Video description:

While 40 million Californians suffer through unprecedented drought, one billionaire couple owns a massive share of the state’s water system, largely seized in a series of secretive meetings two decades ago.

That system was largely paid for by the very taxpayers whose water these billionaires hold hostage. The Resnicks are the biggest farmers in California–as of 2007 they owned four San Francisco’s worth of farmland. Nearly half of Americans buy at least one of their products: pistachios, POM pomegranate juice, mandarins, flowers, and more.

It’s all under one massive umbrella: The Wonderful Company, a privately owned company worth at least 5 billion dollars. The majority owners, the Resnicks, are worth at least 8 billion.

We dug into how Lynda and Stewart Resnick were able to seize control of what should be a shared public resource with ‪@SecondThought‬ on this latest episode of “How They Got Rich” by The Class Room at More Perfect Union.


About:

More Perfect Union is a new nonprofit media org with a mission to empower working people. Learn more here: http://perfectunion.us/

  • @DarkCloud
    link
    30
    edit-2
    1 month ago

    There needs to he a general strike, or a left wing Trumpesque figure willing to run on the “make billionaires illegal” ticket, because this shit is getting ridiculous.

    Pray for another Luigi soon 🙏

    • @JiveTurkey
      link
      51 month ago

      Yep. How quickly we could all change things if people could just abstain from the products and services these shit heads provide for even a couple months or maybe forever. Let these things fail and send a message. Instead everyone thinks their individual use of these services/products is insignificant.

  • @darthelmet
    link
    111 month ago

    owned four San Francisco’s worth of farmland.

    I’m not from California. Could someone convert this into the standard American measurement: Football fields?

    • @just_another_person
      link
      51 month ago

      SF is 7mi X 7mi, so they own 28mi X 28mi of land. About the size of NYC and LA combined if I’m doing this right.

      • @Fredselfish
        link
        51 month ago

        That lot of fucking land. These fucks should be strung up.

      • @thisisdee
        link
        English
        3
        edit-2
        1 month ago

        I might be wrong but I think 28x28 is 16x(7x7) instead of 4x. It should be 7x7x4 instead of (7x4)x(7x4)

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        31 month ago

        7x7 is 48 square miles, and four times that is about 200 square miles (520 sq km). But the area would be 14x14 miles.

  • @danc4498
    link
    English
    41 month ago

    I know it’s important to know this information, but it makes me so angry, then feel so helpless when I learn it. Literally nothing I can do about this.

  • sunzu2
    link
    fedilink
    11 month ago

    Second-thought is what a tankie on YouTube looks like haha