The Time is Now, part 2

The goal is to create a two-tiered society that solely benefits one tier.  

The middle class has been under siege for several decades now, by the "conservative" elite.  They have enlisted all facets of detriment to undermine the ideals of American life, by attacking the American Dream. 

.              It begins with income inequality, forcing both adults in a family into the workplace to achieve advancement in society.  As time wore on, incomes did not rise at a commensurate level with cost-of-living expenses.  This in turn created a system where both adults in the household needed to work just to maintain a semblance of living comfortably. Face it, we are mostly barely surviving. 

.              The introduction of debt as a common, everyday thing.  The worst thing I faced as a young adult was the ability to achieve vast amounts of credit.  Poor decision making (as a young adult will have) made me a slave to the debt, and many years of my life were spent to climb out of the hole.  There is a debt crisis in this country, and too many people do not know the difference between good and bad debt.  This is by design and intended to create a barrier to many things.  Home ownership, insurance of any kind, even employment opportunities are all subject to your credit rating. 

.              The fallacy of a college education "guaranteeing" preferred employment prospects.  At one time in our history, this was indeed true, but for a select few.  Standards were high, and many higher learning institutions carried their prestige in the diplomas awarded.  As standards were lowered to appeal to more students, a market for education lending emerged, and predatory practices abounded.  Families sacrificed their lifestyles and potentially the next generation's lifestyles to pay for college, and the value of the education did not measure up to that sacrifice for many.  We've all had people in our networks that did not find gainful employment in their degreed field but have large loans to pay.  The fallacy of the diploma was sold so well, that tradespeople are disappearing from society as they retire, because multiple generations were steered away from the trades.  One of the fastest growing segments in post high-school learning and job creation is now trade schools. 

.              The resolve of corporate America to break unions and diminish protections for workers and consumers alike has taken new life under this current administration.  This is by design, to subjugate workers to carry out the will of the corporate leadership, and to diminish the ability of consumers to hold businesses accountable to honoring the implied trust of quality in a product.  Add to this the stagnation of wages and the manipulation of laborers that leads to full time employees having to rely on social programs to make ends meet.  There is so much wrong in corporate America, that the average citizen applauded the execution style murder of a CEO despite the egregious ambush by his cowardly murderer.  The crime is abhorrent, but easy to identify with, considering the state of affairs between those that have, and those that do not.  This is not a healthy indicator of our society. 

.              Removal of societal safety nets for those that have worked and contributed to those funds all of their lives is essentially theft.  Social security, Medicaid, Medicare, VA benefits, food stamps, unemployment benefits... all of these are dangled like carrots and yanked out of reach for those that need these items to survive.  To recall a live statement made by a "conservative" lawmaker recently, "well, we are all going to die.  Get over it."  Get over it... a precious statement from a politician living off the dole, enjoying a taxpayer funded benefit program of healthcare and retirement benefits, FOR LIFE I might add, that are exponentially better than Social Security and Medicaid/Medicare.  The "conservatives" want to rebrand social safety nets as entitlements, so the connotation is akin to "handouts", making the acceptance of these financial options look disingenuous.  A lot of "conservatives" have just ignored the connotative rigmarole and flat out called these programs "handouts".  I know I've paid into these programs from every paycheck I've ever earned.  You have too.  And many people have passed from this mortal existence without ever taking a dime of their contributions.  These programs are not "handouts", full stop.

.              Excessive militarization. Our country has the largest budget in the world for its military than any other country.  The budget for our military in 2025 at $962B is just below the entire GDP of the world's20th largest economy of Netherlands, at $1.2T.  New this year, ICE now has a budget that equates to the 4th largest military budget on the planet.  While that budget falls under the umbrella of our military complex, the Pentagon is till vastly more funded than the next largest military on earth.  The reality is that war is profitable. It's also the apparatus of global business leaders.  There has been a long, storied correlation between wealth, power, and military might. 

.              Our country has perfected the alliance between the three, and while we managed the world through might, we did so for the most part with honor and dignity, being the voice of reason and using our force judiciously, appropriately, and with clear rules of engagement that followed a strict moral code.  At least, that was the appearance.  Behind the scenes, there were clear objectives to maintain and protect "American interests abroad" (I know you've heard this term numerous times in your lifetime).  With the post 9/11 era, "conservatives" lassoed the fear of a nation attacked decisively on our own soil for the first time and set about undermining a few liberties we enjoyed under the guise of fighting terror, the first of which was under the implementation of the Patriot Act.  This allowed unwarranted surveillance of people based on purported action or activities that could be construed as terrorism.  The quick acceptance of this by the voting public, despite its poor wording and the ability to shape its scope to fit any scenario has led to the refined efforts to "willingly" diminish some rights, leading us to where we are today; American citizens being rounded up and removed from the streets without warrant, legal and undocumented immigrants removed from the US without due process, many of whom were collected from court rooms and law offices while honoring appointments required by law to gain legal status.

"Slavery was not that bad..."  The war on truth is taking its toll, and the narrative is astoundingly gaining traction.  There is the adage that a lie repeated continuously begins to ring true, and we are there now.  The leader of our country literally accused the Smithsonian of being too "woke" and lamented further that their focus was directly on negative aspects of history, such as slavery, rather than success and progress.  This is rich coming from an overt racist that sees fit to import more white supremacists while exiling brown people to countries they don't belong to, on taxpayer dollars lining the coffers of privatized incarceration corporations. 

The wealth of this country and its successes were earned off the backs of slaves, immigrants, and indentured servants.  Our success as a nation is due to the foundation of subjugation instituted first by the English crown.  The greed of Europe, and its wealthy elite (the royalty, the lords, the papacy) led to the subjugation of the entire continent.  Spain in Central and South America, France and England in North America; it was only a matter of time before the Dutch system of enslaving natives in Africa and exporting them to the Indies took root on the New World. As the nations of Europe began to refrain from slavery and in fact outlaw it, our newly formed nation protected the rights of slave owners, declaring a slave as only being worth two-thirds of a person. Interestingly our nation fought a civil war over the notion of slavery within its first hundred years as an established country, and the pro-slavery side lost. Then we did a typically American thing... We wrote laws establishing that slavery was wrong, unjust, and illegal, but, because we needed the losing side of the war to rejoin the union, we looked the other way when state and local laws were written to undermine the new freedoms of the former slaves... and then paid to reconstruct the South. In essence we bloviated, then looked the other way. This is the legacy of America.

Bloviating is the American trait that sets us apart in the world, and why the world hates the American tourist. We have a self-image of being superior to every other society on the planet, and unfortunately, we don't learn enough to see how untrue that is. We walk around like the world owes us for their very existence. We are arrogant, brash, uncaring, and contemptuous of everyone else.

Don't believe it? Look at our current leader. I rest my case. He is the embodiment of us all. We did not earn anything better, and now his kind are not only emboldened, but assured of their righteousness. His kind are the worst of American society, and far too many of us revere what he stands for. Frankly, they are the minority demographic in this country, but not by a wide enough margin, and the unrelenting dishonesty in our governmental leadership at all levels (local, state, and federal) will all but ensure minority rule of this country.

And the worst thing about it? They somehow relate to him, a man who has never done an ounce of physical labor, never juggled finances to meet difficult choices, a man who has never physically built anything, never really had to earn anything, just had everything GIVEN to him. I am reminded of a comment I saw on a social media post that depicted a photo of Trump, Elon Musk, and Elon's son in the oval office. The comment was" there are three children that have never been told "no"." It is so unbelievably true.

The subjugation of a modern society begins from the inside. It began for us by redefining what it means to be an American Christian. As the Evangelical version has monetized pious righteousness to the level of Osteen Airlines, and the faith has been warped into an adversarial wrestling match between those that believe in the teachings of Christ, and the those that believe in the teachings of white supremacist Jesus, the groundwork for division spills into the open realm. We are inundated with the fresh information that our country was founded as a Christian nation, while in fact, most of our original settlers were protestants, fleeing the Church of England's decree of an established English version of Christianity, that awarded the King of England divine right before Jesus and God himself. How familiar does this sound? Recall that JD Vance had no issue calling out the Pope himself over his recognition of women's bodily autonomy, the willingness to permit LGBTQ patrons back to the church despite eternal damnation (this is a huge deal, because the catholic punishment to this point was excommunication). The VP of the US literally saw himself and this administration as having divine right over the Pope on those matters, calling him wrong and admonishing the thought of these admissions in American religious dogma. The Pope, who is chosen to be the voice of Jesus Christ and God himself on earth. The fucking obtuse balls on our leadership. We are shamed.

With religion now having a strong piece on the board, we move on to science, education, and law, or for better terminus, the rebuttal, diminishment, and usurpation of science, education and the rule of law. Science is now discredited as woke, leftist ideology, education is now "tailored to suit leftist ideology and undermine American achievement, teaching our children to "hate America", and the law is too woke, and it should only serve those in power, and no one else.

The religious extremists like to point to our freedoms of religion and reframe the constitutionally protected right as protecting their enforcement of Christianity, claiming all other religions are not protected, and in fact, are detrimental to society. They've pushed the narrative further, claiming all of our societal ills are because we don't have prayer in school. By undermining the Department of Education, and throwing guidance to the state governments, most of which are gerrymandered into minority rule by "conservative" leadership, the educational system will be inconsistent and heavily skewed to interpretation of the bible. However, if you have wealth and means, you can have your child educated at a private institution, and you can bet the curriculum will NOT center around the bible.

So, the middle class is under attack, from the top down. The opportunities are dwindling, and with the control over every aspect of American life in the hands of "conservative" governance, there is a profound loss of freedom. AI is replacing jobs, even menial ones. Health care will not be accessible for most, income equality is already the worst it has been in our history, goods and services are more expensive than ever, measles mysteriously disappeared from Texas despite 762 confirmed cases at last count, and Covid was a hoax perpetuated by the libs. Weather is manipulated by Jewish space lasers, the libs can control hurricanes, so we better own them with storm troops in LA parks and flooding the streets of DC with FBI agents, ICE Patrols and National Guardsmen (probably have removed all women and POC at this point). It is illegal to be homeless now, and they will be "given a place to live" as long as they "leave." This nation is degenerating faster and faster.

When the war on the middle class is nearly won by the elites, it will be the poorer class left to face them. But remember, it's illegal to be broke, starving and homeless, and you don't get handouts anymore. So what do we do with 365 million poor folks. Hmmm. Oh, I know! Have Ice Barbie ship off the brown ones, let the old and sick ones die, breed the women, and enslave those males with herd immunity that survive. There you have it. a two-tier society, dominated by the elite. And we voted for it.

But...

We can do something about it. Oh yes, we can. This picture is pretty damn bleak, I will admit. But it isn't impossible. Just 8 months ago, all of these things that have happened would have been difficult to put in a movie script, they are just too unbelievable to fathom happening all at once. But here we are, and this is a believable scenario. What can we do?

Protesting is great, but there are no results from it. Bigger protests will be met with force, moving forward. Escalation of violence is terrible, and will probably happen, but it will be met with an equitable reaction from loyal troops (fuck the constitution, we wanna knock heads).

The vote was sacrosanct, until our "leader" asked Texas to find him 5 more seats for the mid-terms, and they did. (Dems, sit the fuck down, you got diddly squat accomplished here. Shut the fuck up, you suck.) Gavin's plan to ask permission of districts to redistrict in November will fail, there's enough knuckle dragging repugs in California. Remember Ronnie and Arnold? yep.

Praying for a miracle... they fucking own god, too. And I never put much truck in that anyway.

Common sense to prevail? Depends on who's common sense. I've learned it's polar.

So how do we overcome? MONEY.

I don't mean we have to give money to candidates or political groups or lobbyists. I propose we don't pay a dime in federal taxes. Not one red cent. NADA. Hoist that middle digit high, my dear readers. Hoist them both up high. Fly the birds proudly!

The big thing about successful fascist dictatorships, is that eventually, enough of the population capitulates, and complies. Enough terror and brute force, enough subjugation by any means, and people grow weary. The get worn down, and just, comply.

Our compliance lies in the very nature of our capitalist society. We are so used to it, we never consider just how valuable our tax dollars are. There are laws that penalize taxpayers for not regularly paying income taxes. Small business owner? You are responsible for quarterly taxes being sent to the IRS. Larger business, you have to flash your republican donor card each quarter, so you don't have to pay them. Conglomerate or banking institution... pshaw! Taxes are for losers (direct quote from Cheeto, btw)! But hey, you working stiffs? You better pay every paycheck. If you don't, we will penalize you for being late paying the vig. We will audit your ass, put liens on your house, hell, we might sick ICE Barbie on your ass. We will call you at all hours of the day or night. We will have your employer dock your pay. We will own you for eternity.

Here's some perspective though. We agree to be taxed, as a necessary part of representative governance acting on our behalf. Remember the very root cause of why we told King George to fuck off and went on our own. "No Taxation Without Representation!" With the repugs gerrymandering themselves into a super majority, we are not represented.

The IRS has been gutted again, remember? They don't have the manpower to audit more than a few thousand individuals per year. I know at least three people that didn't pay taxes for over a decade, and when they decided to do so, went through mediation, and paid almost nothing.

Imagine the possibility of our government literally running out of money and just upping the debt ceiling at will. We are already past the tipping point, and will not ever repay our debts, the interest alone is crippling. They go to borrow more and raise the ceiling again, the world will stop, look at us, and decline. Print more money? The dollar loses ground faster, weakening the economy for the rich.

Imagine states deciding not to subsidize the federal government. California, the worlds 4th largest economy, can single handedly shutter about 8 red states immediately. Imagine 8 states unable to function, period. Imagine those states that don't fund the fed, instead centralizing and improving services in their own states. One of the complaints I see most often in my blue state is that the repugs don't feel represented on their side of the state. They have more land mass, but 32%ish percent of the population. Well, it's too bad land mass doesn't vote, but I can see their point when our property, fuel and sales taxes increase, and the roads, services, and overall costs climb alongside the taxes. But invest those slated federal dollars back into the state, and well??? It's not like this administration is going to ever serve blue states anyway. They aren't even helping red states.

In close, everything in this country is about money. I say we should stop funding grift and terror. Maybe we start with the t-shirt, "No Taxes!" with birds flying, and see if we can gain traction.