The US had to come to this point. We couldn’t go on as we were, even under Democratic presidents. For 40 years, a narrow economic elite has been siphoning off ever more wealth and power.
Over the last 40 years, starting with Ronald Reagan, the US went off the rails: deregulation, privatization, free trade, wild gambling by Wall Street, union-busting, monopolization, record levels of inequality, stagnant wages for most, staggering wealth for a few, big money taking over our politics.
America’s so-called “leadership class” is a sham. Most of them do not care a whit for the rest of the US. They are out for themselves.
The “fucking nightmare” is not over by any stretch. It’s likely to get worse in 2026 as Trump and his sycophants, and many of America’s “leaders”, realize 2026 may be their last unrestrained year to inflict damage and siphon off the spoils.
Americans are waking up.
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It will be gradual, and people will try to weather out the storm. Think, “The Grapes of Wrath” type of situation during the Great Depression.
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oh, um, it’s going to be very not pretty.
This would be nice if true, but I’m very hesitant to believe that this time is different since we’re on year 9 of centrist Democrats claiming that “the fever is about to break.”
I feel like people using this analogy are forgetting that fevers don’t always break. Sometimes they kill you.
fevers break if your immune system attacks and destroys the threat. if the infection wins, you die. if you’re immunocompromised and get a fever, it’s very very bad news
i’m not saying that the democrats are compromised and they’re the immune system in this analogy of course… no no no… im just commenting on the biology!
if you’re immunocompromised and get a fever, it’s very very bad news
i can speak to that. sometimes, the fever just goes away without killing the infection.
Sometimes fevers break. Sometimes they break you.
All I see is sullen acquiescence, as the Republicans have gone full fascist and the Democrats (at least 90% of them) are AWOL or pretending it’s still business as usual. And the people are still taking orders, not taking over.
Give it some time. Whether intentional or unintentional, Trump has been teeing up economic collapse, and things are likely to come unglued in late 2026. Right-wingers have been harping on “the deficit” for decades, while doing nothing but increasing it. You can maintain a 2% budget deficit indefinitely so long as your economy grows by 3%. However, Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” boosts the budget deficit to ~6%, and ~1/3 of U.S. debt matures in 2026 and will have to be rolled-over into new, higher rate bonds. However, notwithstanding the rapidly approaching massive growth in the cost of debt service, Trump’s policies are shrinking the economy.
It is well known that population growth = economic growth, as each additional person contributes their labor and needs to buy food, housing, clothing, transportation, etc., etc. Conversely, shrinking the population by kicking out people contributing to the economy causes it to shrink, and Trump is kicking out people that help produce food and work in construction, not only shrinking the economy but also boosting the costs of production, contributing to inflation.
In addition, tariffs shrink foreign trade, and levying outrageous tariffs on other countries invites retaliation. Look at what has happened to soybean farmers with respect to China’s purchase of soybeans and alcohol distillers with respect to Canadian purchases of alcohol.
While all of this sets the stage for a future financial crisis, in the same that a household maxing out its credit card debt, rolling it over each month on new credit sets up a personal financial crisis, as eventually you run out of credit cards willing to underwrite your risk, there is reason to believe that the crisis will come sooner rather than later. This is because Jerome Powell’s term as Fed Chairman is up in May of 2026, and Trump will definitely put in a lackey that will do whatever Trump wants, rather than what is prudent for the U.S., and Trump has made it crystal clear that he wants the Fed to lower interest rates to juice the economy.
So what is going to happen is that there will be low demand for U.S. government bonds to refinance the debt, forcing higher rates to compensate for the risky financial position the U.S. is in and also forcing the Fed to buy them, effectively printing money. Add in the fact that the world no longer sees the U.S. as a reliable partner, and it will destroy the dollar, further reducing it’s demand and causing a massive inflation spike, and a financial crisis at a level not seen since the Great Depression, with bank runs, etc. There is a reason that gold is in the greatest bull market of all time, and continues to make new all-time highs. It’s because central banks are shifting away from dollar assets (central banks now hold more gold than U.S. treasuries), and individuals are looking to protect their assets. We will likely have a “melt up” (massive stock market spike) as people scramble to get out of dollars and into harder assets, and then a collapse. I expect gold to top $8K in 2026. Buckle up, because we’re living in interesting times!
This will also conveniently be when the AI bubble pops.
Give it some time.
Americans have been like this for generations, steadily getting worse. Time’s up.
Our parents and grandparents let this shit happen. We couldn’t do shit about it, being kids. Don’t expect the last 40-years to represent the next 40.
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I think you misunderstand. I’m not American. “Time’s up” means that I’m done waiting and hoping that America will get its shit together, it’s time to treat America as an adversary rather than an ally and move on. The pattern has been clear for a long time, this isn’t new. It’s just reached a point where it can no longer be papered over and ignored.
The “big thing” you’re hoping for - a sudden dramatic move to national sanity by the Americans - isn’t going to happen without generational change and a fundamental shift in world power dynamics happening first.
The Trump administration has effectively destroyed U.S. credibility as a benevolent force in the world, and has shown itself as an unreliable partner in world affairs at best, and well-armed and potentially hostile at worst. Unfortunately, the far-right Trump administration has effective control over all three branches of government, and there are few to no checks on the administration’s power. Fair elections seem unlikely. It will take extreme duress to push the public to what will have to effectively be a revolution to oust those entrenching themselves in power. (Un)Fortunately the upcoming depression, which I’m calling “The Greatest Depression”, may provide that push.
Honestly, even before Trump came along US credibility was on shaky ground. We hadn’t forgotten Iraq, for example. It was just good enough for the most part - you could make a deal with the US and usually expect them to mostly adhere to it as long as it was in their interests.
Now you can’t even expect them to do what’s in their own best interests any more, and the concept of them “sticking to a deal” a moment longer than the point where breaking it gets them an atom of short-term benefit is gone.
No they aren’t. They would’ve woken up those 40 years ago.
This has literally never happened and its not happening now.
Were it not for that painful national exposure to racist brutality, we wouldn’t have gotten the Civil Rights Act or the Voting Rights Act.
Yeah so how those holding up nowadays? Gains should not be able to be ripped back, as Donnie is doing now. We shouldn’t have to fight AGAIN for that which has been won.
But if those are the rules, Dems need to grind this Republican trash into the dirt to the point that even if take backs are allowed there are none of them left to do it.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. That which can be gained can always be lost if we grow complacent, which we did.
Ha, nope. A headline like this is not even worth clicking.
It’s Robert Reich, he’s worth paying some attention to.
He usually has sensible takes, but this one feels like he’s lost in wishful thinking.
I agree with him, I just think that the reckoning is going to be far bloodier than he does.
Ha, nope. A headline like this is not even worth clicking.
They just said they don’t want to wake up. Too busy writing comments to pay attention.
Well, hurry up
Tell that to my MAGA shithead coworker who still thinks Trump walks on water
Wishful thinking. Polls still show 30 to 40 percent support Trump and his awful policies. Those people actuallyvote R no matter what. Another thirty percent can’t be bothered to get off their asses to go to the polls. Nothing will change until the “I can’t be bothered” crowd is swayed to actually vote for their interests.
Nothing will change until we start asking why people don’t bother to vote, instead of fruitlessly balling our fists, shitting our diapers, and whining that it’s not fair that so many people choose not to vote.
You can moan all you want about non voters, but brow beating people will only drive them away from your side faster. The truth is non voters don’t vote for real reasons, primarily because they don’t think either side represents them. You can whine and moan that people need to think more strategically, but no amount of crying will change the fact that a good chunk of the electorate simply doesn’t share your values and approach to voting. Some people vote strategically, some only when they feel they can truly support a candidate. Screaming at people, “you simply have to approach voting the way I do!!!” won’t convince anyone.
People have different values and priors, and they do not owe you their votes. In a democracy, saying “I can’t stand either of these monsters. I don’t care what happens, I’m not participating, a pox on both your houses!” is a perfectly valid choice. A core principle of democracy is that we’re allowed to believe different things, and brow beating people will not get them to support you.
Don’t blame non voters. It’s intellectually lazy and a cop out meant to prevent Democrats from making the hard changes necessary to actually appeal to this population of non voters. Trump managed to mobilize millions of non voters. He didn’t do so by whining at them and telling them to vote strategy. He did it by inspiring them and convincing them he was looking out for them. It was all lies, but it worked. If you want to mobilize non voters, you need to find ways and policies that actually appeal to them. Simply complaining about non voters will not work, just as it hasn’t worked for the last 40 years.
And while I’m sure you’re already typing a comment telling me it’s my fault Trump got elected because I didn’t vote, you’re wrong. I did hold my nose and fruitlessly vote for the Cheney lover, for all the good that did. I just have enough humility to realize that those who don’t vote have very good reasons for doing so.
I completely agree and just wanted to add a bit of my personal experience talking to coworkers that don’t vote. The system is broken, as we all know. If you live in a state that has voted one way for decades at every level of government, then you have an even bigger uphill battle. Is it possible to turn a red or blue state purple or even to the other side? Sure, but you’re gonna need to convince people who think their single vote won’t change anything to go out on top of getting them to be motivated to support a chosen candidate.
Pretty much everyone I know that doesn’t vote (and I mean actually doesn’t and not just “oh they support third parties so they don’t count”) has said some variation of “my vote doesn’t matter cause the state goes to X party every time anyways”. While someone in a blue state could make the argument that Dems need as many people as possible cause even some of their guaranteed states are starting to turn purple, what do you say to someone in a deep red state? One where the Dems are always tens of thousands of votes behind? How do you convince someone to still vote when winner takes all is still a thing?
Some people don’t vote because they’re working.
Yeah, but you can imagine what it would be like if they were.
If they put as much effort into waking up as they do into protesting then all the rest of the world will hear is snoring.
I still think the Sarah Palin floor - the 20-30-some percent of dead-enders that support Republicans no matter what they do - will likely never wake up.
before i start i want to make sure that this should in no way be interpreted as a “both sides” argument: i think yall should choose the most likely to win, least bad candidate (ie defensive voting; as disgusting as it is) - which almost certainly means a democrat at this point
i think it’s important to remember that both republican and democrats are relatively symmetrical in a lot of regards (not all). there are likely a similar number of people who actively support the democrats (distinct from defensive voting) no matter what, and they’d likely be equally problematic fixing systemic issues
perhaps they’d be easier to persuade, but it’s really easy to think that people on “our side” are governed by logic alone, but study after study has said that both sides are susceptible to propaganda and other political tools to a similar degree
I imagine that number will decrease due to an increase in their fatality - like they’re not getting vaccinated, getting health advice from randos.
It’s true that some people will always vote republican, but not enough for them to reliable win elections. Which means that if we can actually pass real progressive policies, like Medicare for all, then we can have the ratchet effect work in the other direction, dragging the republicans to the left. Because while some of their base will vote for them no matter what, the rest will cling on to their Medicare and will vote for a democrat if the republicans threaten to take it away
Expecting Democrats to pass Medicare for All is a bit of a pipe dream.
Oh I’m not expecting democrats to pass shit. But more progressives are being elected and I think they’ll rile up the voters enough to force the establishment dems to actually vote for progressive policies. I’m really hoping 2026 is a good year for progressives
We did in California. Sure it’s just one state, but it is the most populous state.
Wait what? Everyone in CA has Medicare?
MediCal. We’ve had that for years. It’s not an ideal solution, but no one lacks insurance.
Holy crap brb moving to CA
He’s right, but (and this is a huge but) it will get worse before it gets better.
Like others have said in here, there’s a hard 30% that will always side with Trump, the Republicans, fascism, etc. That won’t change. And in 2024, there was a swath of voters who just wanted change and voted for Trump (without realizing that the change would be bad and already attempted), and an even larger group was just apathetic.
The “change” people are the first to start to wake up. How many posts on Twitter, etc. can be summed up as “I didn’t vote for this”? Eventually, as things get worse, the apathetic will start to care. That’s when things will start turning but not a minute before. Trump and company are trying to consolidate power and can’t help but be incredibly cruel, brazen, and stupid in the process.
They will cause an economic crisis, hurt untold numbers in all communities, and more. That’s their undoing, though. If they left it to simple corruption, isolationism, pro-Russia, anti-trans etc. policies that only hurt small pockets of the country where it’s easy enough to stick your head in the sand, then the apathetic will stay that way. But this administration can’t help but generally immiserate everyone in pursuit of their fascist goals. When general immiseration arrives, that’s when we’ll see the reckoning. For now, it’s still too easy to ignore what’s happening if you want.
Like the apocryphal Churchill quote says, “Americans will always do the right thing, when they’ve exhausted all other options.” We still haven’t exhausted all other options, but we’re getting there.
the top 10% are still doing fine, and the top 20% are more or less still seeing improvements and are relative stable lives.
nothing will change until the top 10% start being affected. because they account for over half of all consumer spending and are all the mangers, decision makers, business owners, etc. most of these people trend democratic actually, but they are Biden style democrats who want things to keep going as they are above all else.
it’s about economics really, not politics.
Economics and politics are intrinsically linked—you really can never talk about one without talking about the other or, at the very least, referencing its impact on how people conduct their lives.
There is no intrinsic link. People just project their political bullshit and biases into economics.
You are sorely uneducated if you honestly think that.
Or (hear me out here) it could get worse before it gets worse…
it could also just not get
