The unsettling thing for me is this piece only has 13 “likes.” To me, that only amplifies how truly disconnected to what’s really happening far too many Americans are.
I’ll share the article on FB and get maybe three “likes.” I’ll share a picture of my grandkids and their dog and get 150. That’s where we are.
For at least the last 25 years, historians and political scientists and commentators have been warning of the plans the Republican Party had for us. People refused to believed it. They mocked those of us who were trying to get the word out. We were being melodramatic, we were being extremists, we were being ridiculous. But the Republican Party, which morphed into the Tea Party, which morphed into MAGA, which is now the full-blown Fascist Party of America, HAS been marching us straight towards this moment - by brilliant and twisted design - for decades. Now it’s happening. Fascism is here, and still, too many people are just watching, refusing to speak out against their friends and family who support this fascist coup, refusing to speak out on Social Media, refusing to do anything except talk amongst themselves about how “bad” things are. This silence from too many Americans is not only frustrating, it is deadly.
Linda,excellent post. I do not use the word Fascism,in my view it is more accurate to call it the " Neo Nazi Party of America. People do not undertand Oligarchy,Authoritarian,Fascism,they might know what a " Nazi" is.The american public is asleep,I have no idea what will wake them up. There are 250 Million voting age american between the ages of 18-90.
While many of the protests have attracted large crowds,not enough to make any difference. I
I get the Ne York Times online. Even they have given up providing any opposition.
David, I have also abandoned the word “fascist.” I agree that people do not understand what that means. I’ve also abandoned the word “progressive,“ at least in describing my own views, because that label is too polarizing at this point. I am still searching for a new label. I would be interested in opinions on the following movement names: liberal, moderate, constitutionalist, patriot, reformist, democracy alliance, constitutional alliance, renewal alliance, future America. Or, suggest your own.
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
This is so important. We can’t change the economics, but I wonder if there’s a way to rebuild “somethings larger” within the current economic framework, or if the current economic framework makes it nearly impossible.
Your metaphor is exactly what our collective situation looks and feels like - straight out of Jaws. I don’t think there is someone of weight to come; the fucking Democrats need to get their shit together and message precisely what democracy looks like. Sorry but this whole thing makes me swear.
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
Because of you and one of your previous essays, I did go become a precinct captain. I wish Obama HAD declared martial law and rounded up the radical right-wing freaks into FEMA camps. We’d be better off right now. I agree with you, we are right now, at this moment, in a fascist country. I suspect it will get worse and then worse. The only thing that will eject him from office is his own death; but then we’re stuck with Vance, another dictator in waiting. We can protest, but we need a million people to start. Small protests don’t do too much, especially since the lame stream media doesn’t cover them. I worry that he’ll do what Noem said, take over the governments of blue states. Why else would she have said that? Ugh. Like you said, the time to stop this is now: today.
This is the kind of stuff that every activist should know. In Florida, data geeks can tell you all registered voters who voted and those who didn't.
The data subcontractors are on a state by state basis, but during to 2024 cycle I was a volunteer for several of them. I was a member of our local executive committee.
With repect to registrations, Field Team 6 uses different sub-contractors that don't rely on voter rolls to identify unregistered folk to should trend heavily Democratic. They use other "data mining" like buying histories and social contacts to establish an individual profile. Registration laws vary from state to state. E.G. in the swing states we could register people electronically, whereras in Tejas, it is verbotten.
Others have software that identifies every political donor. You should know every donor. Encourage them.
Many of the people involved have PhDs in computer science and Field Tem 6 had formwer advertising company CEOs volunteer.
That questoin,"why" is the subject of several programs as we speak.
AI: VAN is primarily a voter file that serves as the backbone for grassroots organizing, enabling campaigns to focus their resources on the most important voters.
Targeted outreach: Campaign staff can create custom "universes" of voters based on criteria such as location, voting history, demographics, and contact data. This allows for a focus on specific segments, such as mobilizing supporters or persuading undecided voters.
Ballot tracking: The system can track which voters have requested or returned a ballot for absentee or early voting. This allows campaigns to focus get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts on supporters who have not yet voted, preventing wasted effort.
Efficient and mobile field operations
VAN's companion mobile app, MiniVAN, streamlines field operations, replacing old-fashioned paper walk lists with a digital solution.
Real-time data synchronization: Canvassers use MiniVAN to record voter data and survey responses directly into the database. The information syncs instantly, allowing campaigns to get real-time feedback and avoid manual data entry errors.
Scripting and volunteer management: Organizers can create and manage canvassing scripts that volunteers can access on their phones. The app also allows for monitoring volunteer progress in the field.
Cost savings: Digital canvassing reduces printing costs and saves the time and labor required for manual data entry.
Integrated fundraising and donor management:
VAN software is tightly integrated with NGP, a related platform that handles campaign fundraising and compliance.
Centralized donor data: The system maintains comprehensive donor records and tracks engagement history across multiple channels, including email and mobile messaging.
Targeted fundraising: Campaigns can use data to identify potential new donors and create custom reports to boost fundraising efforts.
Compliance reporting: NGP software helps campaigns file accurate and complete campaign finance reports with built-in accountability measures and audit trails.
Volunteer and event management
The platform includes tools to manage volunteers and events, which can be shared with supporters to boost engagement.
Automated event sign-ups: Organizers can create branded sign-up forms for in-person and virtual events, with participant information automatically flowing back into VAN.
Volunteer recruitment: The Mobilize platform, acquired by NGP VAN, helps campaigns recruit and manage volunteers for both events and field operations.
Scalable and reliable technology
The VAN platform has been proven to scale for large and demanding campaigns.
Extensive track record: NGP VAN's software has been used by nearly every major Democratic campaign, including presidential campaigns.
High performance: The system powered a record number of contact attempts during the 2024 election cycle with 100% uptime, demonstrating its reliability under high stress.
Daniel,who provided the software for the VAN platform?Does Palantir have any part in this. I noticed last yr. the president of Palantir (Karp) earned 6.6 Billion dollars.
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
Before us, Luddites smashed the machines that replaced manual labor. I'm 81 and I'll never work again. Most of my time is spent on the internet, which didn't exist until I was in my 40's. As soon as computers became available technology surrounding it doubled capacity and speed virtually every year.
When I was in the 8th grade, we were forced to read Ralph Waldo Emerson. “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."
This is the opposite of the concept of original sin. "Man born of woman comes into the world in pain and from the moment of conception begins to die."
I don't accept That humanity is born in sin and that manual labor are the wages of sin.
I come from the rust belt, where manufacture was offshored, rather than hollowed out. I blame a lot of stupidity, especially Reagan, but Jimmy Carter was also clueless. When I was a kid, steelworkers working double shifts made more that doictors, lawyers and other professionals. Steelworkers doing an equivalnt job in our allied countries like South Korea and Japan made the same a minimum workers in the states. But ordinary Japanese could borrow at less than 1% amnd buy US treasuries sometimes paying 18%. Could make more money trading than working.
Besides Thom, I check out a lot of stuff, like Motley Fool. We're not really a manufacturting society -- that is unless you count socialized robots. Musk has a prototype.... As soon as computers were developed, algorythms were developed to eliminate market analyists. The stuff that is emerging like AI and crypto eliminates human activity.
I'm looking at a stock, Intuitive Surgical Inc (USRG), AI that eliminates the need for surgeons. I'm sure there's an equivalent for lawyers. They've eliminated virtually all secretarial, tryping jobs.
Apparenly if healthcare were removed from employment, there would be virtually nothing left. No manufacturing jobs. Assembly by robots.
Lev Parnas is American, but was born in Odessa, Ukraine. He went to jail for campaign and wire fraud. He is completely repentant and a great source for TRump and Russia information. The YouTube podcast I've seen him on is called The Left Hook. He is there with Wajahat Ali who is a retired lawyer. They often have discussions with Zev Shalev. Zev has been trying to chase down the money and details of the Epstein Affair for 10 years. Shalev is a producer and an investigative reporter; he is cheering for Senator Wyden's investigation of the money transfers.
This is it---the dictionary definition of fascism. Everyone. Is. Saying. It.
This is coming from Putin, the Project 2025 people, the tech-bros, the oligarchs, SCOTUS, TRump and his MAGA Cult. Do not let them go unnamed. Blame and shame them as a whole. If a loved one is involved, well we are all trying to figure that out. Love you Thom and Company for the education. You are so damn brave, and you give me courage.
Silence now is nothing less than complicity. Too few pols are actually doing anything to stop this tyranny, this brazen fascism. FAR TOO FEW.
I am old. Cancer survivor. I have never felt less safe in my life. Folks in my deeply red community wear their sidearms on their belts. My pharmacy informed me that my insurance will not be covering many life saving vaccines come this Fall. Most friends and family are blissfully unaware and uninformed of the coming/existing fascist state. They just want to "get on with their lives." They resent the actions and statements I make in sounding the alarms.
Thom has been loudly warning us for years this was coming, and this is his most stark post to date. I'll share, but it will be met with further resentment by all those who just want to ignore it all - except on Blue Sky, of course. It's a bubble, but at least it's a comforting bubble. Good to know there are so many like minded folks who are equally alarmed.
Yesterday, in my local "Dollar" store, the man in front of me at the register was wearing his sidearm. The young man working the register has just lost most everything in the recent floods. The gun toting guy told the young man he would return to check on him, that "the GOP is here to help you." It was just so random, and alarming. I asked the young man if that guy was law enforcement. He was not. I then asked WTF did he mean by he "would check on you"? He did not have a clue. NW Georgia. MGT's district. And it seems they are ready for, and excited about, the prospect of a real fight to save our democracy.
Thank for sharing your experiences, Michael, because everyone needs to hear the specifics you describe at The Dollar Store happening right in front of you and of those facts about medications threatening your future.
I want to say I realize that it is a struggle to deal with cancer and even as a survivor you must keep vigilant. I know because six years ago my husband was diagnosed with non-smokers lung cancer and from that day forward the doctors tried to keep him alive while he was home in palliative care and hospice and lived two more years; he passed at 84 years of age.
As you know, the future for those who will need specialized medication and care is threatened due to cuts in medical care by the stupid people managing the system.
I am delighted to see more journalists are following Thom's example and are calling a spade a fascist. Fascism is here. I live in Florida where we have a fascist governor. Texas too is fascist according to my pals in Houston. In Oklahoma, Bibles are now textbooks, and the 10 Commandments must be posted in every classroom. That is not an act of Christian Nationalism, it is just another fascist strategy of thought control. BTW, Christian Nationalism has been the norm in Okiedum since at least the 90's. It is just being debated to make it a law to get SCOTUS to bless their culture.
Margaret Sullivan's post today [https://margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/cash-handouts-headline-accusations] pointed out how the MSM has been softening evidence of fascism - starting with NYT and then WAPO. This is exactly, textbook, how Hitler came to power in Germany. History appears to be repeating itself. ICE is Trump's Gestapo, but I have not seen that metaphor in print. The National Guard is Trump's Brown Shirts, but again no mention of that either. How soon will it be that I walk into Home Depot and some masked fed in combat attire asks "papers please" to avoid arrest?
Sophia, I started taking anti- anxiety medication more than two decades ago- off and on when the Fascist tranny of illicit surveillance took over our lives 24/7 to cope with the stalking, terrorizing manifestations of the relentless activity, which has allowed followers to enforce their tyranny; and despite causing havoc in our personal life and the onset of a six year bout of an auto immune disease that caused large itchy watery burning blisters all over my body I have done the best I could to cope and now everyone will just have to endure that which our society deemed okay for me.
Captain: Your post is great, but I disagree with the comment that the National Guard is Trump's Brownshirts.
The Sturmabeitlung was volunteers who believed in and voluntary supported the NAZI's, primarly they were used to fight Communists , the National Guard are military and most are not in agreement with Trump but have to do what they are told.
Just like the Armed Forces, the rally at Ft Bragg, where the general had his troops inventoried for the Trumpism, before using them as a back drop, there are indeed some Trump humpers in the Guard, but not all.
Apparently the Dominionist virus which started in the AF Academy has infected Annapolis as the Commandant couldn't wait to purge the library of DEI
I;ve been scratching my head to find analogies with NAZI Germany, but Trump's America is in development.
ICE does act like the GESTAPO, but the GESTAPO was also an internal intelligence unit,
A marriage of ICE and the FBI/DEA.HSI/ATF/US Marshals or HSI and DOJ folded into one would be more analgous to GESTAPO.
The National Guard is an adjunct to the DOD and the DOD is the Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe is generaled by hard core Dominionist Trump Humpers
The Brownshirts were formed in 1920 to form protection for NAZI rallies and speeches and didn't come to power until 1933 when Hitler was named Chancellor
In that regardI see Proud boys, Boogaloo Boyz, 3^ers, militia's, Constitutional Sheriff's and Peace Officers Association, Oath Keepers and Promise Keepers, those are the Brown Shirts, the Sturmabeitlung, and they are standing back and standing by.
I agree with what you are saying, but perhaps you are overlooking that our sychophant SECDEF is a failed National Guard officer. Likewise, you might be overlooking that the National Guard generals have been very very silent on the inappropriate deployment of their reservist troops. I guess the generals do not want to retire early just to honor their oath of office, cuz Commander Bonespurs would fire them for protesting.
In my view, the National Guard is just another weekend militia - they just have a legal basis for existing and get paid for monthly drills and periodic activations. Both the Guard and the fake militia you mentioned seem to share a love of guns and fascist ideology.
Militia groups appear to be populated mostly by ex-oneterm Guard and military vets - a large percentage of whom were administratively discharged (fired) prior to contract expiration for poor performance. 25% of all first-term Army personnel are administratively separated (fired) in under 24 months - between 25% and 40% of Army National Guard recruits fail to complete their initial contract - and all are welcomed by the Proud Boys.
No argument with you Tom, not overlooking anything at all either
And roger on the militia's and proud boys, cosplaying LARP meal team6, but being an officer of the armed forces as am I, you know that Clausewitz and Sun Tzu said, "Never underestimate the enemy:" an organized and armed group of overweight and aged military rejects can do a lot of damage.
Individually they may be unfit and cowardly, but in a group?
During the revolution, Gen Morgan knowing that the militia's would run at the sight of bayonets and after the first fusillade , had his militia face the British army, fire two rounds and then retreat, hidden on the back slope of the hill at Cow Pens, were regular trained troops laying down, and when the lobster backs got close they stood up and let them have it.
Wellington learned from that tactic and used it at Waterloo
The point is that overweight, LARPing rejects can still do a lot of damage, especially when employed against a civilian population.
We are in a mixed war Tom, a war in which the government is waging against the citizenry. it started in D.C. Los Angeles was just a command and control exercise.
I don't know if you were involved in such in the Navy, but I was and I even helped develop portions of the exercise plan
Ernst Rohm and the brown shirts, were anything but well trained and fit
There is another mirroring of the Sturmabeitlung and the Trump Reich, in that they were eliminated in the Night of the Long Knives. Trump isn't "murdering" his Brownshirts (yet) but he is definitely eliminating people in high places at an impressive rate.
There is no middle ground any more. If you are not actively working against fascism, you are enabling it. September 3rd is our next chance to protest in unison!
What about the 4th, and the 5th, and the... ? Dilettantism does not stop fascism; continuous action at least has a chance. And if worse comes to worst, they can't send all of us to Uganda.
All of us need to use the new playbook where GERRYMANDERING is approved by SCOTUS for all. We are behind. Simply matching the enemy will NOT catch us up. We must be much more aggressive. Then on to statehood for DC and Puerto Rico! For citizens, we must take to the streets in protests. Message with signs that are loud! How do you make a sign loud? By design! Here are 108 free signs for you that scream!
Yeah, we are IT! I'm doing what I can, hell's bells, I even wrote to Jamie Dimon to "remind" him of what happened to industrialists in Nazi Germany. Too bad I wrote it BEFORE the 10% "stake" in Intel was "negotiated". But, hope springs eternal. I'm hoping someone actually gives him the letter! Next I'll hope that he is indeed as smart as people think/say & he will take what I wrote & combine it with what happened to Intel & realize exactly what he & his Enormous Bank will be expected to do!
Fund concentration camps?
Pay off bribes?
Give sweetheart loans to trump & cronies which will magically be "forgiven?
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
This is from a letter that I wrote to a rabbi I know.
The one thing Trump is consistent about is betraying everyone who trusts him. Right now he is using antisemitism as an easy excuse to attack those with the courage to speak up. Later he will turn on the Jews. After all, his policies will fail and when he has used up other groups then they will be a convenient target.
He did not reply but it's obvious where we're going, and if a carjacking isn't a Reichstag fire it's still a convenient enough excuse, not that much was needed anyway. I do not understand why most Americans are sleepwalking into this, but then denial is a very strong default instinct. And when you get down to it, for the majority of people their lives won't be affected all that much by living in a dictatorship, at least not at first. It's a bit like climate change; you can live with the little shifts and excuse them as not important...until the tipping point is reached. "Gradually, then suddenly," as Hemingway wrote about bankruptcy in "The Sun Also Rises".
Incidentally I see Trump is trying to undercut the government in South Korea too. He doesn't like the idea that somebody else failed to implement a dictatorship.
One reason that people are sleepwalking into this is because they've been taught for close to a century that "it can't happen here." That long since has been an article of faith.
Explain what you mean by the people sleepwalking. The people on this newsletter and every newsletter I subscribe to are very much awake. If you are talking about democratic leadership, they have been a day late and a dollar short. Newsom and Pritzker are now very much awake. Let's hope the rest of the states follow suit.
You are right. We are awake (woke, too) and there are tens of millions of us. But there are many who don’t follow the news, think none of this really matters or expect everything to be okay after the next election. And for that matter, I haven’t seen the mainstream news media come out and say where the logical end of events is going. Maybe they believe it is too inflammatory—again, the analogy of climate change can be used, as there is no general attempt to connect the dots between specific (weather) events and overall trends. Actually I was thinking of the book "The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914" which suggests that the European governments, and with a few exceptions most citizens, did not see how on the continent a system of alliances was forming that could be triggered into a general war. A different situation, but far too many were oblivious to what was being set up.
Thom, I think that you know deep down in your heart that we have ALREADY past "The last moments to resist are slipping away, and history shows once fascism’s grip tightens, it rarely loosens…".
I think you want to remain upbeat, and urge us to continue the fight. BUT, the moment to fight to PREVENT authoritarian takeover has past. Now, it is time to figure out the best path forward to Recover Democracy. It will be a LONG, sad, difficult period, lasting decades or generations.
There are numerous examples and no reason to expect that America's descent into Authoritarian Rule will be any different. (Americans like to think we are special, but the past year shatters that wishful thinking).
Consider these countries in both Europe and South America:
Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador
Most of us reading this post will NEVER see Democracy in America.
We have to figure out a way to assist the recovery of democracy for our children or grandchildren.
These lyrics should be read on the House and Senate floor! Every day from someone. Maybe milk toast Schumer and Jeffries. Where are they? We have Bernie doing rallies and Crocket doing rallies. Where the hell is Jeffries and Schumer? In DC!! This is why the Democratic Party is perceived as being impotent. They are the so called leaders of the party! Get off your ass and get involved. Every House and Senate member should be put in the country doing town hall meetings in, not in their own districts, but in red ones! Leadership dammit!
With Democracy Docket and Marc Elias in the fight I actual do. He has won multiple cases as it relates to Gerrymandering and one person one vote and discrimination of minorities in other states. Even with this so called SCOTUS it is clearly unconstitutional. We will see but I’m optimistic.
I include them. But leadership is where we need to be. And it’s not to the degree it should be. I included Bernie and Crocket as examples of true leaders. The Democrats need to be also called out.
I am watching you as I type this on channel 269, Dish. You just talked about Lev Parnas, but expanded, and I wish you would have carried this in this news letter.
Lev predicts that Putin will mass a huge offensive to take the Donbas and then offer a proposal to freeze the battle lines as is, Zelensky will refuse the offer, Trump will take that as obstinancy of Zelenskyy's part and use that as an excuse to lift sanctions, and restore relationships with the oligarchs.
On the “what can we do” list of how to fight the authoritarian regime is always call or write your representatives. Obviously useless when your rep is only responsive to their master, and not you, who voted him in.
However, Trump said the truth (for once) after his MAGA base berated him for a cover-up of the Epstein files. It was a campaign promise!! That this is the first, and only thing that opened a space between Trump and his voters tells you all you need to know to answer your question. The Republicans in office are unresponsive to their constituents wants, needs, and polls precisely because their core voting block is conspiracy-driven not practical needs motivated.
This, I think, provides a window of opportunity for us to break through the impenetrable wall of blind servitude to Trump. Trump also attacked Republicans who raised the same questions: “I don’t need you weaklings” and called them “former supporters”. Dependent no more, the emperor can, and does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Above of the law is an understatement: there is no law that can, or will restrict his actions. Complain, appeal, the damage is already done; Trump is on to the next outrage after a barrage of insults because of a backlash. He will even defy orders (as mild as they are) from his Supreme Court. The madman knows he has no chains and is unfettered in both words and actions. Who needs a Congress to write laws that he's never going to follow? If the Democrats take the Congress, he’ll veto any rules, guidance, impositions on his free-wheeling power anyway.
My suggestion: Now is the time to contact your representative. Lets unless a barrage of letters (yes, letters, snail mail, not e-mail—you can only do that if you are in their district). In the letter let them in on the secret Trump let out: he could care less if they are re-elected. Oh, if they oppose him, on anything, there will be bluster and childish insults. Threats to “primary them”. But any hard core MAGA candidate that Trump designates will no longer appeal to those “heartbroken” core voters who have been betrayed by their own kind. The most probable scenario is that they will not vote at all. But since these voters’ “high ground” comes from “it’s about saving the children”, there is a chance that keeping the Epstein disappointment alive, and opposing the “cover-up” will actually garner Republican votes.
So, get out your printer, or even pen and paper. Write your rep. or anyone, directly to the congress. If you are not in a Republican district, you can e-mail directly to the Speaker of the House, or the Senate majority leader.
At the end of “Miracle on 34th Street, (If you are old enough or even young but saw it Saturday afternoons or now on cable) the proof in court that Kris Kringle was indeed the real Santa Claus came when bags and bags of mail were delivered addressed to him there.
How about an old-fashioned chain letter – write one, use the phone book, send 5, 10 out to strangers with the ending “if you don’t send this to congress, there will be terrible consequences: Democracy will be dead!”.
Let’s have some fun, and possibly, just possibly, have an impact.
Just one more comment…Governor Newsome is in the fight, and even the Legacy Media is attacking him, in a way that that is subtle, but shows their ego and what they want (the Presidency). So let’s not get too supportive of him. Ridiculous. The leaders should be all over this fight. I don’t give a damn about Newsome as to his government in CA. Thank god he’s in the fight and has given our democracy a chance. Right now he’s wanting to get back our democracy and these wannabes who also want the WH get on board. Yes he wants to be president and he has my vote. Without his fight we would be nowhere, except lemmings waiting for the next shoe to drop toward fascism. Where is Clinton? Where is W? Obama has stepped up. Where are they? Clinton had a surplus when he left. Gee could he talk and fight regarding the tariffs. No… crickets.
The unsettling thing for me is this piece only has 13 “likes.” To me, that only amplifies how truly disconnected to what’s really happening far too many Americans are.
I’ll share the article on FB and get maybe three “likes.” I’ll share a picture of my grandkids and their dog and get 150. That’s where we are.
For at least the last 25 years, historians and political scientists and commentators have been warning of the plans the Republican Party had for us. People refused to believed it. They mocked those of us who were trying to get the word out. We were being melodramatic, we were being extremists, we were being ridiculous. But the Republican Party, which morphed into the Tea Party, which morphed into MAGA, which is now the full-blown Fascist Party of America, HAS been marching us straight towards this moment - by brilliant and twisted design - for decades. Now it’s happening. Fascism is here, and still, too many people are just watching, refusing to speak out against their friends and family who support this fascist coup, refusing to speak out on Social Media, refusing to do anything except talk amongst themselves about how “bad” things are. This silence from too many Americans is not only frustrating, it is deadly.
Linda,excellent post. I do not use the word Fascism,in my view it is more accurate to call it the " Neo Nazi Party of America. People do not undertand Oligarchy,Authoritarian,Fascism,they might know what a " Nazi" is.The american public is asleep,I have no idea what will wake them up. There are 250 Million voting age american between the ages of 18-90.
While many of the protests have attracted large crowds,not enough to make any difference. I
I get the Ne York Times online. Even they have given up providing any opposition.
David, I have also abandoned the word “fascist.” I agree that people do not understand what that means. I’ve also abandoned the word “progressive,“ at least in describing my own views, because that label is too polarizing at this point. I am still searching for a new label. I would be interested in opinions on the following movement names: liberal, moderate, constitutionalist, patriot, reformist, democracy alliance, constitutional alliance, renewal alliance, future America. Or, suggest your own.
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
—Viktor E. Frankl
trt this:
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
—Viktor E. Frankl
This is so important. We can’t change the economics, but I wonder if there’s a way to rebuild “somethings larger” within the current economic framework, or if the current economic framework makes it nearly impossible.
That is the question!?
Thank you linda
Slide? Wrong tense.
We've already slid into stage 1 fascism.
77,300,000 so-called Americans (they are not really) wanted this.
Many feckless Dems and hardcore R-racists did not see the massive dorsal fin fast approaching.
Now what passed for democracy is like the first victim in the movie "JAWS."
Democracy's being whipped back and forth at speed — Screaming in the moonlight.
But almost no one of weight has come. . . So far.
Your metaphor is exactly what our collective situation looks and feels like - straight out of Jaws. I don’t think there is someone of weight to come; the fucking Democrats need to get their shit together and message precisely what democracy looks like. Sorry but this whole thing makes me swear.
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
—Viktor E. Frankl
Because of you and one of your previous essays, I did go become a precinct captain. I wish Obama HAD declared martial law and rounded up the radical right-wing freaks into FEMA camps. We’d be better off right now. I agree with you, we are right now, at this moment, in a fascist country. I suspect it will get worse and then worse. The only thing that will eject him from office is his own death; but then we’re stuck with Vance, another dictator in waiting. We can protest, but we need a million people to start. Small protests don’t do too much, especially since the lame stream media doesn’t cover them. I worry that he’ll do what Noem said, take over the governments of blue states. Why else would she have said that? Ugh. Like you said, the time to stop this is now: today.
Great. VAT and VAN.
Here's some of the stuff I posted yesterday. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGP_VAN. I describe it in detail below.
This is the kind of stuff that every activist should know. In Florida, data geeks can tell you all registered voters who voted and those who didn't.
The data subcontractors are on a state by state basis, but during to 2024 cycle I was a volunteer for several of them. I was a member of our local executive committee.
With repect to registrations, Field Team 6 uses different sub-contractors that don't rely on voter rolls to identify unregistered folk to should trend heavily Democratic. They use other "data mining" like buying histories and social contacts to establish an individual profile. Registration laws vary from state to state. E.G. in the swing states we could register people electronically, whereras in Tejas, it is verbotten.
Others have software that identifies every political donor. You should know every donor. Encourage them.
Many of the people involved have PhDs in computer science and Field Tem 6 had formwer advertising company CEOs volunteer.
That questoin,"why" is the subject of several programs as we speak.
AI: VAN is primarily a voter file that serves as the backbone for grassroots organizing, enabling campaigns to focus their resources on the most important voters.
Targeted outreach: Campaign staff can create custom "universes" of voters based on criteria such as location, voting history, demographics, and contact data. This allows for a focus on specific segments, such as mobilizing supporters or persuading undecided voters.
Ballot tracking: The system can track which voters have requested or returned a ballot for absentee or early voting. This allows campaigns to focus get-out-the-vote (GOTV) efforts on supporters who have not yet voted, preventing wasted effort.
Efficient and mobile field operations
VAN's companion mobile app, MiniVAN, streamlines field operations, replacing old-fashioned paper walk lists with a digital solution.
Real-time data synchronization: Canvassers use MiniVAN to record voter data and survey responses directly into the database. The information syncs instantly, allowing campaigns to get real-time feedback and avoid manual data entry errors.
Scripting and volunteer management: Organizers can create and manage canvassing scripts that volunteers can access on their phones. The app also allows for monitoring volunteer progress in the field.
Cost savings: Digital canvassing reduces printing costs and saves the time and labor required for manual data entry.
Integrated fundraising and donor management:
VAN software is tightly integrated with NGP, a related platform that handles campaign fundraising and compliance.
Centralized donor data: The system maintains comprehensive donor records and tracks engagement history across multiple channels, including email and mobile messaging.
Targeted fundraising: Campaigns can use data to identify potential new donors and create custom reports to boost fundraising efforts.
Compliance reporting: NGP software helps campaigns file accurate and complete campaign finance reports with built-in accountability measures and audit trails.
Volunteer and event management
The platform includes tools to manage volunteers and events, which can be shared with supporters to boost engagement.
Automated event sign-ups: Organizers can create branded sign-up forms for in-person and virtual events, with participant information automatically flowing back into VAN.
Volunteer recruitment: The Mobilize platform, acquired by NGP VAN, helps campaigns recruit and manage volunteers for both events and field operations.
Scalable and reliable technology
The VAN platform has been proven to scale for large and demanding campaigns.
Extensive track record: NGP VAN's software has been used by nearly every major Democratic campaign, including presidential campaigns.
High performance: The system powered a record number of contact attempts during the 2024 election cycle with 100% uptime, demonstrating its reliability under high stress.
Daniel,who provided the software for the VAN platform?Does Palantir have any part in this. I noticed last yr. the president of Palantir (Karp) earned 6.6 Billion dollars.
Do you know anything about them?
Each state has a contractor.
I know I don't hold their stock.
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
—Viktor E. Frankl
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
—Viktor E. Frankl
Before us, Luddites smashed the machines that replaced manual labor. I'm 81 and I'll never work again. Most of my time is spent on the internet, which didn't exist until I was in my 40's. As soon as computers became available technology surrounding it doubled capacity and speed virtually every year.
When I was in the 8th grade, we were forced to read Ralph Waldo Emerson. “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."
This is the opposite of the concept of original sin. "Man born of woman comes into the world in pain and from the moment of conception begins to die."
I don't accept That humanity is born in sin and that manual labor are the wages of sin.
I come from the rust belt, where manufacture was offshored, rather than hollowed out. I blame a lot of stupidity, especially Reagan, but Jimmy Carter was also clueless. When I was a kid, steelworkers working double shifts made more that doictors, lawyers and other professionals. Steelworkers doing an equivalnt job in our allied countries like South Korea and Japan made the same a minimum workers in the states. But ordinary Japanese could borrow at less than 1% amnd buy US treasuries sometimes paying 18%. Could make more money trading than working.
Besides Thom, I check out a lot of stuff, like Motley Fool. We're not really a manufacturting society -- that is unless you count socialized robots. Musk has a prototype.... As soon as computers were developed, algorythms were developed to eliminate market analyists. The stuff that is emerging like AI and crypto eliminates human activity.
I'm looking at a stock, Intuitive Surgical Inc (USRG), AI that eliminates the need for surgeons. I'm sure there's an equivalent for lawyers. They've eliminated virtually all secretarial, tryping jobs.
Apparenly if healthcare were removed from employment, there would be virtually nothing left. No manufacturing jobs. Assembly by robots.
To survive, learn to trade.
I believe it's ISRG, not USRG. Surgeons use their services. They are not replaced. Their services often replace more invasive procedures.
Right about the symbol, but the idea is to elimintate human surgeons.
Listen to Lev
Lev Parnas is American, but was born in Odessa, Ukraine. He went to jail for campaign and wire fraud. He is completely repentant and a great source for TRump and Russia information. The YouTube podcast I've seen him on is called The Left Hook. He is there with Wajahat Ali who is a retired lawyer. They often have discussions with Zev Shalev. Zev has been trying to chase down the money and details of the Epstein Affair for 10 years. Shalev is a producer and an investigative reporter; he is cheering for Senator Wyden's investigation of the money transfers.
This is it---the dictionary definition of fascism. Everyone. Is. Saying. It.
This is coming from Putin, the Project 2025 people, the tech-bros, the oligarchs, SCOTUS, TRump and his MAGA Cult. Do not let them go unnamed. Blame and shame them as a whole. If a loved one is involved, well we are all trying to figure that out. Love you Thom and Company for the education. You are so damn brave, and you give me courage.
RESIST! See you in the streets.
Silence now is nothing less than complicity. Too few pols are actually doing anything to stop this tyranny, this brazen fascism. FAR TOO FEW.
I am old. Cancer survivor. I have never felt less safe in my life. Folks in my deeply red community wear their sidearms on their belts. My pharmacy informed me that my insurance will not be covering many life saving vaccines come this Fall. Most friends and family are blissfully unaware and uninformed of the coming/existing fascist state. They just want to "get on with their lives." They resent the actions and statements I make in sounding the alarms.
Thom has been loudly warning us for years this was coming, and this is his most stark post to date. I'll share, but it will be met with further resentment by all those who just want to ignore it all - except on Blue Sky, of course. It's a bubble, but at least it's a comforting bubble. Good to know there are so many like minded folks who are equally alarmed.
Yesterday, in my local "Dollar" store, the man in front of me at the register was wearing his sidearm. The young man working the register has just lost most everything in the recent floods. The gun toting guy told the young man he would return to check on him, that "the GOP is here to help you." It was just so random, and alarming. I asked the young man if that guy was law enforcement. He was not. I then asked WTF did he mean by he "would check on you"? He did not have a clue. NW Georgia. MGT's district. And it seems they are ready for, and excited about, the prospect of a real fight to save our democracy.
Have never felt less safe.
Thank for sharing your experiences, Michael, because everyone needs to hear the specifics you describe at The Dollar Store happening right in front of you and of those facts about medications threatening your future.
I want to say I realize that it is a struggle to deal with cancer and even as a survivor you must keep vigilant. I know because six years ago my husband was diagnosed with non-smokers lung cancer and from that day forward the doctors tried to keep him alive while he was home in palliative care and hospice and lived two more years; he passed at 84 years of age.
As you know, the future for those who will need specialized medication and care is threatened due to cuts in medical care by the stupid people managing the system.
I am delighted to see more journalists are following Thom's example and are calling a spade a fascist. Fascism is here. I live in Florida where we have a fascist governor. Texas too is fascist according to my pals in Houston. In Oklahoma, Bibles are now textbooks, and the 10 Commandments must be posted in every classroom. That is not an act of Christian Nationalism, it is just another fascist strategy of thought control. BTW, Christian Nationalism has been the norm in Okiedum since at least the 90's. It is just being debated to make it a law to get SCOTUS to bless their culture.
Margaret Sullivan's post today [https://margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/cash-handouts-headline-accusations] pointed out how the MSM has been softening evidence of fascism - starting with NYT and then WAPO. This is exactly, textbook, how Hitler came to power in Germany. History appears to be repeating itself. ICE is Trump's Gestapo, but I have not seen that metaphor in print. The National Guard is Trump's Brown Shirts, but again no mention of that either. How soon will it be that I walk into Home Depot and some masked fed in combat attire asks "papers please" to avoid arrest?
I will have to start taking anti-anxiety medication before I read these reports and comments....
Sophia, I started taking anti- anxiety medication more than two decades ago- off and on when the Fascist tranny of illicit surveillance took over our lives 24/7 to cope with the stalking, terrorizing manifestations of the relentless activity, which has allowed followers to enforce their tyranny; and despite causing havoc in our personal life and the onset of a six year bout of an auto immune disease that caused large itchy watery burning blisters all over my body I have done the best I could to cope and now everyone will just have to endure that which our society deemed okay for me.
It's not Fasicsm,is the " Neo Nazi" party.NYT has surrendered.
Captain: Your post is great, but I disagree with the comment that the National Guard is Trump's Brownshirts.
The Sturmabeitlung was volunteers who believed in and voluntary supported the NAZI's, primarly they were used to fight Communists , the National Guard are military and most are not in agreement with Trump but have to do what they are told.
Just like the Armed Forces, the rally at Ft Bragg, where the general had his troops inventoried for the Trumpism, before using them as a back drop, there are indeed some Trump humpers in the Guard, but not all.
Apparently the Dominionist virus which started in the AF Academy has infected Annapolis as the Commandant couldn't wait to purge the library of DEI
I;ve been scratching my head to find analogies with NAZI Germany, but Trump's America is in development.
ICE does act like the GESTAPO, but the GESTAPO was also an internal intelligence unit,
A marriage of ICE and the FBI/DEA.HSI/ATF/US Marshals or HSI and DOJ folded into one would be more analgous to GESTAPO.
The National Guard is an adjunct to the DOD and the DOD is the Wehrmacht, Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. The Luftwaffe is generaled by hard core Dominionist Trump Humpers
The Brownshirts were formed in 1920 to form protection for NAZI rallies and speeches and didn't come to power until 1933 when Hitler was named Chancellor
In that regardI see Proud boys, Boogaloo Boyz, 3^ers, militia's, Constitutional Sheriff's and Peace Officers Association, Oath Keepers and Promise Keepers, those are the Brown Shirts, the Sturmabeitlung, and they are standing back and standing by.
I agree with what you are saying, but perhaps you are overlooking that our sychophant SECDEF is a failed National Guard officer. Likewise, you might be overlooking that the National Guard generals have been very very silent on the inappropriate deployment of their reservist troops. I guess the generals do not want to retire early just to honor their oath of office, cuz Commander Bonespurs would fire them for protesting.
In my view, the National Guard is just another weekend militia - they just have a legal basis for existing and get paid for monthly drills and periodic activations. Both the Guard and the fake militia you mentioned seem to share a love of guns and fascist ideology.
Militia groups appear to be populated mostly by ex-oneterm Guard and military vets - a large percentage of whom were administratively discharged (fired) prior to contract expiration for poor performance. 25% of all first-term Army personnel are administratively separated (fired) in under 24 months - between 25% and 40% of Army National Guard recruits fail to complete their initial contract - and all are welcomed by the Proud Boys.
No argument with you Tom, not overlooking anything at all either
And roger on the militia's and proud boys, cosplaying LARP meal team6, but being an officer of the armed forces as am I, you know that Clausewitz and Sun Tzu said, "Never underestimate the enemy:" an organized and armed group of overweight and aged military rejects can do a lot of damage.
Individually they may be unfit and cowardly, but in a group?
During the revolution, Gen Morgan knowing that the militia's would run at the sight of bayonets and after the first fusillade , had his militia face the British army, fire two rounds and then retreat, hidden on the back slope of the hill at Cow Pens, were regular trained troops laying down, and when the lobster backs got close they stood up and let them have it.
Wellington learned from that tactic and used it at Waterloo
The point is that overweight, LARPing rejects can still do a lot of damage, especially when employed against a civilian population.
We are in a mixed war Tom, a war in which the government is waging against the citizenry. it started in D.C. Los Angeles was just a command and control exercise.
I don't know if you were involved in such in the Navy, but I was and I even helped develop portions of the exercise plan
Ernst Rohm and the brown shirts, were anything but well trained and fit
There is another mirroring of the Sturmabeitlung and the Trump Reich, in that they were eliminated in the Night of the Long Knives. Trump isn't "murdering" his Brownshirts (yet) but he is definitely eliminating people in high places at an impressive rate.
Rachael Maddow covered that last night. He removes them, then appoints them ambassadors, and that is he (nonviolently) murders them.
Throwing a bone to a drowning dog.
Agree totally.
MSM companies have been bought up by the rich, so that they could control them.
There is no middle ground any more. If you are not actively working against fascism, you are enabling it. September 3rd is our next chance to protest in unison!
Actually starts September 2 @ 10 a.m. at Columbus Circle.
What about the 4th, and the 5th, and the... ? Dilettantism does not stop fascism; continuous action at least has a chance. And if worse comes to worst, they can't send all of us to Uganda.
Should be in DC as long as this goes on. I wish I had the phycical capacity....
Some of my former colleagues still live there. Have personal relationships with some of the members. Most are ex-Republicans.
I hope it goes well, Daniel. Thank you.
Lary,agree 100%.
All of us need to use the new playbook where GERRYMANDERING is approved by SCOTUS for all. We are behind. Simply matching the enemy will NOT catch us up. We must be much more aggressive. Then on to statehood for DC and Puerto Rico! For citizens, we must take to the streets in protests. Message with signs that are loud! How do you make a sign loud? By design! Here are 108 free signs for you that scream!
https://hotbuttons.substack.com/p/protest-sign-sign-everywhere-a-sign?r=3m1bs
Sign for the day: See you in September in DC.
https://removalcoalition.org/
Yeah, we are IT! I'm doing what I can, hell's bells, I even wrote to Jamie Dimon to "remind" him of what happened to industrialists in Nazi Germany. Too bad I wrote it BEFORE the 10% "stake" in Intel was "negotiated". But, hope springs eternal. I'm hoping someone actually gives him the letter! Next I'll hope that he is indeed as smart as people think/say & he will take what I wrote & combine it with what happened to Intel & realize exactly what he & his Enormous Bank will be expected to do!
Fund concentration camps?
Pay off bribes?
Give sweetheart loans to trump & cronies which will magically be "forgiven?
You know what I'm saying!
EXTORTION!
What the Manufacturing Stats Reveal About the American Economy
The numbers speak in whispers, but the story is seismic. In 1980, labor made up over 30% of manufacturing costs—a sign that human skill, time, and dignity were felt in the end -product. By 2024, that figure has dropped to just 12% among billion-dollar firms. The hands that built the economy have been displaced by automation, offshoring, and abstraction.
This isn’t just a shift in input, it’s a shift in meaning. The American economy has stratified into two symbolic realms:
• The Titans: Billion-dollar firms with optimized margins, global reach, and minimal labor footprint. They produce efficiently, but without touch.
• The Keepers of the Forge: Small manufacturers—often under $100M—where labor still matters, where the work is visible, embodied, and local.
These smaller firms carry labor costs of 25–35% yet operate on thinner margins (28–32%) than their corporate counterparts (39–45%). They are pressured from both ends: rising input costs and a shrinking customer base.
The middle class—the great demand engine of American manufacturing—has been hollowed out. Wages have stagnated, benefits eroded, and the cultural gaze has shifted. We stopped looking at the worker and started looking at the spreadsheet. The consumer became a data point. The citizens were left out of the equation altogether.
And behind the screen, the stock market became the new altar. Financial markets no longer reflect what the real economy is, they dictate it. Labor is not rewarded for its contribution but punished for its cost. Firms are not valued for what they build, but for how efficiently they can buy back stock. The gaze that once honored the craftsman and the product now worships the quarterly earnings call.
But the deeper loss is this: the gaze itself was once triangulated. Not just buyer and seller, not just worker and manager—but a third presence. A shared myth. A civic ideal. A moral horizon. When two people’s eyes met across the counter, or across the factory floor, they were affirming something larger, that was happening between them, a shared dream, a meaning, a Republic!
“There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”
—Viktor E. Frankl
This is from a letter that I wrote to a rabbi I know.
The one thing Trump is consistent about is betraying everyone who trusts him. Right now he is using antisemitism as an easy excuse to attack those with the courage to speak up. Later he will turn on the Jews. After all, his policies will fail and when he has used up other groups then they will be a convenient target.
He did not reply but it's obvious where we're going, and if a carjacking isn't a Reichstag fire it's still a convenient enough excuse, not that much was needed anyway. I do not understand why most Americans are sleepwalking into this, but then denial is a very strong default instinct. And when you get down to it, for the majority of people their lives won't be affected all that much by living in a dictatorship, at least not at first. It's a bit like climate change; you can live with the little shifts and excuse them as not important...until the tipping point is reached. "Gradually, then suddenly," as Hemingway wrote about bankruptcy in "The Sun Also Rises".
Incidentally I see Trump is trying to undercut the government in South Korea too. He doesn't like the idea that somebody else failed to implement a dictatorship.
One reason that people are sleepwalking into this is because they've been taught for close to a century that "it can't happen here." That long since has been an article of faith.
Explain what you mean by the people sleepwalking. The people on this newsletter and every newsletter I subscribe to are very much awake. If you are talking about democratic leadership, they have been a day late and a dollar short. Newsom and Pritzker are now very much awake. Let's hope the rest of the states follow suit.
You are right. We are awake (woke, too) and there are tens of millions of us. But there are many who don’t follow the news, think none of this really matters or expect everything to be okay after the next election. And for that matter, I haven’t seen the mainstream news media come out and say where the logical end of events is going. Maybe they believe it is too inflammatory—again, the analogy of climate change can be used, as there is no general attempt to connect the dots between specific (weather) events and overall trends. Actually I was thinking of the book "The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914" which suggests that the European governments, and with a few exceptions most citizens, did not see how on the continent a system of alliances was forming that could be triggered into a general war. A different situation, but far too many were oblivious to what was being set up.
Thank you.
Thom, I think that you know deep down in your heart that we have ALREADY past "The last moments to resist are slipping away, and history shows once fascism’s grip tightens, it rarely loosens…".
I think you want to remain upbeat, and urge us to continue the fight. BUT, the moment to fight to PREVENT authoritarian takeover has past. Now, it is time to figure out the best path forward to Recover Democracy. It will be a LONG, sad, difficult period, lasting decades or generations.
There are numerous examples and no reason to expect that America's descent into Authoritarian Rule will be any different. (Americans like to think we are special, but the past year shatters that wishful thinking).
Consider these countries in both Europe and South America:
Hungary, Poland, Turkey, Russia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, Nicaragua, El Salvador
Most of us reading this post will NEVER see Democracy in America.
We have to figure out a way to assist the recovery of democracy for our children or grandchildren.
Case study is Brian Fitzpatrick. Replicate him and "poof." https://jerryweiss.substack.com/
These lyrics should be read on the House and Senate floor! Every day from someone. Maybe milk toast Schumer and Jeffries. Where are they? We have Bernie doing rallies and Crocket doing rallies. Where the hell is Jeffries and Schumer? In DC!! This is why the Democratic Party is perceived as being impotent. They are the so called leaders of the party! Get off your ass and get involved. Every House and Senate member should be put in the country doing town hall meetings in, not in their own districts, but in red ones! Leadership dammit!
With Democracy Docket and Marc Elias in the fight I actual do. He has won multiple cases as it relates to Gerrymandering and one person one vote and discrimination of minorities in other states. Even with this so called SCOTUS it is clearly unconstitutional. We will see but I’m optimistic.
You attack the wrong people. Psy ops in action. The target should be Congressional Republicans.
The action will be in DC starting Sept. 2.
I include them. But leadership is where we need to be. And it’s not to the degree it should be. I included Bernie and Crocket as examples of true leaders. The Democrats need to be also called out.
You need to ask how many Congressional Republicans (if any) can they deliver?
You think ther'll be a valid election? Trump has a bridge to Broolyn to sell you.
I am watching you as I type this on channel 269, Dish. You just talked about Lev Parnas, but expanded, and I wish you would have carried this in this news letter.
Lev predicts that Putin will mass a huge offensive to take the Donbas and then offer a proposal to freeze the battle lines as is, Zelensky will refuse the offer, Trump will take that as obstinancy of Zelenskyy's part and use that as an excuse to lift sanctions, and restore relationships with the oligarchs.
Did I get that wrong.
On the “what can we do” list of how to fight the authoritarian regime is always call or write your representatives. Obviously useless when your rep is only responsive to their master, and not you, who voted him in.
However, Trump said the truth (for once) after his MAGA base berated him for a cover-up of the Epstein files. It was a campaign promise!! That this is the first, and only thing that opened a space between Trump and his voters tells you all you need to know to answer your question. The Republicans in office are unresponsive to their constituents wants, needs, and polls precisely because their core voting block is conspiracy-driven not practical needs motivated.
This, I think, provides a window of opportunity for us to break through the impenetrable wall of blind servitude to Trump. Trump also attacked Republicans who raised the same questions: “I don’t need you weaklings” and called them “former supporters”. Dependent no more, the emperor can, and does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Above of the law is an understatement: there is no law that can, or will restrict his actions. Complain, appeal, the damage is already done; Trump is on to the next outrage after a barrage of insults because of a backlash. He will even defy orders (as mild as they are) from his Supreme Court. The madman knows he has no chains and is unfettered in both words and actions. Who needs a Congress to write laws that he's never going to follow? If the Democrats take the Congress, he’ll veto any rules, guidance, impositions on his free-wheeling power anyway.
My suggestion: Now is the time to contact your representative. Lets unless a barrage of letters (yes, letters, snail mail, not e-mail—you can only do that if you are in their district). In the letter let them in on the secret Trump let out: he could care less if they are re-elected. Oh, if they oppose him, on anything, there will be bluster and childish insults. Threats to “primary them”. But any hard core MAGA candidate that Trump designates will no longer appeal to those “heartbroken” core voters who have been betrayed by their own kind. The most probable scenario is that they will not vote at all. But since these voters’ “high ground” comes from “it’s about saving the children”, there is a chance that keeping the Epstein disappointment alive, and opposing the “cover-up” will actually garner Republican votes.
So, get out your printer, or even pen and paper. Write your rep. or anyone, directly to the congress. If you are not in a Republican district, you can e-mail directly to the Speaker of the House, or the Senate majority leader.
At the end of “Miracle on 34th Street, (If you are old enough or even young but saw it Saturday afternoons or now on cable) the proof in court that Kris Kringle was indeed the real Santa Claus came when bags and bags of mail were delivered addressed to him there.
How about an old-fashioned chain letter – write one, use the phone book, send 5, 10 out to strangers with the ending “if you don’t send this to congress, there will be terrible consequences: Democracy will be dead!”.
Let’s have some fun, and possibly, just possibly, have an impact.
We should be paying attention 9/1…
Just one more comment…Governor Newsome is in the fight, and even the Legacy Media is attacking him, in a way that that is subtle, but shows their ego and what they want (the Presidency). So let’s not get too supportive of him. Ridiculous. The leaders should be all over this fight. I don’t give a damn about Newsome as to his government in CA. Thank god he’s in the fight and has given our democracy a chance. Right now he’s wanting to get back our democracy and these wannabes who also want the WH get on board. Yes he wants to be president and he has my vote. Without his fight we would be nowhere, except lemmings waiting for the next shoe to drop toward fascism. Where is Clinton? Where is W? Obama has stepped up. Where are they? Clinton had a surplus when he left. Gee could he talk and fight regarding the tariffs. No… crickets.