The fight isn’t between left and right anymore: it’s between oligarchy and the people, between those who hoard power and those still brave enough to believe in democracy...
1. The reason the IRA, ARA and CHIPS act were passed in Bidens tour was because they were designed to benefit Big Business.
2. This is not about renovating the White House. It is a message. He is converting this to Mar a Lago North. There never has been a need for a spacious ball room, this is not, until now, the Tsar's palace.
By plastering tacky gold leaf all over the Oval Office, by putting up two flagpoles, by tearing downt he east wing, which has been the office of the 1st Lady, and by planning a triumphal arch (triumph for what, his capture of the United States maybe, and finally destroying part of the White House to make it in his own image, He is sending a message.
Not only is the White House going to be Mar a Lago north, but he is going to leave, feet first on a gurney, and with his money and science today that will be a long long time.
If you think that he will leave on Jan 21st, 2029, think again. He has complete control of the organs of the state, the Judicial, the Legislative, the Executive including it's police powers and that includes the military.
Tearing down the east wing to build a ball room is his way of shit bombing America and telling us that our democratic institutions are kaput.
Elections? Remember Hungary, Russia and Turkey have elections.
The question is, if he expires who will be his successor? Vance or Jr?
In the quiet of abandoned factories, we hear the echo of a system that once built things. Machines idle. Workers wait. The blueprint for production has been replaced by algorithms chasing yield. Capital, once rooted in labor and goods, now ricochets through financial markets—seeking return, not meaning.
Trillions of dollars drift with no place to land. The bottom 90% of consumers are cash-starved, unable to sustain demand. The top 10% are satiated, their needs met, their portfolios full. In this landscape, building a factory is a fool’s errand. Why invest in production when speculation offers faster, cleaner returns?
This is not a failure of character—it’s the design of the system. Capital seeks the highest return. Labor takes a bite out of profit. Consumers demand competition. Left unchecked, these forces erode each other. Capital, labor, and competition do not collaborate—they collide.
And so we arrive here:
• Consumption now makes up over 68% of GDP, up from 61% in 1980.
• But the spending is concentrated—nearly half of all consumption comes from the wealthiest 10%.
• The rest? They consume less, earn less, and inherit less.
This is not just economics—it’s a civic rupture. A generational handoff of silence. Capital no longer builds products. It builds portfolios. And the factory becomes a metaphor—not for industry, but for abandonment.
Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker…’ — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism
Capitalism, once imagined as a system tethered to virtue, now moves without conscience. Adam Smith envisioned a world where material sufficiency would free individuals to pursue wisdom, art, and civic life. But in America today, that wealth exists—and the freedom does not. The top decile is satiated, yet still restless. Spare time is not spent in reflection or fulfillment, but in the pursuit of more. Politicians and propagandists sold the myth that happiness lies in accumulation, and left it there. The moral scaffolding collapsed. What remains is a system that rewards appetite over meaning, momentum over virtue.
An early experience for me about capitalism writ small…on the scale of small business. My dad purchased an outdoors store in the early 80s when he retired from the navy. It was a wonderful place that attracted both experienced hikers and outdoors people as well as hopeful wannabe adventurers. I worked there in high school and college during breaks . Many worked there to get discounts on their equipment for their big trips. It really was a wonderful community experience. The specialty equipment and clothing were not cheap and stocking a store like this was a big investment with a slim profit margin. Paying all the employees, rent and utilities, offering group medical insurance, etc. Is costly.
My dad helped create a merchants association for the shopping center which really brought these independently owned store owners together and I recall the friendships between them and their families.
My dad learned with some chagrin that the most profitable business by far was the mostly mechanized car wash. I enjoy a good carwash ! But the contrast with that business that had no community, no expensive stock to maintain, etc . Stuck with me.
I think this is the outcome when we only maximize profit….
We ignore the value of local business and community and what inspires people…things that aren’t easily monetized and optimized.
I would wish for people coming up today to discover a place like Wilderness Outfitters built around people and their dreams for adventure.
You are correct and we need more precise language. Capital no longer builds products it builds portfolio's. What we have here is finance capital. Only the phrase is too long.
The problem is, and has been, since Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple. Finance capital.
Wealthy yeomen and lesser nobility would pull their assets, and petition the crown for a monopoly charter to pursue an activity, Like international trade (the East India Company), this resulted in other charters like the London Company of Virginia, aka Virginia Company, which was given a royal charter to adventure into what was then Virginia (the east coast of America from the location of Roanoke to Maine), to search for and exploit silver and gold.
Soon other monopoly charters broke out, like the Hudson Bay Company, the purpose of which was to exploit the fur trade.
That led to shares in these joint stock ventures being traded. Under a lamp post in what would become he financial district of London
What started out as a way to raise money, by pooling resources, to create a joint venture to pursue an enterprise, morphed into finance capitalism and trading of stocks.
My 9th ggf, given a purse of silver by his father, bought into the Virginia company and thus sailed for Virginia as an adventurer of purse and person, setting foot on the quay at Jamestown in 1618. Shares at that time were not traded
Shares in the British East India Company were not initially traded on a stock market; instead, separate voyages were funded by temporary joint stocks until 1657, when a permanent one was established. The Dutch East India Company, however, was the first company to have a public Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1602, which created the world's first public stock market.
Marx provides a substantial critique of financiers and financial capital, viewing them as a parasitic and unproductive layer of capitalism.
However in \Volume III of Capital, he distinguishes between financiers who create wealth through tangible production and the rentier class that extracts it through interest and speculation.
Today there is no daylight between financiers and the rentier class.
Perhaps distinguishing between a venture capitalist and a finance capitalist
An entrepreneur with a good idea invests his own assets and energy into building a company, but soon finds that he needs more money, so he can either borrow or go public and sell stock (an IPO), if he doesn't have enough assets to put up as collateral, he has to go public. enter the venture Capitalist, he takes an interest in the company before it goes public.,and often squeezes out the entrepreneur
This has been true since the industrial midwest became the Rust Belt, and the jobs were shipped overseas by vulture capitalists, courtesy of the tax code: built in deoreciation, capital gains, write offs to dismantle plant and equipment.
This is how government is supposed to work. As of today, Trump is most vulnerable viscerally, and Trumpepstein may be the vehicle to bring Congressional Republicans to their senses. Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) tweeted about an "Epstein bomb" about to drop; over 100 Republican members might "jailbreak" from Trump.
As Thom states, we are at a "turning point." The more successful of my friends do their best to ignore the insanity, except for how the insane tariffs affect their businesses and investments. They also marvel at the wealth surrounding this massively corrupt administration. They absolutely do not want to hear about or discuss the building fascism. It's frustrating, as these are the only people I know with some real power - they know the politicians and the movers & shakers, so to speak.
While the protests did show unity and collective outrage, the White House response was notably, "Who cares?" Our only real agency is the ballot box, and there's a massive effort in play to prevent any free & fair elections - ever again. Almost all our efforts should be in support of guaranteeing free & fair elections - Marc Elias and his "Democracy Docket."
It's obvious tRump plans to stay forever, he and his succession - Vance (Thiel/Palantir) and then what? Donnie, Jr.? Impossible to even imagine the extent of those nightmares. tRump said it out loud to his "beautiful christians" - "vote me in this time, and we'll fix it so you'll never need to vote again." The heritage goons in concert with the "tech bros" started planning it since they lost in 2020. They probably did in fact steal the 2024 election, notably every swing state. The absolute depth of their evil and cunning cruelty has yet to be realized or revealed.
Bannon knows what he is talking about. I believe him, why doesn't the media and "liberals". Answer: Hopium the anesthetic.
We should be marshaling all of our resources and energy now, to prevent that from happening,
Marching in protest is not enough, neither is 3.5% sufficient, especially when the government has the guns, the police power of the state, and is not reluctant to use it.
I don't understand your comment. But to clarify it is going to take direct action, a national uprising, persistent demonstrations, not just one day a month, a general strike, (withhold labor) and boycotting
The Jimmy Kimmel incident leads the way. Or rather the public response to his cancellation.
That is what the next three years will be like. TRump fancies himself a builder, but in truth he is a destroyer and a thief. It's a very good thing he didn't visit Fort Knox---he found crypto instead. It's easier to hide.
Not a peep out of the former First Ladies. Were they like the public, figuring it would be OK because he said his GODDAMN ballroom wouldn't touch the existing White House? I'll bet Melania celebrated and can't wait to help him decorate. She was the first destroyer of the Rose Garden. Remember the red Christmas trees from hell?
Trashing the White House, posting King TRump sh*t-bombing Americans, and the constant lies should motivate more Republicans to leave the party. We need to welcome them to the light. See you in the streets.
I want to believe that the Epstein files and Marjorie Taylor Greene will drive trump's demise. Her followers have probably never heard about what will happen to their medical insurance premiums since they get their information from online conspiracy theories and One America News Network. Having MTD rant against the Republicans causing healthcare premiums to double will educate her fan base....
The real Trump is disclosed in his AI message. Heather Cox Richardson says he's functioning at a second grade level. A vindictive, insatiable, incorrigible child.
Psychiarists probably dioagnose it as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), causing a "marked and severe limitation" in daily functioning.
I.E. Does he need a diaper? He stinks and probably has bladder control issues.
It always comes down to the eternal class war, which becomes organized into capitalism, which degenerates into imperialism. There is in any population some small coterie who, having attained greater wealth than the rest, assume this to be a sign from God that they have been ordained to rule the world forever. All the indignities and atrocities they visit upon us are necessary to get us to obey their/God's will.
Thom, it’s a pleasure to read your writing. I truly appreciate your ability to intellectually and with unemotionally clarify speak to the dire situations of our times, while giving them historical reference, and maybe most importantly, offering a light at the end of the tunnel vision and encouragement to get up off our rumps and unite in a fight to save all that we hold dear. All that said—thanks again Thom!
It was Jennifer Ruben writing about the ballroom rather than this (which I read after posting my Substack) which prompted me to write: There was no Super Glue for Trump's fascistic "I'll only be dictator on the first day" boast to make it happen, so he's slowly adding fixative to Dictator Epoxy. Some glues are made for special purposes like for fabric, glass, and metal. None are made for metaphors. Here;s the link: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/there-was-no-super-glue-for-trumps It features two animated videos I used Grok to make.
In the quiet of abandoned factories, we hear the echo of a system that once built things. Machines idle. Workers wait. The blueprint for production has been replaced by algorithms chasing yield. Capital, once rooted in labor and goods, now ricochets through financial markets—seeking return, not meaning.
Trillions of dollars drift with no place to land. The bottom 90% of consumers are cash-starved, unable to sustain demand. The top 10% are satiated, their needs met, their portfolios full. In this landscape, building a factory is a fool’s errand. Why invest in production when speculation offers faster, cleaner returns?
This is not a failure of character—it’s the design of the system. Capital seeks the highest return. Labor takes a bite out of profit. Consumers demand competition. Left unchecked, these forces erode each other. Capital, labor, and competition do not collaborate—they collide.
And so we arrive here:
• Consumption now makes up over 68% of GDP, up from 61% in 1980.
• But the spending is concentrated—nearly half of all consumption comes from the wealthiest 10%.
• The rest? They consume less, earn less, and inherit less.
This is not just economics—it’s a civic rupture. A generational handoff of silence. Capital no longer builds products. It builds portfolios. And the factory becomes a metaphor—not for industry, but for abandonment.
Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker…’ — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism
Capitalism, once imagined as a system tethered to virtue, now moves without conscience. Adam Smith envisioned a world where material sufficiency would free individuals to pursue wisdom, art, and civic life. But in America today, that wealth exists—and the freedom does not. The top decile is satiated, yet still restless. Spare time is not spent in reflection or fulfillment, but in the pursuit of more. Politicians and propagandists sold the myth that happiness lies in accumulation, and left it there. The moral scaffolding collapsed. What remains is a system that rewards appetite over meaning, momentum over virtue.
Such a poetic explanation… almost makes it seem .. well, Oh Hell….. I feel terror and insatiable hunger for a great big Dad-Mom to come hold me. Where are our adult leaders and our educated followers? Being one of the ‘46 generation I have experienced the regulated and equal mandates that built our Middle Class. We had opportunity but more than that we had a belief in being better than good. Our companies trained to sustain.
Our schools taught how to think through to a better end, our parents had past horrors that helped them see the truth in regulated freedoms.
Question: Is anyone guarding/watching Fort Knox, you know where all of our GOLD 🪙 is stored? With trump's love of gold, tacky or otherwise, & his demand for $230 million from us, we the people, I have no trouble thinking that he won't try to get at those gold bars!
The glutenous individual in the White House can NOT be satisfied!
“…Merrick Garland belatedly tried to hold him to account…” “Belatedly” can no longer describe the operating impulse of Democratic Party “leadership”. Said leadership sorely needs to stop undermining the campaigns of the Mamdanis and Platners in favor the likes of Andrew Cuomo, Janet Mills, etc. Let the voters decide those issues. BE the desperately needed opposition party. Or please, please, get out of the way.
Every empire ends with a man gilding his own prison. Trump’s ballroom isn’t a monument to victory—it’s a mirror for a dying age, where the chandeliers outshine the conscience.
Blessed be the ones who keep the lights on for the Republic
Yes he is!! Trump destroyed our House!! The people's house!! Not Trump's house'.
Every time I see the WestWing the way it is, the tears welt up in my eyes!
This hits you because we have loved our flag and America since we were small. Then in school, you learn about the struggles . But we grow more loved to our America♥️🌹🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💙
Yes he is!! Trump destroyed our House!! The people's house!! Not Trump's house'.
Every time I see the East Wing the way it is, the tears welt up in my eyes!
This hits you because we have loved our flag and America since we were small. Then in school, you learn about the struggles . But we grow more loved to our America♥️🌹🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💙
Well the loudest voices were the Repubs saying they were sure the Dems were building concentration camps. Turns out it was projection of their own twisted small minds. Blame everybody but themselves and never take accountability for what they DO. The cult they created is going to swallow them whole and somehow it is the Dem's fault. How fnnken delusional can they be? Ok loving Dems make off ramps for our (we and not me) delusional brothers and sisters and let them save face to come back to some kind of sanity. Do not leave them abandoned as they did everybody else. It only makes the suffering for everybody worse and longer than needed.
A better title for Thom's post might have been, "America's Reichstag is Smoldering." What Thom said is both scary and true. However, we must keep in mind that we the people voted for those scoundrels who put us in this situation.
Democrats focused on Washington while the GOP concentrated on state legislatures. DNC abandoning states enabled Republicans to gerrymander more and more seats and to weaken election laws in ways that enabled corrupting the voting system so they could eventually influence national elections. Even when it became obvious that democracy was under attack, Obama did nothing to stop it. He controlled Congress for 2 years, yet he did not even try to overturn "Citizens United," which enabled the obscenely rich billionaires to start buying votes and control politics.
At least Trump finally woke up liberals and others who believed in Democracy. We can now see clearly that George Soros is a rare exception to what AOC refers to as the Billionaire Takers. Matt Stoller was the lone voice crying in the wilderness to point out that monopolies created Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk, Gates, etc. They are all vulture capitalists, not lucky techno nerds. They control so much that any of them can shut down the economy just by withholding services. Until a few days ago, I had no idea that Amazon now controls the Internet created by our government way back when. If Dems think they can wait until 2028, they will wake up in 2027 and realize the game is over - democracy will be finished.
I like how the people of France accomplish needed changes in their government. Just shut the country down! Road blocks, loads of manure in the streets or politicians yards, and the citizens pulling together. We have a president who has gone rogue and his party shows no signs at all of trying to rein him in. The man is a danger to society and the world and should be locked up.
THEY shut down OUR GOV't. Yes, protesting feels good. But mostly it's a steam release. (Notice there were no arrests of protestors at huge events in NYC.) WE need to shut down trump's ECONOMY with a simple boycott. WE can and should do this: SIT ON YOUR WALLET week. Buy essentials in advance. Then spend nothing, disburse only if absolutely required. CHOKE THE BEAST ! ~eric. MeridaGOround.com
Someone gave this following historical video link on another site that I listened to this morning....It was so interesting about the citizens of Serbia and Yugoslavia taking back their country in the 1990s from a dictator - Slobodan Milosevic. I was fascinated by the smart 'planning' and systematic garnering of 'the people' to revolt. "Bringing Down a Dictator": https://youtu.be/r7dNLt5mC1A?si=LropNXBSioOwmfff
Two comments:
1. The reason the IRA, ARA and CHIPS act were passed in Bidens tour was because they were designed to benefit Big Business.
2. This is not about renovating the White House. It is a message. He is converting this to Mar a Lago North. There never has been a need for a spacious ball room, this is not, until now, the Tsar's palace.
By plastering tacky gold leaf all over the Oval Office, by putting up two flagpoles, by tearing downt he east wing, which has been the office of the 1st Lady, and by planning a triumphal arch (triumph for what, his capture of the United States maybe, and finally destroying part of the White House to make it in his own image, He is sending a message.
Not only is the White House going to be Mar a Lago north, but he is going to leave, feet first on a gurney, and with his money and science today that will be a long long time.
If you think that he will leave on Jan 21st, 2029, think again. He has complete control of the organs of the state, the Judicial, the Legislative, the Executive including it's police powers and that includes the military.
Tearing down the east wing to build a ball room is his way of shit bombing America and telling us that our democratic institutions are kaput.
Elections? Remember Hungary, Russia and Turkey have elections.
The question is, if he expires who will be his successor? Vance or Jr?
Capital No Longer Builds Products
It Builds Portfolios
In the quiet of abandoned factories, we hear the echo of a system that once built things. Machines idle. Workers wait. The blueprint for production has been replaced by algorithms chasing yield. Capital, once rooted in labor and goods, now ricochets through financial markets—seeking return, not meaning.
Trillions of dollars drift with no place to land. The bottom 90% of consumers are cash-starved, unable to sustain demand. The top 10% are satiated, their needs met, their portfolios full. In this landscape, building a factory is a fool’s errand. Why invest in production when speculation offers faster, cleaner returns?
This is not a failure of character—it’s the design of the system. Capital seeks the highest return. Labor takes a bite out of profit. Consumers demand competition. Left unchecked, these forces erode each other. Capital, labor, and competition do not collaborate—they collide.
And so we arrive here:
• Consumption now makes up over 68% of GDP, up from 61% in 1980.
• But the spending is concentrated—nearly half of all consumption comes from the wealthiest 10%.
• The rest? They consume less, earn less, and inherit less.
This is not just economics—it’s a civic rupture. A generational handoff of silence. Capital no longer builds products. It builds portfolios. And the factory becomes a metaphor—not for industry, but for abandonment.
Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker…’ — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism
Capitalism, once imagined as a system tethered to virtue, now moves without conscience. Adam Smith envisioned a world where material sufficiency would free individuals to pursue wisdom, art, and civic life. But in America today, that wealth exists—and the freedom does not. The top decile is satiated, yet still restless. Spare time is not spent in reflection or fulfillment, but in the pursuit of more. Politicians and propagandists sold the myth that happiness lies in accumulation, and left it there. The moral scaffolding collapsed. What remains is a system that rewards appetite over meaning, momentum over virtue.
An early experience for me about capitalism writ small…on the scale of small business. My dad purchased an outdoors store in the early 80s when he retired from the navy. It was a wonderful place that attracted both experienced hikers and outdoors people as well as hopeful wannabe adventurers. I worked there in high school and college during breaks . Many worked there to get discounts on their equipment for their big trips. It really was a wonderful community experience. The specialty equipment and clothing were not cheap and stocking a store like this was a big investment with a slim profit margin. Paying all the employees, rent and utilities, offering group medical insurance, etc. Is costly.
My dad helped create a merchants association for the shopping center which really brought these independently owned store owners together and I recall the friendships between them and their families.
My dad learned with some chagrin that the most profitable business by far was the mostly mechanized car wash. I enjoy a good carwash ! But the contrast with that business that had no community, no expensive stock to maintain, etc . Stuck with me.
I think this is the outcome when we only maximize profit….
We ignore the value of local business and community and what inspires people…things that aren’t easily monetized and optimized.
I would wish for people coming up today to discover a place like Wilderness Outfitters built around people and their dreams for adventure.
For me, elimination of the gold standard. OPEC arbitrarily taxed US economy via energy prices. Sale of Youngstown Sheet and Tube to the Japanese.
You are correct and we need more precise language. Capital no longer builds products it builds portfolio's. What we have here is finance capital. Only the phrase is too long.
The problem is, and has been, since Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple. Finance capital.
Wealthy yeomen and lesser nobility would pull their assets, and petition the crown for a monopoly charter to pursue an activity, Like international trade (the East India Company), this resulted in other charters like the London Company of Virginia, aka Virginia Company, which was given a royal charter to adventure into what was then Virginia (the east coast of America from the location of Roanoke to Maine), to search for and exploit silver and gold.
Soon other monopoly charters broke out, like the Hudson Bay Company, the purpose of which was to exploit the fur trade.
That led to shares in these joint stock ventures being traded. Under a lamp post in what would become he financial district of London
What started out as a way to raise money, by pooling resources, to create a joint venture to pursue an enterprise, morphed into finance capitalism and trading of stocks.
My 9th ggf, given a purse of silver by his father, bought into the Virginia company and thus sailed for Virginia as an adventurer of purse and person, setting foot on the quay at Jamestown in 1618. Shares at that time were not traded
Shares in the British East India Company were not initially traded on a stock market; instead, separate voyages were funded by temporary joint stocks until 1657, when a permanent one was established. The Dutch East India Company, however, was the first company to have a public Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1602, which created the world's first public stock market.
Marx provides a substantial critique of financiers and financial capital, viewing them as a parasitic and unproductive layer of capitalism.
However in \Volume III of Capital, he distinguishes between financiers who create wealth through tangible production and the rentier class that extracts it through interest and speculation.
Today there is no daylight between financiers and the rentier class.
Perhaps distinguishing between a venture capitalist and a finance capitalist
An entrepreneur with a good idea invests his own assets and energy into building a company, but soon finds that he needs more money, so he can either borrow or go public and sell stock (an IPO), if he doesn't have enough assets to put up as collateral, he has to go public. enter the venture Capitalist, he takes an interest in the company before it goes public.,and often squeezes out the entrepreneur
This has been true since the industrial midwest became the Rust Belt, and the jobs were shipped overseas by vulture capitalists, courtesy of the tax code: built in deoreciation, capital gains, write offs to dismantle plant and equipment.
"The reason the IRA, ARA and CHIPS act were passed in Bidens tour was because they were designed to benefit Big Business."
It was because everyone benefitted. "Im Ok Your're OK." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_OK_%E2%80%93_You%27re_OK
This is how government is supposed to work. As of today, Trump is most vulnerable viscerally, and Trumpepstein may be the vehicle to bring Congressional Republicans to their senses. Congressman Eric Swalwell (D-CA) tweeted about an "Epstein bomb" about to drop; over 100 Republican members might "jailbreak" from Trump.
Massive Congressional visits November 18.
https://www.instagram.com/flare.usa/p/DP_mdOyjdiG/
Visit Congressional Republicans.https://www.mobilize.us/indivisible/event/851451/
Lord, I hope so.
As Thom states, we are at a "turning point." The more successful of my friends do their best to ignore the insanity, except for how the insane tariffs affect their businesses and investments. They also marvel at the wealth surrounding this massively corrupt administration. They absolutely do not want to hear about or discuss the building fascism. It's frustrating, as these are the only people I know with some real power - they know the politicians and the movers & shakers, so to speak.
While the protests did show unity and collective outrage, the White House response was notably, "Who cares?" Our only real agency is the ballot box, and there's a massive effort in play to prevent any free & fair elections - ever again. Almost all our efforts should be in support of guaranteeing free & fair elections - Marc Elias and his "Democracy Docket."
It's obvious tRump plans to stay forever, he and his succession - Vance (Thiel/Palantir) and then what? Donnie, Jr.? Impossible to even imagine the extent of those nightmares. tRump said it out loud to his "beautiful christians" - "vote me in this time, and we'll fix it so you'll never need to vote again." The heritage goons in concert with the "tech bros" started planning it since they lost in 2020. They probably did in fact steal the 2024 election, notably every swing state. The absolute depth of their evil and cunning cruelty has yet to be realized or revealed.
Bannon has already said he's not leaving the WH, regardless of the Constitution.
Bannon knows what he is talking about. I believe him, why doesn't the media and "liberals". Answer: Hopium the anesthetic.
We should be marshaling all of our resources and energy now, to prevent that from happening,
Marching in protest is not enough, neither is 3.5% sufficient, especially when the government has the guns, the police power of the state, and is not reluctant to use it.
Can you make it concrete!
I don't understand your comment. But to clarify it is going to take direct action, a national uprising, persistent demonstrations, not just one day a month, a general strike, (withhold labor) and boycotting
The Jimmy Kimmel incident leads the way. Or rather the public response to his cancellation.
Let’s make the next No Kings day a referendum on releasing the goddamn Epstein files!
For too long the Dems have allowed rightwing media to lie to the public there is no pushback
from the Dems. where is the outrage ??
When Sinclair was buying up all local news outlets, the Dems did nothing, no warnings to the public, what happened to Anti Trust ?
When do our representatives ever remind the public of all the programs that Biden initiated.
Most Americans have no idea what he did for the middle class and low income workers.
Why don't the Dems embrace DEI and be proud of it, defend the immigrants and expose the lies about them. We cannot count on MSNBC and comedians.
By denouncing ANTIA (anti fascism) the GOP admits to being Fascist so call them out on it.
The public wants fighters not cowards. Bernie shows us what we need.
Without ceremony or warning.....
That is what the next three years will be like. TRump fancies himself a builder, but in truth he is a destroyer and a thief. It's a very good thing he didn't visit Fort Knox---he found crypto instead. It's easier to hide.
Not a peep out of the former First Ladies. Were they like the public, figuring it would be OK because he said his GODDAMN ballroom wouldn't touch the existing White House? I'll bet Melania celebrated and can't wait to help him decorate. She was the first destroyer of the Rose Garden. Remember the red Christmas trees from hell?
Trashing the White House, posting King TRump sh*t-bombing Americans, and the constant lies should motivate more Republicans to leave the party. We need to welcome them to the light. See you in the streets.
I want to believe that the Epstein files and Marjorie Taylor Greene will drive trump's demise. Her followers have probably never heard about what will happen to their medical insurance premiums since they get their information from online conspiracy theories and One America News Network. Having MTD rant against the Republicans causing healthcare premiums to double will educate her fan base....
The real Trump is disclosed in his AI message. Heather Cox Richardson says he's functioning at a second grade level. A vindictive, insatiable, incorrigible child.
Psychiarists probably dioagnose it as Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), causing a "marked and severe limitation" in daily functioning.
I.E. Does he need a diaper? He stinks and probably has bladder control issues.
It always comes down to the eternal class war, which becomes organized into capitalism, which degenerates into imperialism. There is in any population some small coterie who, having attained greater wealth than the rest, assume this to be a sign from God that they have been ordained to rule the world forever. All the indignities and atrocities they visit upon us are necessary to get us to obey their/God's will.
So true!
Thom, it’s a pleasure to read your writing. I truly appreciate your ability to intellectually and with unemotionally clarify speak to the dire situations of our times, while giving them historical reference, and maybe most importantly, offering a light at the end of the tunnel vision and encouragement to get up off our rumps and unite in a fight to save all that we hold dear. All that said—thanks again Thom!
It was Jennifer Ruben writing about the ballroom rather than this (which I read after posting my Substack) which prompted me to write: There was no Super Glue for Trump's fascistic "I'll only be dictator on the first day" boast to make it happen, so he's slowly adding fixative to Dictator Epoxy. Some glues are made for special purposes like for fabric, glass, and metal. None are made for metaphors. Here;s the link: https://halbrown.substack.com/p/there-was-no-super-glue-for-trumps It features two animated videos I used Grok to make.
Capital No Longer Builds Products
It Builds Portfolios
In the quiet of abandoned factories, we hear the echo of a system that once built things. Machines idle. Workers wait. The blueprint for production has been replaced by algorithms chasing yield. Capital, once rooted in labor and goods, now ricochets through financial markets—seeking return, not meaning.
Trillions of dollars drift with no place to land. The bottom 90% of consumers are cash-starved, unable to sustain demand. The top 10% are satiated, their needs met, their portfolios full. In this landscape, building a factory is a fool’s errand. Why invest in production when speculation offers faster, cleaner returns?
This is not a failure of character—it’s the design of the system. Capital seeks the highest return. Labor takes a bite out of profit. Consumers demand competition. Left unchecked, these forces erode each other. Capital, labor, and competition do not collaborate—they collide.
And so we arrive here:
• Consumption now makes up over 68% of GDP, up from 61% in 1980.
• But the spending is concentrated—nearly half of all consumption comes from the wealthiest 10%.
• The rest? They consume less, earn less, and inherit less.
This is not just economics—it’s a civic rupture. A generational handoff of silence. Capital no longer builds products. It builds portfolios. And the factory becomes a metaphor—not for industry, but for abandonment.
Capital is an abstract parasite, an insatiable vampire and zombie maker…’ — Mark Fisher, Capitalist Realism
Capitalism, once imagined as a system tethered to virtue, now moves without conscience. Adam Smith envisioned a world where material sufficiency would free individuals to pursue wisdom, art, and civic life. But in America today, that wealth exists—and the freedom does not. The top decile is satiated, yet still restless. Spare time is not spent in reflection or fulfillment, but in the pursuit of more. Politicians and propagandists sold the myth that happiness lies in accumulation, and left it there. The moral scaffolding collapsed. What remains is a system that rewards appetite over meaning, momentum over virtue.
David,
Such a poetic explanation… almost makes it seem .. well, Oh Hell….. I feel terror and insatiable hunger for a great big Dad-Mom to come hold me. Where are our adult leaders and our educated followers? Being one of the ‘46 generation I have experienced the regulated and equal mandates that built our Middle Class. We had opportunity but more than that we had a belief in being better than good. Our companies trained to sustain.
Our schools taught how to think through to a better end, our parents had past horrors that helped them see the truth in regulated freedoms.
We actually learned what true “freedom” is.
Today many think it means chaos.
Question: Is anyone guarding/watching Fort Knox, you know where all of our GOLD 🪙 is stored? With trump's love of gold, tacky or otherwise, & his demand for $230 million from us, we the people, I have no trouble thinking that he won't try to get at those gold bars!
The glutenous individual in the White House can NOT be satisfied!
Venezuela has gold mines.
Only fools deny the power of the lure of gold on public display by this mad king!
Of course, Fort Knox is next!
“…Merrick Garland belatedly tried to hold him to account…” “Belatedly” can no longer describe the operating impulse of Democratic Party “leadership”. Said leadership sorely needs to stop undermining the campaigns of the Mamdanis and Platners in favor the likes of Andrew Cuomo, Janet Mills, etc. Let the voters decide those issues. BE the desperately needed opposition party. Or please, please, get out of the way.
Every empire ends with a man gilding his own prison. Trump’s ballroom isn’t a monument to victory—it’s a mirror for a dying age, where the chandeliers outshine the conscience.
Blessed be the ones who keep the lights on for the Republic
Yes he is!! Trump destroyed our House!! The people's house!! Not Trump's house'.
Every time I see the WestWing the way it is, the tears welt up in my eyes!
This hits you because we have loved our flag and America since we were small. Then in school, you learn about the struggles . But we grow more loved to our America♥️🌹🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💙
Yes he is!! Trump destroyed our House!! The people's house!! Not Trump's house'.
Every time I see the East Wing the way it is, the tears welt up in my eyes!
This hits you because we have loved our flag and America since we were small. Then in school, you learn about the struggles . But we grow more loved to our America♥️🌹🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸💙
Well the loudest voices were the Repubs saying they were sure the Dems were building concentration camps. Turns out it was projection of their own twisted small minds. Blame everybody but themselves and never take accountability for what they DO. The cult they created is going to swallow them whole and somehow it is the Dem's fault. How fnnken delusional can they be? Ok loving Dems make off ramps for our (we and not me) delusional brothers and sisters and let them save face to come back to some kind of sanity. Do not leave them abandoned as they did everybody else. It only makes the suffering for everybody worse and longer than needed.
A better title for Thom's post might have been, "America's Reichstag is Smoldering." What Thom said is both scary and true. However, we must keep in mind that we the people voted for those scoundrels who put us in this situation.
Democrats focused on Washington while the GOP concentrated on state legislatures. DNC abandoning states enabled Republicans to gerrymander more and more seats and to weaken election laws in ways that enabled corrupting the voting system so they could eventually influence national elections. Even when it became obvious that democracy was under attack, Obama did nothing to stop it. He controlled Congress for 2 years, yet he did not even try to overturn "Citizens United," which enabled the obscenely rich billionaires to start buying votes and control politics.
At least Trump finally woke up liberals and others who believed in Democracy. We can now see clearly that George Soros is a rare exception to what AOC refers to as the Billionaire Takers. Matt Stoller was the lone voice crying in the wilderness to point out that monopolies created Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk, Gates, etc. They are all vulture capitalists, not lucky techno nerds. They control so much that any of them can shut down the economy just by withholding services. Until a few days ago, I had no idea that Amazon now controls the Internet created by our government way back when. If Dems think they can wait until 2028, they will wake up in 2027 and realize the game is over - democracy will be finished.
This is exactly correct imho.
I like how the people of France accomplish needed changes in their government. Just shut the country down! Road blocks, loads of manure in the streets or politicians yards, and the citizens pulling together. We have a president who has gone rogue and his party shows no signs at all of trying to rein him in. The man is a danger to society and the world and should be locked up.
THEY shut down OUR GOV't. Yes, protesting feels good. But mostly it's a steam release. (Notice there were no arrests of protestors at huge events in NYC.) WE need to shut down trump's ECONOMY with a simple boycott. WE can and should do this: SIT ON YOUR WALLET week. Buy essentials in advance. Then spend nothing, disburse only if absolutely required. CHOKE THE BEAST ! ~eric. MeridaGOround.com
Someone gave this following historical video link on another site that I listened to this morning....It was so interesting about the citizens of Serbia and Yugoslavia taking back their country in the 1990s from a dictator - Slobodan Milosevic. I was fascinated by the smart 'planning' and systematic garnering of 'the people' to revolt. "Bringing Down a Dictator": https://youtu.be/r7dNLt5mC1A?si=LropNXBSioOwmfff