Blaming the Elites Is Easy I Used to

Trump speaks with a hidden truth. America consumes too much; the solution, however, involves a trade-off few desire. People don’t want to make iPhones they’d rather work in service-based, knowledge jobs for higher pay. One of Trump’s advisers or Cabinet members I can’t remember who—once said something telling: “Why have the Chinese screwing together iPhones when American robots could do it, with someone maintaining the robots?” That last point is often lost, as people focus on the simple idea of jobs.

There’s a conflict between isolationism and global dominance. America wants to pull back, yet still swing its weight around. The age of the American global order is ending, and the structures that once served us are now being dismantled. Democracy is eroding at the same time as America maxes out its credit card in a mid-life crisis. The failure to invest and rebuild is causing the rest of the world to suffer, as the price of borrowing rises. Nations that invested in the future are being rewarded; those who wasted time now face a growing bill. That’s before we even consider the price of climate change and the unknowns that follow. Think of it like a car repair—you know it needs fixing, but wait too long and the whole thing needs replacing. Imagine how many “cars” that might affect.

Is the US bankrupt? Yes morally. And it shows that democracy itself is on shaky ground: fragile, easily dismantled. It’s a warning to the rest of us about hubris. Democracy must be renewed, repaired, and maintained or it fades like a rose. America’s oversized influence is now corrosive to modern democracy. The system wasn’t built for the digital world or a globally connected media landscape. Big tech’s business model has created information silos of ignorance for profit.

At the heart of America’s debt crisis are two simple truths: it consumes too much, and it doesn’t tax its citizens enough. The average US tax rate is around 25%, while in much of the world it’s closer to 35%, and over 40% in parts of Europe. The benefit has long been cheap borrowing but that era is ending. Now America is facing higher costs like everyone else.

Meanwhile, society itself is shifting. The world is ageing. That means slower economic growth and long-term stagnation. We’re going to have far more older people, and far fewer of working age. It’s a global trend—meaning a fight over labour is coming, just as we push away the very people we’ll need and make it harder for them to settle. Add to that poor working conditions, a housing shortage, and then shift the blame onto people like me or you. That’s not a solution it’s a scapegoat.

It’s hard to spot these big trends while they’re happening. No matter how successful a government is, people move in cycles. Politicians do care about us but the system breeds a certain kind of person. Trust matters. Not everyone is the same—and lumping everyone into one basket is just lazy and arrogant. Trust me, I used to think like that. I don’t now.

That disconnect between people and politics needs fixing. Maybe it can be fixed—but why would anyone decent want to enter politics when the threat of violence is very real? That only drives away good people.

What I’m trying to say is: we need more people from different backgrounds—not just middle-class and upper-class twats with too much time and money. Everything in life involves a trade-off, and voters often don’t like that. They seek simple answers to complicated problems.

I doubt you even knew that US interest rates are tied to global interest rates—and that this affects everyone’s borrowing. Did you? I’m the sort of guy who likes knowing stuff like that. I don’t know everything—I’m just curious. But I’ve said it before: the rich robbing the rest of us is an old story. You can probably find me writing about it on my blog years ago. I’ve been there. I’ve done that.

The truth is, most of what’s happening isn’t part of some grand conspiracy. It’s incompetence. It’s error. It’s muddling through. The world is complex and messy—and sometimes you can’t control it. We pretend it’s all part of some master plan because the truth—that no one’s really in charge—is far scarier.

Capitalism isn’t inherently bad. It’s like driving a car go too fast and reckless, and things fall apart. You need to control it, maintain it, and most of all, understand its limits. Like I said earlier: we live in a deeply connected, complicated world. Simple solutions won’t cut it.

Should we be more frugal? Yes the Western world should be. But that means accepting trade-offs most people wouldn’t fancy. Fewer people buying things means fewer retail shops, for example. And that circles us back to why Trump works. He lies and games the system—people know that—but they see him as one last throw of the dice. Maybe he’ll fix it. And the uncomfortable truth? He sometimes says things that are true—if you listen closely enough. The problem is, people only hear what they want to hear.

The world needs reform, not rebellion. It needs careful, long-term thinking. But voters are impatient. They think short-term is 1–2 years, medium-term is 3–5, and long-term is 5–10. In reality, it’s 5, 10, and 20 years. There’s a complete disconnect between public expectations and what real change requires.

We also need political cohesion so the system doesn’t keep yo-yoing every five years. But that’s hard when so many people are radicalising themselves online. Maybe we should be taking their phones away and addressing the toxic digital swamp that’s breeding so much hate and delusion.

Voters demand the impossible. Politicians promise it. And so the cycle continues. No one’s clearly explaining the trade-offs, the realities, or how to actually connect with people. Instead, populist forces feed off legitimate grievances and twist them.

We already have the answers. We just need to be honest about them and better at landing the message. As for America? Liberals need something like Project 2025 a root and branch reform of the whole system, with a sledgehammer taken to the media landscape. But be careful what you wish for. Democrats need to wake up. Something far worse is brewing. They shouldn’t swing wildly to the left but hold the centre and get on with fixing things. That means eating some humble pie and learning to compromise.

There’s a clear incentive to act. The Republican Party wants to destroy the Democrats and that’s an existential threat. Democrats can’t just wait to swing back into office. Voters want change. A few meaningful reforms could make a real difference. But powerful lobbying groups and entrenched interests need to understand what’s at stake. I don’t think the penny has dropped yet for them, or for the media.

America is in a dangerously unstable place. As I’ve said before: the people who helped bring Trump to power need their wealth, influence, and reach reduced. But that alone won’t fix anything. You also need to deal with the underlying grievances some of which aren’t obvious, and all of which come with trade-offs.

It’s not collapse it’s decline. America’s global influence is shrinking, especially outside North America. I’ve seen people predict collapse for years. They’ve all been wrong. What we’re seeing isn’t a sudden end it’s a slow, uneven unwinding.

Politics is now unstable. Unlikely outcomes are becoming normal. We’re in a volatile period. Yes, we’re in a polycrisis. But that’s not entirely new. What is new is that we can watch it unfold in real time—and, if we’re smart, we can learn from it.

Cooperation is the way forward not unilateral action by one power bloc. But cooperation takes time, and every country has its own interests. It’s not easy.

Collapse won’t come tomorrow but the decline is already here. The smarter move is to act now and improve things for the future. Honestly? I’m more worried about Europe than I am about America. The bigger question is whether Europe will finally take responsibility for its own security, rather than outsourcing it to a fading empire. That’s a far more urgent problem and one we’re barely discussing.

To bring it full circle: I remember saying years ago that Britain needed tax reform and higher taxes. After kicking the can down the road for a decade, they finally got the message. The problem? It’s how they told the story. Politics is about storytelling. Liberals, progressives whatever you call them need to learn to tell a better story. And they need to start taking online radicalisation seriously. That means clipping the wings of America’s big tech firms, before the damage becomes irreversible.