I keep thinking about all those federal workers, 'fired' by email with only 8 months severance pay if they will even get that. There must be SOMETHING we can do, as this is only the beginning. So many of them are middle class workers. It's hard not to get my bile up over this.
Do you think it's at all fruitful to write to our congress people? Does Congress get the final say over this and not the senate? Can the courts or injunctions save these people's jobs? I think the psychopath Agenda 2025 folks want to bankrupt us all. Imagine the legal costs of fighting all this and how much money will have to be raised, when the plutocrats have 80-90 percent of everything.
I keep coming back to general strikes, but that is not going to be enough. I'm not much for marches or protests or co-opted slave songs. I am for stopping bizness as usual, consuming as usual, and all of that, voluntarily and in solidarity. I am poor. I keep donating little bits to World Central Kitchen because, back to the idea of basic loving actions countering hate, it's all I can think of to do.
We had a poetry reading on Valentine's night about Love - not in only or even the romantic sense, though a few of the poems covered that. It was deeper, broader, more nourishing. It covered grief. I would love to see us return to these live events where we can laugh and cry and open our hearts together. We need to keep at it, because it touches us where we're most human and helps us remain open and softer in the right ways.
Everyone I’ve seen who knows the system says calls work … they also say we should get active at our local level where we can have more impact.
Looking at government employee over the past decades, it has stayed relatively flat even though our population has increased dramatically.
This is not a well-thought out plan … it is a combination of vengeance and covering up of corruption and waste and sowing confusion to hide their own grifting grab for government contracts (Musk) and deals being made with foreign entities (Trump). A whole website (dogegov.com) has been set up to sell memecoins.
It looks like our best hope is the courts and if Trump/Musk decide they are not going to follow the rule of law, then the Constitution is meaningless and we’re in a whole new world.
It’s going to be interesting to watch the stock market. On the whole, the market doesn’t respond well to fear. We may have the most power by participating as consumers … or rather non-consumers as we boycott buying. Hang in there.
Well said. I will call rather than do those online petitions, in which I feel ineffective. Everything else you said - I agree. I like the idea of non consuming and general strikes which would include buying nothing - not one single thing. I think that would send effective messages that we mean business - not the kind that the hateful and greedy are cramming down our throats.
I'm bummed that my niece in law just paid for another year of Amazon Prime for me - and how about Target - where I bought my cat's litter for years because they delivered right to my door. If we boycott, are more innocent workers laid off? If we boycott, do we hurt USPS, UPS, and Fed Ex workers? The US Postal Service is the ONLY U.S government entity that has to pay out their retirement plan 75 years in advance, since the grifters have been trying to shut down the USPS for decades.
One of the things some of us are discussing is flags - a lot of local stores here have the flags down and I want to know what that means. The Queer/Trans community want us to display rainbow flags, but should they be hung with the US flags and what they are standing for now? This muck and confusion is very deep. I plan to go in to my local grocer and ask where they stand and what they mean by taking down the flag - I'm hoping it's an act of protest of what is going on.
I'm interested in knowing how my actions may inadvertently do more damage to the people who least need more hurt and austerity. Don't want to do that either. I think it will boil down a LOT to the local level and taking care of each other, feeding each other, helping each other. We all have skills and knowledge and goods we can share.
BTW, what's with the DOG face as the DOGE "merch?" And the big balls thing is laughable and painful at the same time. I don't get it! It isn't even clever. ( I live in a rural place where dog packs can be shot for killing livestock etc.)
The history of the destruction of the middle class gets blatant back in the late 70s into Reaganomic 'trickle down' theory which benefitted the rich and put the squeeze on the middle class and poor. But the squeeze and attempts to rob the poor and further the wealth of the rich has been going on since Europeans began to colonize... the wealth came here from Europe with family dynasties and other sources - sadly, though this may piss some people off - churches and organized religions.
Income for the middle class steadily dropped from then on, while cost of living, inflation, and increasing 'market value" (supply/demand) and land taxes steadily increased. I believe the figures in your article are much more drastic than the articles show, and the percentage of people affected by loss of jobs/careers is much higher than the articles state. It was mass conditioning of people going to sleep and the frogs slowly being boiled in the pot without noticing it til the water got really hot. The 60s reflected the first attempt after WW2 at pushback on war economy and grift.
A vigilant populace would have never allowed this to happen, but the American people are so conditioned by propaganda that most still won't admit what we did to the First Nations people and the despicable land grab and purposeful murdering off of most of them. How we can say our country was ever 'great' when we have this collective shame, along with slavery, on our hands, is baffling indeed. I think the denial of these wrongs fed the bigotry and xenophobia and justifiying violence - this is only my take on it, but history bears it out. We can't heal as a nation if we don't collectively face our shame over our history of endless wars and oppression - the US has installed many dictators and puppets to oligarchy in formerly sovereign and democratic nations. If we don't collectively question our anthropocentrism and at what cost 'progress' over harmony with the rest of Life in the world (non human), I think we'll destroy it all.
Collectively, all of that is still not being faced and I think it must, if we are to make America great in the true sense of the word. I'm not optimistic that we will pass the test since both 'sides' are blind on some level or another - two sides, same coin. But that doesn't excuse us into giving up without even trying. So I appreciate you, Joyce. I admire those who walk their talk and you are one who is, and who is questioning and seeking truths.
Some of us have been working and trying for many decades, and won't stop, but it's going to take a mass awakening and I'm not seeing that happen (at least not at this time.)
All too true. I've just been looking at the Trail of Tears again ... it is an ugly story ... and what we did in the residential schools is even worse. Getting ready to watch Sugarcane later today.
Joyce.... great research and context. You just provided a clear explanation for the question everyone is asking: "Can we list all of the bad decisions that got us to this point?" As much as the people in Trump's world want to say everything bad happening to them is someone else's doing (external), the reality is internal. Internal means it started with you and that requires responsibility for actions and decisions; unfortunately, human brains are masters of the made-up story when we don't like truth or reality.
There are so many factors at work here. I agree that the financial aspect is paramount, because it’s directly related to survival. The MC has grown more and more frustrated with the movement of money away from their lives and into the pockets of people who don’t need it, and with frustration comes anger and defensiveness. This brings the lizard brain (responsible for basic, physical survival) forward, and the thinking brain recedes. When this happens to anyone, we tend to strike out thoughtlessly toward anything that offers hope.
Ironically, what too many people saw as hope was a man who is also in the class of people who didn’t need more money. Perhaps they saw in him something they were experiencing themselves: a desperate grasping for self-preservation. Because that’s who/what Trump is.
He will do anything that shores up his security, that ensures his own survival. And he can’t seem to collect enough wealth or enough power to say, “This is great. I have enough.” He can never have enough. Perhaps, for different reasons, the MC feels they can’t get enough at all. Right now, they’re correct. And Trump personifies this dynamic.
If something happens and Vance has to take over, it remains to be seen whether the Voughts and the Millers have done so much damage that recovery is in doubt. Vance will not have the following of Trump, will not wield the same power. But as was the case with W, the real power is behind Trump. We don't yet know if the MAGA machine can continue without Trump at the helm, because he's only the bow of the ship, not its rudder.
Well said and thought. Vance is backed and handled/owned by some dangerous people, Peter Thiel being but one. In some ways, I think he is more dangerous - using religion to suppress women, starting Ambrosia (the perpetual search for the fountain of youth uses young people's plasma to shoot into the veins of the elderly at $8K a pop.) He is another greedy misogynistic bigoted thug hiding behind the religious right - a flip-flopping unknown. But young, ruthless, ambitious. You are so right about Trump being only the bow, not the rudder. I keep feeling that Trump will die in office, one way or another - and with Vance as the bow, it seems worse. The rudder are people above government - and, apparently, consequences, since they bought the government.
It also boils down to consciousness - we do have to stop to consider, just as you and Joyce are saying, why the divide and why the middle class is so angry. They are angry at some of the right reasons but are conditioned to be angry at the wrong people (the victims of the scams and grift) - I see this on both 'sides;' so much blaming the other 'side' without seeming to realize that this is all orchestrated from the very top, and the players in the arena (presidents, party leaders, etc) are puppets following orders. The psychopaths don't just want money. They want full power and control. We are headed toward new feudalism and we must try to stop it. Mass hysteria won't get us there, though. We have to keep calming and regulating our nervous systems; so important. Civil disobedience will become more necessary.
there's a fine line between taking a peek at the newest fear porn, and knowing when to just shut it off and Live Life as best as we can. This moment today is the most important one any of us has. More will be revealed. Local will be where it's at IMO. We can do something here in our own backyards and keep talking with people and trying to build bridges while condemning inhumane policies and actions.
This is a little spooky, Joyce. I opened this email right after leaving this comment:
"Is there any point where we're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore? I don't understand why we're not talking about a coup of our own -- of course not a bloody one, but we don't have to use guns in a world that is digitally connected." https://www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/more-good-news-thats-bad-for-trump/comments?
Re "ideas and thoughts about how to avoid violence and create a plan for the future," what's in the air is people coming out of passivity from the helplessness they feel. Read comments all over the place now where people are crying for direction. All of this is what my Substack, NOW WHAT?, is all about.
Sue … I think I had just read your post when it seemed like the “mad as hell” scene was perfect for our time. I’m sure there is a lot of cross-pollination going on these days … especially with those of us who’ve gathered a lot of pollen in our days. Keep writing! We need your voice.
This is not a problem that just American's have but people all over the world have to deal with and having men who have more money the sense running the country makes daily life an uphill battle for most.
Wise comments. While it's necessary to identify the problem what we need more is creative ideas and solutions to help solve the problems we face today. That is made far, far more difficult when you have a leader like the current president. However, we need to find ways to create a better world and the first order of business is getting rid of him and his cronies.
My suggestion is this: During the second world war the people on the "home front" created "Victory Gardens", sewed and knit items for the soldiers, worked in the factories, and here in Canada bought "Victory Bonds" and learned to do without and substitute ingredients in their foods along with other steps they took. We need to become aware of what they did and how they did it and use them as a guiding light to help us deal with the current situation while working diligently to change it.
I would love to see someone create a workshop on this topic and provide information on what they did and how they did it and how we can adapt those actions to our situation today. Do you know anyone who could do that?
Yes, more of this - which would also help people unplug from the constant barrage of propaganda and empower themselves and each other with tangible skills and products for barter as well as feeding their families. Food and water are going to factor-in hugely.
Not off the top of my head but there are some amazingly smart, experienced people here at Substack and I'm going to keep my eyes open for something like that.
Excellent info and post, Joyce. I believe the M.C. is mad b/c we've been the backbone of the nation since forever (along w/ the poor and disenfranchised who were either conscripted or enslaved early on), but I also believe - and this may be controversial - that we have been given much as a nation. Yes, it was worked for, but complacency set in. We took things for granted, people did not (and do not) vote. Didn't keep up w/ what that mere handful of 535 out of 330 million were doing in the halls of congress (how did we get such a lackluster, spineless bunch--what are the odds, out of 330 million to end up with this lot) -- and this is the result. I hate to say this, maybe I know the wrong people, have the wrong family, but most people I talk to don't know what the h%ll is going on! Social sec and Medicare cuts? Really? No vets aid? A spy as our nat sec director, cm'on (can't happen here--or can it), a non vaxer for HHS secretary? Never! I believe we got fat and sassy (and if we look at overall weights throughout the world, that first part is exactly right. Don't mean to get heavy, but I'm pretty nervous and scared these days. Esp when I saw Paul Krugman on PBS say at end of interview, he wondered if Jan 2025 would be the end of our elections. That stood me on my ear.
Re your last point and ear-standing, I recall one moment during the 2024 campaign in which Trump told his masses something like this: Vote for me, and you'll never have to worry about another election.
yep - i took it that way too, especially considering Project 25, which an alarming number of people who voted for this regime didn't even know about or what is in it!
I LIKE that about you, Joyce! I tend to be too pessimistic and cynical and want to be with more optimists. Either way, in difficult times we see the best and worst of people, so why not aim to be and do our best?
BB … I think that’s all we can do. Right now the deck is stacked against us but we need to stay in the game. Can I beat up on that metaphor any more? ;-)
He did say that, and now has mentioned a 3rd term, at least twice. It's scary as hell. I listen to Brooke Gladstone, On the Media, and in her interview today w/ an author who writes about authoritarian regimes, she asked where he thought US was headed. Another ear-standing moment, he said we're not at Putin's Russia, but in line w/ Victor Orbán, re the recent 'cleansing' of Wikipedia --in case you haven't yet heard. Heritage Foundation has taken umbrage at 'some of the listings.' It's all moving at warp speed. Of course they had decades in the planning.
Jeanine … so true. We have taken much for granted. I don’t know anyone who says they didn’t vote … and yet, those numbers are so big, I’m probably surrounded by non-voters. We have much to learn … maybe that we matter … our votes matter is one of the biggest.
Yes … it’s a complicated system and we have been complacent in not being involved. It was easy to go about our daily lives and then blame what we don’t understand as a nefarious, bad actor. Perhaps we need a citizen service program … something like the WPA where people are employed in useful projects and feel like they are part of building our country.
Correct, the middle class is traumatized. The largest wealth transfer in the history of humanity, which dwarfs the 2008 boondoggle (which started the Tea Party that Repubs pretended to favor), was accomplished by the COVID release and policies. COVID crushed small biz and moved all that production and commerce to large corporations. Even the CIA and FBI acknowledged the (obvious) lab origins of the virus before the 2024 election took place. During this period, the US debt increased exponentially, and the avg. income value dropped precipitously.
People looking for real estate bargains should check Zillow in D.C. It’s astonishing.
Yaaaa, that lit me up because many of the new billionaires were in the biotech pharma biz and more were the "winners" in the lockdown game which chose who is essential and who was not, and which business should live and which should die.
It was creepy as hell to be on the road during the lockdown, with my "papers" that designated my "essential" status (healthcare).
I flipped the bird at the insincere "healthcare heros" signs as I drove into work, knowing from prior career in medical research that all the "social distancing", public masking, etc. were unhelpful smokescreens. Patients were in the hospital alone, with no visitors / advocates, and let me tell you from experience: That is Not helpful.
Especially for the patients, since having no advocate and visitation lowers the survival rate all by itself.
More people will learn over time that the COVID experience (and the ensuing policies) are not random nor accidental, as more fallout becomes so apparent that it can't be ignored.
I certainly don't expect people to believe me, but by keeping eyes and ears open, they will come to know it.
It's important to remember that each administration and both parties have their multimillionaires and billionaires. One of the Open the Books topics of intense interest is how upper level government employees, or various elected officials who make $200,000 annually can quickly accrue 30 million to hundreds of millions of dollars over a decade or two, while working for the government.
The information is available about presidents net worth upon taking office, compared to the net worth when leaving office. You'll see some big wealth acquisition during the time in office for most of them.
People follow congressional investment profiles on Twitter and try to imitate them, because the Representatives know which companies will benefit from government policies (a.k.a. insider trading). Here is a link to Quiver Quantitative, where the congressional trading activity is tracked overall. You can see who has the highest volume of trades last year, and their net worth. https://www.quiverquant.com/congresstrading/
I would say they can have something like a Roth or IRA in funds that are managed by someone else, outside of government, while their in office, but keep out of individual stocks and bonds, futures, and hedge funds.
I keep thinking about all those federal workers, 'fired' by email with only 8 months severance pay if they will even get that. There must be SOMETHING we can do, as this is only the beginning. So many of them are middle class workers. It's hard not to get my bile up over this.
Do you think it's at all fruitful to write to our congress people? Does Congress get the final say over this and not the senate? Can the courts or injunctions save these people's jobs? I think the psychopath Agenda 2025 folks want to bankrupt us all. Imagine the legal costs of fighting all this and how much money will have to be raised, when the plutocrats have 80-90 percent of everything.
I keep coming back to general strikes, but that is not going to be enough. I'm not much for marches or protests or co-opted slave songs. I am for stopping bizness as usual, consuming as usual, and all of that, voluntarily and in solidarity. I am poor. I keep donating little bits to World Central Kitchen because, back to the idea of basic loving actions countering hate, it's all I can think of to do.
We had a poetry reading on Valentine's night about Love - not in only or even the romantic sense, though a few of the poems covered that. It was deeper, broader, more nourishing. It covered grief. I would love to see us return to these live events where we can laugh and cry and open our hearts together. We need to keep at it, because it touches us where we're most human and helps us remain open and softer in the right ways.
Everyone I’ve seen who knows the system says calls work … they also say we should get active at our local level where we can have more impact.
Looking at government employee over the past decades, it has stayed relatively flat even though our population has increased dramatically.
This is not a well-thought out plan … it is a combination of vengeance and covering up of corruption and waste and sowing confusion to hide their own grifting grab for government contracts (Musk) and deals being made with foreign entities (Trump). A whole website (dogegov.com) has been set up to sell memecoins.
It looks like our best hope is the courts and if Trump/Musk decide they are not going to follow the rule of law, then the Constitution is meaningless and we’re in a whole new world.
It’s going to be interesting to watch the stock market. On the whole, the market doesn’t respond well to fear. We may have the most power by participating as consumers … or rather non-consumers as we boycott buying. Hang in there.
Well said. I will call rather than do those online petitions, in which I feel ineffective. Everything else you said - I agree. I like the idea of non consuming and general strikes which would include buying nothing - not one single thing. I think that would send effective messages that we mean business - not the kind that the hateful and greedy are cramming down our throats.
I'm bummed that my niece in law just paid for another year of Amazon Prime for me - and how about Target - where I bought my cat's litter for years because they delivered right to my door. If we boycott, are more innocent workers laid off? If we boycott, do we hurt USPS, UPS, and Fed Ex workers? The US Postal Service is the ONLY U.S government entity that has to pay out their retirement plan 75 years in advance, since the grifters have been trying to shut down the USPS for decades.
One of the things some of us are discussing is flags - a lot of local stores here have the flags down and I want to know what that means. The Queer/Trans community want us to display rainbow flags, but should they be hung with the US flags and what they are standing for now? This muck and confusion is very deep. I plan to go in to my local grocer and ask where they stand and what they mean by taking down the flag - I'm hoping it's an act of protest of what is going on.
I'm interested in knowing how my actions may inadvertently do more damage to the people who least need more hurt and austerity. Don't want to do that either. I think it will boil down a LOT to the local level and taking care of each other, feeding each other, helping each other. We all have skills and knowledge and goods we can share.
BTW, what's with the DOG face as the DOGE "merch?" And the big balls thing is laughable and painful at the same time. I don't get it! It isn't even clever. ( I live in a rural place where dog packs can be shot for killing livestock etc.)
The history of the destruction of the middle class gets blatant back in the late 70s into Reaganomic 'trickle down' theory which benefitted the rich and put the squeeze on the middle class and poor. But the squeeze and attempts to rob the poor and further the wealth of the rich has been going on since Europeans began to colonize... the wealth came here from Europe with family dynasties and other sources - sadly, though this may piss some people off - churches and organized religions.
Income for the middle class steadily dropped from then on, while cost of living, inflation, and increasing 'market value" (supply/demand) and land taxes steadily increased. I believe the figures in your article are much more drastic than the articles show, and the percentage of people affected by loss of jobs/careers is much higher than the articles state. It was mass conditioning of people going to sleep and the frogs slowly being boiled in the pot without noticing it til the water got really hot. The 60s reflected the first attempt after WW2 at pushback on war economy and grift.
A vigilant populace would have never allowed this to happen, but the American people are so conditioned by propaganda that most still won't admit what we did to the First Nations people and the despicable land grab and purposeful murdering off of most of them. How we can say our country was ever 'great' when we have this collective shame, along with slavery, on our hands, is baffling indeed. I think the denial of these wrongs fed the bigotry and xenophobia and justifiying violence - this is only my take on it, but history bears it out. We can't heal as a nation if we don't collectively face our shame over our history of endless wars and oppression - the US has installed many dictators and puppets to oligarchy in formerly sovereign and democratic nations. If we don't collectively question our anthropocentrism and at what cost 'progress' over harmony with the rest of Life in the world (non human), I think we'll destroy it all.
Collectively, all of that is still not being faced and I think it must, if we are to make America great in the true sense of the word. I'm not optimistic that we will pass the test since both 'sides' are blind on some level or another - two sides, same coin. But that doesn't excuse us into giving up without even trying. So I appreciate you, Joyce. I admire those who walk their talk and you are one who is, and who is questioning and seeking truths.
Some of us have been working and trying for many decades, and won't stop, but it's going to take a mass awakening and I'm not seeing that happen (at least not at this time.)
All too true. I've just been looking at the Trail of Tears again ... it is an ugly story ... and what we did in the residential schools is even worse. Getting ready to watch Sugarcane later today.
Joyce.... great research and context. You just provided a clear explanation for the question everyone is asking: "Can we list all of the bad decisions that got us to this point?" As much as the people in Trump's world want to say everything bad happening to them is someone else's doing (external), the reality is internal. Internal means it started with you and that requires responsibility for actions and decisions; unfortunately, human brains are masters of the made-up story when we don't like truth or reality.
There are so many factors at work here. I agree that the financial aspect is paramount, because it’s directly related to survival. The MC has grown more and more frustrated with the movement of money away from their lives and into the pockets of people who don’t need it, and with frustration comes anger and defensiveness. This brings the lizard brain (responsible for basic, physical survival) forward, and the thinking brain recedes. When this happens to anyone, we tend to strike out thoughtlessly toward anything that offers hope.
Ironically, what too many people saw as hope was a man who is also in the class of people who didn’t need more money. Perhaps they saw in him something they were experiencing themselves: a desperate grasping for self-preservation. Because that’s who/what Trump is.
He will do anything that shores up his security, that ensures his own survival. And he can’t seem to collect enough wealth or enough power to say, “This is great. I have enough.” He can never have enough. Perhaps, for different reasons, the MC feels they can’t get enough at all. Right now, they’re correct. And Trump personifies this dynamic.
If something happens and Vance has to take over, it remains to be seen whether the Voughts and the Millers have done so much damage that recovery is in doubt. Vance will not have the following of Trump, will not wield the same power. But as was the case with W, the real power is behind Trump. We don't yet know if the MAGA machine can continue without Trump at the helm, because he's only the bow of the ship, not its rudder.
Well said and thought. Vance is backed and handled/owned by some dangerous people, Peter Thiel being but one. In some ways, I think he is more dangerous - using religion to suppress women, starting Ambrosia (the perpetual search for the fountain of youth uses young people's plasma to shoot into the veins of the elderly at $8K a pop.) He is another greedy misogynistic bigoted thug hiding behind the religious right - a flip-flopping unknown. But young, ruthless, ambitious. You are so right about Trump being only the bow, not the rudder. I keep feeling that Trump will die in office, one way or another - and with Vance as the bow, it seems worse. The rudder are people above government - and, apparently, consequences, since they bought the government.
It also boils down to consciousness - we do have to stop to consider, just as you and Joyce are saying, why the divide and why the middle class is so angry. They are angry at some of the right reasons but are conditioned to be angry at the wrong people (the victims of the scams and grift) - I see this on both 'sides;' so much blaming the other 'side' without seeming to realize that this is all orchestrated from the very top, and the players in the arena (presidents, party leaders, etc) are puppets following orders. The psychopaths don't just want money. They want full power and control. We are headed toward new feudalism and we must try to stop it. Mass hysteria won't get us there, though. We have to keep calming and regulating our nervous systems; so important. Civil disobedience will become more necessary.
There's so much about Vance I don't know. And mostly, I don't want to know, though I also don't want to stick my head in the proverbial sand.
there's a fine line between taking a peek at the newest fear porn, and knowing when to just shut it off and Live Life as best as we can. This moment today is the most important one any of us has. More will be revealed. Local will be where it's at IMO. We can do something here in our own backyards and keep talking with people and trying to build bridges while condemning inhumane policies and actions.
Great points ... and definitely the lizard brain/rational brain is part of the issue.
This is a little spooky, Joyce. I opened this email right after leaving this comment:
"Is there any point where we're mad as hell and not going to take it anymore? I don't understand why we're not talking about a coup of our own -- of course not a bloody one, but we don't have to use guns in a world that is digitally connected." https://www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/more-good-news-thats-bad-for-trump/comments?
Re "ideas and thoughts about how to avoid violence and create a plan for the future," what's in the air is people coming out of passivity from the helplessness they feel. Read comments all over the place now where people are crying for direction. All of this is what my Substack, NOW WHAT?, is all about.
Sue … I think I had just read your post when it seemed like the “mad as hell” scene was perfect for our time. I’m sure there is a lot of cross-pollination going on these days … especially with those of us who’ve gathered a lot of pollen in our days. Keep writing! We need your voice.
All true, and well put. I have no ideas other than cobblestones and the guillotine. But those don't do the trick any more.
thanks, Allegra and let’s hope we don’t go back to the guillotine.
This is not a problem that just American's have but people all over the world have to deal with and having men who have more money the sense running the country makes daily life an uphill battle for most.
Exactly.
Wise comments. While it's necessary to identify the problem what we need more is creative ideas and solutions to help solve the problems we face today. That is made far, far more difficult when you have a leader like the current president. However, we need to find ways to create a better world and the first order of business is getting rid of him and his cronies.
My suggestion is this: During the second world war the people on the "home front" created "Victory Gardens", sewed and knit items for the soldiers, worked in the factories, and here in Canada bought "Victory Bonds" and learned to do without and substitute ingredients in their foods along with other steps they took. We need to become aware of what they did and how they did it and use them as a guiding light to help us deal with the current situation while working diligently to change it.
I would love to see someone create a workshop on this topic and provide information on what they did and how they did it and how we can adapt those actions to our situation today. Do you know anyone who could do that?
Yes, more of this - which would also help people unplug from the constant barrage of propaganda and empower themselves and each other with tangible skills and products for barter as well as feeding their families. Food and water are going to factor-in hugely.
love that idea … it has so many possibilities.
Do you know anyone who might be able to do that?
Not off the top of my head but there are some amazingly smart, experienced people here at Substack and I'm going to keep my eyes open for something like that.
Excellent info and post, Joyce. I believe the M.C. is mad b/c we've been the backbone of the nation since forever (along w/ the poor and disenfranchised who were either conscripted or enslaved early on), but I also believe - and this may be controversial - that we have been given much as a nation. Yes, it was worked for, but complacency set in. We took things for granted, people did not (and do not) vote. Didn't keep up w/ what that mere handful of 535 out of 330 million were doing in the halls of congress (how did we get such a lackluster, spineless bunch--what are the odds, out of 330 million to end up with this lot) -- and this is the result. I hate to say this, maybe I know the wrong people, have the wrong family, but most people I talk to don't know what the h%ll is going on! Social sec and Medicare cuts? Really? No vets aid? A spy as our nat sec director, cm'on (can't happen here--or can it), a non vaxer for HHS secretary? Never! I believe we got fat and sassy (and if we look at overall weights throughout the world, that first part is exactly right. Don't mean to get heavy, but I'm pretty nervous and scared these days. Esp when I saw Paul Krugman on PBS say at end of interview, he wondered if Jan 2025 would be the end of our elections. That stood me on my ear.
Re your last point and ear-standing, I recall one moment during the 2024 campaign in which Trump told his masses something like this: Vote for me, and you'll never have to worry about another election.
yep - i took it that way too, especially considering Project 25, which an alarming number of people who voted for this regime didn't even know about or what is in it!
I know. When finally people started talking about it, I thought surely that alone would sway the election. I’m such an optimist.
I LIKE that about you, Joyce! I tend to be too pessimistic and cynical and want to be with more optimists. Either way, in difficult times we see the best and worst of people, so why not aim to be and do our best?
BB … I think that’s all we can do. Right now the deck is stacked against us but we need to stay in the game. Can I beat up on that metaphor any more? ;-)
oh, i bet you can! LOL :D
He did say that, and now has mentioned a 3rd term, at least twice. It's scary as hell. I listen to Brooke Gladstone, On the Media, and in her interview today w/ an author who writes about authoritarian regimes, she asked where he thought US was headed. Another ear-standing moment, he said we're not at Putin's Russia, but in line w/ Victor Orbán, re the recent 'cleansing' of Wikipedia --in case you haven't yet heard. Heritage Foundation has taken umbrage at 'some of the listings.' It's all moving at warp speed. Of course they had decades in the planning.
Robin & Jeanine ... he says such crazy things, we don't believe him ... and then he does them. He is a master of confusion.
It's true. It's an art form and -- he is owning it right now.
Jeanine … so true. We have taken much for granted. I don’t know anyone who says they didn’t vote … and yet, those numbers are so big, I’m probably surrounded by non-voters. We have much to learn … maybe that we matter … our votes matter is one of the biggest.
I think people vote--just don't think they keep up w/ what is going on After they vote. And that's a problem.
Yes … it’s a complicated system and we have been complacent in not being involved. It was easy to go about our daily lives and then blame what we don’t understand as a nefarious, bad actor. Perhaps we need a citizen service program … something like the WPA where people are employed in useful projects and feel like they are part of building our country.
Well, that could’ve (and did occur under 2 presidents) but fear that’s the longest yard in this admin who desires dismantling instead (:
Because ultra richs are killing it.
indeed! Not quite sure what to do about it.
Correct, the middle class is traumatized. The largest wealth transfer in the history of humanity, which dwarfs the 2008 boondoggle (which started the Tea Party that Repubs pretended to favor), was accomplished by the COVID release and policies. COVID crushed small biz and moved all that production and commerce to large corporations. Even the CIA and FBI acknowledged the (obvious) lab origins of the virus before the 2024 election took place. During this period, the US debt increased exponentially, and the avg. income value dropped precipitously.
People looking for real estate bargains should check Zillow in D.C. It’s astonishing.
and let us not forget.... 600 NEW billionaires during the pandemic. It's hard not to wonder about that...
Yaaaa, that lit me up because many of the new billionaires were in the biotech pharma biz and more were the "winners" in the lockdown game which chose who is essential and who was not, and which business should live and which should die.
It was creepy as hell to be on the road during the lockdown, with my "papers" that designated my "essential" status (healthcare).
I flipped the bird at the insincere "healthcare heros" signs as I drove into work, knowing from prior career in medical research that all the "social distancing", public masking, etc. were unhelpful smokescreens. Patients were in the hospital alone, with no visitors / advocates, and let me tell you from experience: That is Not helpful.
That sounds like a horrible experience!
Especially for the patients, since having no advocate and visitation lowers the survival rate all by itself.
More people will learn over time that the COVID experience (and the ensuing policies) are not random nor accidental, as more fallout becomes so apparent that it can't be ignored.
I certainly don't expect people to believe me, but by keeping eyes and ears open, they will come to know it.
It's important to remember that each administration and both parties have their multimillionaires and billionaires. One of the Open the Books topics of intense interest is how upper level government employees, or various elected officials who make $200,000 annually can quickly accrue 30 million to hundreds of millions of dollars over a decade or two, while working for the government.
The information is available about presidents net worth upon taking office, compared to the net worth when leaving office. You'll see some big wealth acquisition during the time in office for most of them.
People follow congressional investment profiles on Twitter and try to imitate them, because the Representatives know which companies will benefit from government policies (a.k.a. insider trading). Here is a link to Quiver Quantitative, where the congressional trading activity is tracked overall. You can see who has the highest volume of trades last year, and their net worth. https://www.quiverquant.com/congresstrading/
Thanks for that reference. Elected representatives should not be able to trade stocks. period.
I would say they can have something like a Roth or IRA in funds that are managed by someone else, outside of government, while their in office, but keep out of individual stocks and bonds, futures, and hedge funds.
I hadn’t heard that! I’m going to look into that.
It’s true that the US debt exploded under Trump.
Yes, it grew massively under Trump and even more massively after Trump. The COVID lockdowns and grants started in 2020.