That’s the only thing that unites Americans, that’s the only thing that moves the needle. I’d say it’s the economy stupid, but it’s deeper than that, if you want meaningful change, people have to be suffering, it’s got to be a matter of survival, if not outright starvation, it’s got to be literally life or death before all people will get on the same page and effect meaningful change.
The problem with ICE and the immigration issue is it doesn’t make sense mathematically. I’m here legally, they are not…why should I carry them, why should they get a free ride?
I don’t want to discuss the particulars, the facts, because then you’ve already lost the battle. Yes, illegal immigrants pay taxes (oftentimes one way only…as in they don’t reap the benefits, like Social Security), and yes, immigrants are disproportionately law-abiding, but they are here illegally. And you’re never going to convince everybody that a crackdown is not justified.
Now I thought protests like No Kings were a joke. And isn’t it interesting that the younger people did not participate proportionately. They’re wiser than their elders, they see that Trump doesn’t listen and change course, they’re’ disillusioned with government, both sides, right and left.
As for spontaneous reaction to the killing of Renee Good? I think that has an effect. When protest happens as a result of an event. The public was charged and Jonathan Ross pulled the trigger. But does what is happening in Minneapolis affect people in rural areas? In southern states where ICE is not focusing its efforts? No. Furthermore, people are reluctant to put themselves in the line of fire. For that…you can’t only be protesting the mistreatment of others, it’s got to be you, you’ve got to feel desperate. And what makes people desperate is the lack of cash, the inability to make ends meet.
Now the wheels are starting to turn. With the California billionaires tax. I’m not saying it should be passed, I’m not saying that Newsom is wrong in opposing it, I am saying that this represents the anger of the populace. Furthermore, it shows the true stripes of the billionaires, who are weeping like babies, threatening to end the game by taking the ball to their own court.
The billionaires still think we live in the last decade, or the one before. That we hold them up on a pedestal, that we revere them. But the tech giants… The public hates the social media companies. Not as much as Ticketmaster, but a lot. Elon Musk has been revealed to be myopic… He may be good at cars and rockets, but he’s terrible when it comes to people. Not only did DOGE not save money, Musk got into a snit with Trump and ended up coming back to the man with his tail between his legs.
Furthermore, the billionaires have shown they have no backbone, kissing Trump’s butt for money…as if a corporation’s profits were everything, that it’s only the Street that matters.
This is how we got into this mess. Biden and his cronies kept telling us the economy was good, with the lame term “Bidenomics,” when anybody who went to the grocery store could see otherwise. It’s not that people loved Trump, it’s just that the Democrats were out of touch with the public’s true feelings, mostly their economic feelings. And when Kamala lost…Democrats didn’t own it, they called the nation racist, they said the system was flawed… This is not a recipe for victory, it’s a recipe for alienation! I mean if you want a big tent with people on your side…
So when you look for a spark… It always happens when you don’t expect it, that’s the message of Renee Good and Minneapolis. That’s what we learned with the Arab Spring.
But the man who lit the match for the Arab Spring was a college educated fruit vendor, despite his degree, he could not get a good job. Which is what many Americans are fearful of right now… They’re already laying off coders… America is so afraid of AI and all we’ve got is the billionaires saying TRUST US! As they run up the economy building data centers that require more power than we’ve got in a race for…
Ironically, the only billionaire who looks somewhat reasonable is Jensen Huang of Nvidia, who says even if a billionaires tax is enacted, he’s staying in California, that’s where he lives, that’s where he likes it, that’s where the talent is located.
We keep reading about people moving from the Golden State… But the truth is it’s no longer the middle of the last century, most people can’t afford to move at all! And most know it, despite all the articles that are part of an offensive trying to demonize Democratic states. Then again, the Republicans are smarter than the Democrats, at least they’re focusing on economics.
So the lesson here is Iran. It’s not like it’s been kumbaya over there since the shah lost power nearly fifty years ago. You’ve had a religious dictatorship and…we’ve only seen meaningful rebellion, THREATENING rebellion, when it became a raw economic issues. There was a currency crash. Inflation in excess of 40%. And this is when the people took to the streets. This is the only thing that will bring Americans of all stripes to the streets.
High prices… We hear about concert tickets. But let’s start with the basics, grocery prices, automobile prices… Recent news tells us that only the wealthy can afford new cars, the rest of the public has to buy used, after all, in December the average transaction price was $50,326. And to reinforce the point, this is not an issue for the wealthy, but most people just don’t have the money.
The problem with high concert ticket prices is not the fees, it’s the demand! There are people willing to pay high prices, which creates a secondary market.
And if you’re living on a fixed income, the economic situation is insane. You’re not making any more, but the prices keep going up and up. Forget oldsters living on a pension, on Social Security, if you’re earning a salary and can keep your job… Not only are you having trouble making ends meet, you’re not getting a pay increase! Meanwhile, the wankers in government say you should be happy, because you’ve got a flat screen TV and a smartphone, that your standard of living is higher than that of people past. It’s like telling people a hundred years ago to ignore the stock market crash…after all, they’re traveling in automobiles as opposed to by horse!
I could ask who is channeling our anger, but it’s worse than that… Nobody in power seems to know what is truly going on with the public, the Average Jane and Joes. We’ve got leaders who are tech-ignorant. There’s a detachment between generations. But what is going to push it over the edge…
Is when everybody is suffering.
You can be horrified about Trump’s threat to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minneapolis, but the truth is most people don’t live in Minneapolis and just don’t see and feel the danger. It’s when they see and feel the danger that they react. And the government is doing a good job of chilling the public, making people afraid to go out and protest. What is going to motivate them to step outside the door? Money.
And how do the hoi polloi connect?
Via the excoriated internet, which was utilized in the Arab Spring. As for Iran, they shut it down. Yup, the winners of the world want their kids off smartphones. They don’t want youngsters in front of screens. But they can afford child care. The truth is the internet links Americans together, it’s doing the opposite of isolating us. So we’re supposed to believe in the holier-than-thou leftists telling us to put the phone down?
As for leftists… They continue to let the Republicans define them… You don’t want to be woke, you need to move to the center, it’s the extreme that are bringing this nation down. It’s got nothing to do with pronouns and trans women in sports… But Democrats are always on the back foot. Meantime, defending some minor group that the majority doesn’t agree with. The bottom line is most Americans don’t want trans women in sports. It’s kinda like illegal immigration, it just doesn’t feel right to most people.
But let’s not debate trans rights, that’s what those in power want us to do, to take us away from the major issues.
So until the focus is money, there will be no meaningful change. And if you want revolutionary change, the financial situation for the average person has to get worse.
Then again, it’s pretty bad. After the November election there was all this talk about an affordability crisis… But the truth is it didn’t happen suddenly, it was percolating, people were struggling, it’s just that an election surfaced the issue, that’s when the major news media and Trump started to take notice. What other pain points, especially economic ones, are there in plain sight that are not recognized by those in power?
The upper middle class wants to get rich, the rich want to stay rich, as for the rest of the people, the true majority, you’re screwed. You can’t get rich, the opportunity is not there, and those in power are not listening to you.
If I were a Democrat I would talk about money all the time, people are driven by their wallet.
Then again, I no longer believe in the system. A free and fair election in 2028? Give me a break.
What is it going to take for this country to crack?
Economic hardship. Money.
There, I’ve said it.
