphold-tiktok-ban.html Now its up to the executive to enforce it. Biden has decided to leave it up to trump, and trump has signaled he won’t enforce it either
This is from November 2024 but tiktok hires Israeli intelligence freaks in their operations (https://www.mintpressnews.com/288710-tiktok-isnt-anti-israel-its-hired-unit-8200-agents-to-run-its-affairs/288710/) so it’s been kind of funny reading some recent stuff on the whole ban attempt.
If you’re ready to build a world for the 99%, join us. Go to mpuniversity.us to learn more and plug in. More Perfect Union is an Emmy-winning, nonprofit newsroom whose mission is to build power for working people. Here’s what that means: We report on the real struggles and challenges of the working class from a working-class perspective. We attempt to connect those problems to potential solutions. We report on the abuses and wrongdoing of corporate power. And we seek to hold accountable the ultra-rich who have too much power over America’s political and economic systems. To support our independent journalism, subscribe, donate, and follow our other pages through the links below: Help fund our reporting: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mpu-splash Substack: https://substack.perfectunion.us/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@moreperfectunion Twitter: https://twitter.com/MorePerfectUS Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/moreperfectunion.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MorePerfectUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perfectunion/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@perfectunion Website: https://www.perfectunion.us/ From More Perfect Union via This RSS Feed.
How exactly is the US Attorney’s Office threatening to prosecute social media users for “doxxing” DOGE employees, and pressuring them to ban/tempban part of the platform, not news? If that’s not news, why is the TikTok ban news?
---- Malgré ses 700 000 signatures, la pétition contre la loi Yadan a été classée sans être débattue par les députés, au motif qu’un débat doit déjà avoir lieu avant le vote du texte, indépendamment de cette initiative citoyenne. Décryptage avec Cyprien Caddeo et Émilio Meslet. Disponible aussi en podcast : Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/7Lfq9hAm5UFyuBoaJE7J3w Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1892378060 Deezer https://www.deezer.com/show/1002867401 Soutenir l’Humanité avec un don https://www.humanite.fr/don Accéder aux contenus exclusifs https://abonnement.humanite.fr/ Instagram https://instagram.com/lhumanitefr Twitch https://twitch.tv/lhumanitefr TikTok https://tiktok.com/@lhumanitefr Twitter https://x.com/humanite_fr Bluesky : https://bsky.app/profile/humanite.fr Threads https://www.threads.net/@lhumanitefr Facebook https://www.facebook.com/humanite.fr
https://redlib.catsarch.com/r/stupidpol/comments/1smk05u/tiktok_trend_shows_men_training_to_attack_women/
The Zionist new owners of the Telegraph — already a hard-right, pro-Israel rag — have made support for Israel compulsory among its staff. Despite claiming ‘free speech’ as a core value, support for Israel is also “core” and non-negotiable — and second on its list of priorities. Germany’s Axel Springer media is taking over the paper after the Labour government of ‘Zionist without qualification’ Keir Starmer approved the buy-out. Group boss Mathias Döpfner has told staff, including journalists, that the values of the group’s founders are: …freedom, freedom of expression, the rule of law, and democracy. …the right of Israel to exist and oppos[ing] all forms of antisemitism. …advocat[ing] the transatlantic alliance between the United States and Europe. For good measure, Döpfner made clear that he expects his writers to toe this partisan line completely, telling them that there is “no such thing as neutral journalism”. He expects the Telegraph’s ‘journalism’ to be “pluralistic and surprising, fair, and fact-based” — but clearly it must always be pro-Israel. The Telegraph rejects both discrimination and Palestinians A journalist at the rag told Owen Johns that: To be firmly told by our new parent company-to-be’s CEO that the second most important guiding principle is affirming the right of a country committing genocide and ethnic cleansing is more than a little concerning. It also raises the question of how any reporting from the paper can be considered factual if that is our core principle. While the paper’s principle list says it “rejects” “all forms of discrimination”, this is not compatible with support for an apartheid ethno-supremacist state still attacking, and stealing land from, its neighbours as well as committing genocide against the Palestinian people that it openly wants gone. The list also says it rejects “political and religious extremism”, but that is not compatible with the ethno-fascism of an occupation that has just passed a death penalty law that only applies to Palestinians and routinely rapes and tortures the thousands of civilians it holds in indefinite detention. Rather, as Jones notes: Instead, “oppose all forms of antisemitism” is fused directly with “support the right of Israel to exist.” That conflation matters. Because we know that defenders of Israel have repeatedly blurred the line between antisemitism and opposition to the actions of the Israeli state. The group’s late founder made explicitly clear how he expects his companies — and indeed European society as a whole – to apply this ‘support’ for Israel. Axel Springer — in a quote still featured on the corporation’s website — said that Israel is “not just any state” and that: It is the task of our generation to stand firmly by Israel’s side, even if this causes difficulties for our policies elsewhere… [Israel] does not need encouragement, but advocacy… [this is] a German duty. So committed was Springer to the cause of the ethno-state that his company still boasts, on the same page, that if it wouldn’t have had an adverse impact on sales, he would have “print[ed] his papers in Hebrew”. In case the point isn’t clear enough, it then adds: At the end of the 1960s, a research institute discovered that there was one single topic on which Axel Springer’s newspapers all took the same stance – namely Israel. Axel Springer dealt confidently with such accusations: “Does anyone want to turn that into an accusation? That’s something I carry with great composure.” His successor Döpfner, clearly cut from the same cloth, told employees at the group’s German companies that anyone who had an issue with the company flying the Israeli flag should “look for a new job”. But even that was too wishy-washy. Döpfner later said that his political worldview was: Zionism über alles which means, “Zionism above everything”. ‘Palestinian’ is ‘antisemitism’ He also described support for Palestine and opposition to Israel’s Gaza genocide as “an almost global wave of antisemitism”, and condemned TikTok’s users for posting millions of comments supporting the Palestinians but only a few tens of thousands “standing by Israel”. “Free Palestine”, said Israeli Presidential Medal of Honor recipient Döpfner, equated to “pro-Hamas”. Döpfner has also amplified false atrocity propaganda about the events of 7 October 2023, including the long-debunked ‘beheaded babies’ lie. His reference to TikTok is significant. When the US Israel lobby realised that TikTok’s mostly young user base was using the platform to share information about Israel’s genocide and crimes against humanity, its first reaction was to have the US government ban it. However, it then solved the issue by the ultra-Zionist billionaire Ellison family buying its operations outside China — along with US news outlet CBS. No more pro-Palestinian ‘problem’ in either of them. The purchase of the Telegraph was not necessary to quell any pro-Palestinian output — there was none. But it forms part of the lobby’s push for control of UK ‘mainstream’ media and this country’s political narrative. Far-right media moves further right It also bodes ill for freedom of speech in the UK. Keir Starmer is already waging war on pro-Palestinian speech, journalism and activism, but the Springer purchase of the Telegraph will only push that even further. German tabloid Bild, one of the company’s main media outlets, has — as Al Jazeera reported — relentlessly demonised anti-genocide demonstrators as “antisemites”, “mobs” and “Israel-haters”, both in Germany and in the US. Germany’s state enforcers treat peaceful anti-genocide protesters even more brutally and dishonestly than in the US and UK. For the Telegraph, the buy-out means “business as usual, but even more intensely”. For what survives of free speech and democracy in the UK it is a very bad sign indeed. Featured image via the Canary By Skwawkbox From Canary via This RSS Feed.
(TikTok screencap)
A police official in Arizona has been placed on administrative leave after showing up armed to a student-led protest and provoking an altercation that led to the arrest of a teenage girl. The officer told fellow police who arrived on the scene that he attended the students’ immigration rights protest with the intent of acting as an agent provocateur, according to a news report Dusten Mullen, a sergeant with the Phoenix Police Department, has been suspended with pay pending an internal review of his conduct at a protest at Hamilton High School in Chandler, Arizona, on January 30, according to Phoenix Police Chief Matthew Giordano. “As law enforcement professionals, we are held to higher standards of conduct — both in and out of uniform,” Giordano said. “When we fall short, we must be accountable, and we will not tolerate actions which undermine the trust the community has placed in the Department.” Fox 10 Phoenix, the outlet to first identify Mullen, reported that Mullen told Chandler Police Department officers on the scene that he was there in the hopes of getting a rise out of the kids that would then allow the local cops to cuff them. “My plan is legitimately to just let them all assault me and you guys arrest them all and I’ll keep it on film,” Mullen said, according to a police report obtained by the local TV news site. “I also have other people filming from a distance.” The protest at Hamilton High School was one of dozens of student-led walkouts that took place across the greater Phoenix area that day, coming just over a week after the killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection officers in Minneapolis. At Hamilton High, several hundred students walked out and rallied along a thoroughfare, chanting and holding signs decrying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mullen, who in 2025 drew a salary of $336,518, is suspended with pay and was required to surrender his badge and gun pending the outcome of the investigation, according to a spokesperson for the department. Steve Serbalik, an attorney representing Mullen, said his client was within his rights as a member of the public to voice his disagreement with the students. “Placing Sgt. Mullen on administrative leave and issuing a media advisory that suggests misconduct based solely on his lawful, off-duty expressive activity appears to chill the exercise of constitutionally protected speech and risks violating both federal and state constitutional guarantees,” Serbalik wrote in a letter sent Monday to Giordano and shared with The Intercept. “I respectfully urge you to immediately reconsider and lift the administrative leave, withdraw or correct the media advisory, and ensure that any ongoing review fully respects Sgt. Mullen’s constitutional rights.” Gun at Teenagers’ Protest Mullen’s appearance at the protest sent a wave of fear through some attendees. Megan Craghead, whose 18-year-old son attends Hamilton High School, showed up that day because her 13-year-old daughter wanted to take part in the protest. Craghead told The Intercept it was a peaceful, upbeat scene, and most passersby honked in support of the rally. Mullen concealed his face with a neck gaiter and wore a handgun, along with several extra magazines on his hip. That changed suddenly when a pair of girls came running toward her yelling about a man with a gun. “He was just walking up and down the sidewalk, talking kind of smugly and yelling at the kids,” Craghead recalled. “It felt like something that could easily escalate into something that’s going to be traumatic for all of these teenagers.” As soon as she heard about an armed man on the scene, Craghead sent her daughter away with Craghead’s sister. “We had no idea why he was there, he’s wearing a mask, and even if he did not plan to use his gun, we still don’t know what’s going to happen, right?” Craghead said. “We had all just witnessed the shooting of Alex Pretti, where he was at a protest with a gun and he ended up getting shot and killed. And so even if this armed person did not touch his gun, we still don’t know what’s going to happen.” In a TikTok video from the scene, Mullen was seen in a T-shirt emblazoned with an American flag and the words “Trump 2024” and “We took the country back.” He concealed his face with a neck gaiter and wore a handgun, along with several extra magazines on his hip. Surrounded by young people jeering at him, he told a Chandler Police Department that he had been assaulted as he appeared to record the scene on a cellphone. “Nobody assaulted you,” one person told Mullen. “Grown-ass man, out here with a gun crying about a little kid,” another person said. In the wake of the incident, the Chandler Police Department told reporters that a girl was arrested for throwing a water bottle at Mullen, but video of the incident published by Fox 10 appears to show just water — no bottle — hitting him. The charges against the girl were later dropped by the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office. A spokesperson for the Chandler Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Department With a History Chandler, a city of about 275,000 people, lies in an area known as the East Valley, and its deep-purple electorate is not particularly known for progressive activism. Amid the deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis and heightened border tensions in Arizona, however, many students could see a direct impact on their own lives or those of their friends, according to Craghead. [ Related ICE Held an NYC Child Incommunicado at Secret Hotels, Then Deported Him](https://theintercept.com/2025/08/18/ice-children-hotel-detention-nyc-deported/) “They’re seeing a lot of their friends that are immigrants or have immigrant families feeling really scared right now,” she said. “There’s a lot of things happening in politics that are not directly affecting the lives of teenagers, but this is one of those things that they can see has a direct impact on their own lives.” Bill Moore, a defense attorney in Phoenix, said he was pleased to see Mullen placed on administrative leave, citing the department’s history of frequently failing to hold its personnel accountable — part of a pattern of misconduct and impunity severe enough to trigger a civil-rights probe by the Justice Department in 2024. “The ‘blue line’ thing is still very much a thing here,” Moore said, referring to an unwritten code where police look out for one another instead of pursuing complaints about misconduct. “That they took this action tells me that their internal investigation must be fairly damning.” The revelation that the armed man who showed up to the protest in January was actually a cop sent ripples of anger through the community, according to Brandy Reese, a co-leader of the local Indivisible chapter for Chandler and the neighboring city of Gilbert. “I find it especially upsetting that he went there armed,” said Reese, who was observing the protest that day from the sidelines. “Why did he feel he needed to do that? I think the whole situation is unfortunate and upsetting.” Craghead, the mother of the protest attendees, said her opinion of what should happen to Mullen has gone back and forth in the days since she learned that a police sergeant was the masked, armed man who she had seen trying to pick a fight with the kids at the rally. After an initial reaction of wanting his immediate termination, she wondered if he wasn’t within his First and Second Amendment rights to show up, off-duty and armed. “He went there with the purpose of agitating children to get them to break the law so that they could be arrested, or worse.” The more she’s thought about it, she said, the more she’s felt anger at his conduct. “We have a duty to hold our public safety officers to a higher standard. If this was a regular person that had come to counter-protest and they happened to bring their gun, that would be one thing,” she said. “The issue is that he went there with the purpose of agitating children to get them to break the law so that they could be arrested, or worse. So now I’m back to thinking he should be fired.” The post Armed Off-Duty Cop Tried to Incite Violence at a High School Anti-ICE Protest appeared first on The Intercept. From The Intercept via This RSS Feed.
Iran’s foreign ministry is accusing YouTube of trying to “suppress the truth” by banning the account responsible for a series of viral Lego-style animations mocking the US-Israeli war. The small team known as Explosive Media has racked up tens of millions of views across several platforms, with slickly produced music videos mercilessly lampooning the Trump administration and glorifying Iran’s struggle against the US and Israel’s attacks that began at the end of February. Last week, Explosive Media had its channel suspended from YouTube for “violent content,” which its owners disputed. "Are our LEGO-style animations actually violent?” the group asked on social media. On Monday, Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, joined the criticism of the ban. “In a land that proudly hosts Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, and The Walt Disney Company, an independent animated YouTube channel—which had organically grown by depicting US aggression and warmongering, and garnered millions of viewers—was abruptly shut down!!” he wrote on social media. “Why?!” Baghaei said. “Simply to suppress the truth about their ‘illegal war’ on Iran and shield the American administration’s false narrative from any competing voice.” While Explosive Media’s content can no longer be viewed on YouTube—which is owned by Google—it appears unaffected on other major platforms like Instagram, X, and TikTok, where it has garnered millions of views. The videos appear aimed at a US audience, often leaning into jokes and memes about the personal foibles of those leading the war. They frequently reference the familiar accusation that President Donald Trump launched the war to distract from the growing scrutiny of his connections to the late multimillionaire sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein. Another video takes aim at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s history of alcoholism and accusations of serial adultery and sexual misconduct. The videos also portray a strident pro-Iran message. Following the announcement of a ceasefire last week, a video declared that “Iran won” the war. Others have shown Iranian missiles hitting the White House or heading toward Tel Aviv. The videos also seize on growing domestic outrage over the US government’s devotion to Israel, which it implies is controlling Trump and dragging the US into a war against its interests. One video, uploaded last week, portrays Trump being literally walked like a dog by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Your government is run by pedophiles. They ordered you to die for Israel," repeats one video’s chorus. A spokesperson for the team, who identified himself as “Mr. Explosive” in an interview with the BBC, has described his group as “totally independent.” But he did say that the Iranian government is a “customer,” implying possible collaboration. Explosive Media has denied any links with the Iranian government. Responding to a journalist at The Associated Press who said the sophistication of the videos suggests government involvement, the group’s official X account replied, “We’ve told you—and other journalists—multiple times that we are independent. Yet you keep repeating the same false claim, insisting that we are connected to the government.” It added: “Western media shows no real commitment to truth—they simply repeat their own baseless claims until they start to sound like facts.” While the Trump administration often portrays the war as a clash of civilizations, the videos posted by Explosive show the American people in a sympathetic light. Though the videos pull no punches toward their leaders, ordinary Americans are portrayed protesting the Trump administration or fearful about being sent to fight in a foreign war by an administration that promised to end such conflicts. Polls show that the majority of Americans disapprove of the war and fear it escalating. Moustafa Ayad, a researcher with the Institute of Strategic Dialogue, told WIRED that the videos have likely gotten so much attention because they tap into this discontent. "People are disengaging from some of the real conflict content and looking for something that can distill what’s happening quickly and in a language and tone that they understand, and that’s what those Lego videos are doing,” he said. "They’re making it easily accessible to understand the conflict from Iran’s point of view, and it’s hitting on points of disaffection in the United States at the same time. It’s working on two fronts.” From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.
I have a couple from the hip actually, because America has grifting baked into it’s soul. In no particular order: MMS (Drinkin’ bleach) Crystal healing (most sellers) WitchTok kits (TikTok influencers selling expensive spices) Brain pills Any product peddled by a megachurch (see the Baker bucket for a great example) Chiropractors As more of these come to me, I’ll try to expand the list. Update: I can’t believe I forgot chiros! They turned themselves into a religion at one point to try to dodge medical licensure laws.
Federal Reserve cuts US interest rates for first time since December The Guardian The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates on Wednesday, its first rate cut since December, as the central bank moved to stabilize a wobbling labor market even as Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to push up prices. Rates are now at a range of 4% to 4.25% – the lowest since November 2022. But the decision is unlikely to satisfy Trump, who has lambasted the Fed for acting “too late” and called for a far bigger cut. “Job gains have slowed and the downside risks to unemployment have risen,” Fed chair Jerome Powell said during a closely watched press conference. At the same time, he warned, inflation has picked up. It is “reasonable” to expect Trump’s tariffs will lead to “a one-time shift” in prices, Powell suggested. “But it is also possible that the inflationary effects could instead be more persistent, and that is a risk to be assessed and managed,” he said. “Our obligation is to ensure that a one-time increase in the price level does not become an ongoing inflation problem.” Simultaneously, China sells TikTok. Here’s what I wrote 8 months ago when Biden was going to ban TikTok: Just last month, Fed’s Powell released more mixed signals, citing uncertainty in inflation and said that the Fed may only cut once or twice in 2025. Of course, interest rate has very little to do with inflation in the US, but it should be seen as an imperialist tool that controls foreign economies. So Trump has a lot of leverage here: if he can get the Fed to cut more rates this year, then the PBOC can also cut their rates, this will then allow the local governments to borrow at an even lower interest to pay back their outstanding debt, and thus bringing huge relief to their current budgetary situations. Here, you can see how the Fed’s interest rate directly impacts China’s local government finances. This is just one weapon the US can use. Tariffs, sanctions, interest rates are all “threats” that can be negotiated down if China gives in to what the US wants. What we will have to wait and see is how Trump and Xi deal with these issues in their ensuing negotiations. Trump finally got the Fed to cut rate. China sells TikTok to hold up their part of the bargain. Read the linked comment above for full analysis. Much of it still holds up despite the shifting dynamics in the global economy and geopolitical tension over the months. The US and China will continue to maneuver and maximize the leverage of their bargaining chips in the negotiations, until a new status quo emerges. All this continues to imply that there is no decoupling between the two countries, despite what many wish to happen. As usual, the Global South continues to be screwed. But perhaps the biggest loser here is Europe, who will be forced to purchase American goods and de-industrialize themselves.
LOL Tiktok sent me a message for posting “Incarcerate Mango Mussolini” as a violation of it’s community guidelines so it seems like it’s happening everywhere. Fuck you tiktok, you can’t stop me. EDIT: Formating
The TikTok and Pinterest trend called the “old money aesthetic” is just a really fancy or classy lifestyle. It’s basically a preppy, Ivy League, business-casual style, and these clothes are things regular people can also buy. They have a bunch of them at Walmart, and you can get them on Amazon. Even a middle-class person can get an old Mercedes or a Porsche. As for golfing, chess, and other “old money hobbies,” again, regular people can do that too. Regular people go to galas, plays, and basically live a super fancy lifestyle—it’s not limited to just “rich people.” Do rich people do these things more? Sure. But again, calling it an “old money aesthetic” is dumb when classy or fancy people in general do this. There are even YouTubers who teach regular people to be super fancy, like The Gent Z / Gentleman’s Collective and Jamila Musayeva, and neither of them come from “old money.” This is just a very classy and fancy lifestyle that anyone can really have, regardless of whether you are middle class, working class, or upper class.
How else are they gonna half ass implement that into youtube and make that shit bloated af. It has long form content, Tiktok clone, Main music delivery system, Twitch clone, And now, Podcasts. 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
The TikTok and Pinterest trend called the “old money aesthetic” is just a really fancy or classy lifestyle. It’s basically a preppy, Ivy League, business-casual style, and these clothes are things regular people can also buy. They have a bunch of them at Walmart, and you can get them on Amazon. Even a middle-class person can get an old Mercedes or a Porsche. As for golfing, chess, and other “old money hobbies,” again, regular people can do that too. Regular people go to galas, plays, and basically live a super fancy lifestyle—it’s not limited to just “rich people.” Do rich people do these things more? Sure. But again, calling it an “old money aesthetic” is dumb when classy or fancy people in general do this. There are even YouTubers who teach regular people to be super fancy, like The Gent Z / Gentleman’s Collective and Jamila Musayeva, and neither of them come from “old money.” This is just a very classy and fancy lifestyle that anyone can really have, regardless of whether you are middle class, working class, or upper class.