As we descend into the panopticon era of technofascism, one of the biggest proponents of this descent is the installation of the Flock cameras we’re seeing in our communities. I’ve been waiting for a report that shows us the data that is needed to decide whether these Flock cameras reduce crime and increase crime clearance rates; the true measure of their efficacy. Recently, people have used the FBI Crime Data Explorer tool for a closer look at the numbers. According to findings, despite nearly an eight-fold increase in the number of cameras in Atlanta, Flock didn’t significantly decrease crime or increase clearance rates as promised.

According to the ATLPressCollective, Connect Atlanta’s website has updated amounts of 28,626 integrated and 17,314 registered cameras as July this year. All these cameras and no significant reduction in crime or increase in clearance rates. Really makes one question how these cameras were pitched to the individuals that signed off on it. Part of what frustrates me the most is that these cameras, in a lot of cases, were signed off by one individual, with little to no community input. This was learned from my FOIA requests to the county and city. Something that affects everyone should be voted on and decided on by everyone. Outsourcing local police to work for a private corporation such as this is a serious sign of incompetence, laziness, and naivety.

To disarm a couple of counter points I hear; Flock is being sold as “having a police officer on every street”, however we never have had officers on every street, and there’s no need to. To the “But your phone tracks you” folks, we consented to buying the phone, and check off on the user agreements. Also, to those parroting the, “you shouldn’t worry if you don’t have anything to hide”, line; dismissing privacy rights because one has “nothing to hide” is equivalent to dismissing free speech because one has “nothing to say” - Edward Snowden.

Another angle I want to direction attention to, is always, what could have been instead? My FOIA requests showed the City of Fairmont allotted over $30,000 for their purchase of 5 Flock cameras, and equipment; while Marion County has allotted $238,600 for its purchase of roughly 36 cameras and equipment. Given the report showing no significant decrease in crime in places using Flock; do you not think that nearly $260,000 could have put to better use? There are data driven, tested and researched ways to reduce crime such as afterschool programs, trades programs, community centers, rehab centers, etc. Why did we not put any money towards these programs instead? They all are by far more effective at reducing crime than Flock Cameras. These are questions that I want answers too.

Flock cameras I would argue are incredibly anti-community. By installing a “cop of every street” you are essentially removing the “community” out of community policing. Many small towns know, are acquainted and friendly with the officers where they live due to the nature of small communities. Studies have shown that policing is more effective when the officer is from or reflects the community in which they serve. This separation of community from policing will only further weaken the relationships between the police and the communities they serve.

So, what good do they really serve? Showing one instance where the cameras helped solve a crime or bring up anecdote of a past crime that they would’ve been helping on does not justify their purchase or using. Given how many incredible amounts of documented and prosecuted cases of abuse by officers using flock; it is near comical that a person could hold up one or two examples of usefulness, while a growing laundry list 50 abuses exist, and claim any justification. Worth mentioning is that Flock Safety is on the NIST’s National Vulnerabilities Database, due to the number of hacks they have been the target of.

What’s to be done? We organize, educate, and apply pressure. A new batch of FOIA’s I’ve sent will hopefully provide some answers to the questions mentioned above, however in the meantime it is important for people to find who the decision makers are. FOIA’ing the flock contracts is the first step to find the decision makers approving and signing flock contracts. After finding out who, call their office, email them, and/or go to a scheduled meeting in person and begin to apply pressure. This is an effort that requires folks from all across the spectrum to participate. Arm yourself with knowledge, organize, and be loud to prevent the prying eyes of techno-fascism.

I’ll end by sharing a WV law that may be useful in the coming future. I recommend that if you live outside of WV, check to see if your state has a similar law.

§17C-6-7a. Prohibition of the use of traffic law photo-monitoring devices to detect or prove traffic law violations.

One of the observational assessments that I have made since starting to more closely follow national news and politics is that the Democratic Party, at nearly all levels, needs a bit of a reality check. Because from everything I have witnessed, one theme continues to reappear which is that the Democratic party, as he old saying goes, consistently snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.

On both sides of the isle, we have controlled opposition figures, usually bribed or connected to corporate money interests, or a billionaire. You have the giant influence that the almighty hand of capital and money plays in the election process. Especially when maintaining the status quo and shutting out any sort of dissent or opposition. There are the sycophants and those that profit from the immiseration of the marginalized, less fortunate, and the working class. On principle, these figures stand in the way of progress that could better material conditions for all of us.

Other more wholistic observations that I have made over the years; Regarding the right side of the isle, the Republican party seems to move the “goal posts” to advance their overall agenda forward whether domestic or economic, and no matter how unpopular to the majority of the country. It would appear the Republican Party is much more effective at executing their agenda much more so than the Democrats nationally and even locally, in my case at the very least. Especially over the past few years, Republicans have had clear goals they set to achieve, like their Project Fascism 2025 master-race plan, concocted by some of the most slimy, sweaty looking racist ghouls. Worth noting, they have passed approximately 53% of it. The Democratic party for the most part, ends up capitulating to whatever/wherever the new goal post has been moved to, while only ever offering up something to vote against, and following through on slowing down the movement of the goal post; but no advancement. Democrats continue to be unified only in their opposition to the right and while unlike the Republicans, they have the revolving villains that rotate around to vote against any real “left” status quo changing policy or legislation. By consistently pushing back against the left flank, the Democratic party inadvertently ends up defending the new goal post’s position the right has created, which ultimately becomes the new center or centrist position. It has been very rare for attempts to push the Dems further “left” to be successful.

If one looks at the overall wins for each party in terms of their policy objectives moving forward, the Dems have been trailing behind the Republicans. This is in part due to the role that the consultant class has in the Democratic party, and the issues they’ve brought with them. Also contributing, the corporate centrist establishment Democrats, which like mentioned above, have never held up and put forward a candidate from their left flank. They are responsible for the roadblocks changemakers face. Typically, not without incredible public pressure will they relent to prop them up, and even then, it’s not always successful because the damage has been done. Establishment Democrats never seriously put up or push forward ideas like Medicare for All, despite their popularity, and instead try to push back and snuff them out. Excepting only when public pressure becomes too high for them, only then will they begrudgingly move further left. The Democrats’ rather large issue of Infighting results in crushing its own potential. This is largely due to the moneyed interest squashing any left-leaning candidates and now more so the political consulting class trying to protect its job security. With the rise and victories of recent DSA candidates and the popularity of certain messages from their platform resonating with the majority, the party leadership feels public pressure to mirror the DSA’s positions. They will capitulate as they always do, out of the fear that they will no longer be able to keep their seats and become irrelevant. However, one thing that has the power to slow or stop this progress, it is the volume and power of the almighty dollar.

Also worth noting, is that it appears that the majority of the Democratic Party has been taking the advice of James Carville. The advice of doing nothing, while letting Republicans crash and burn, and then after the Democrats will swoop in to rise and revive the country from the ashes. However, there appeared to only be marginal gains from this strategy; which I’d argue have long reached its ceiling. Continuing this strategy now only hastens the descent towards full on fascism in this country. By remaining quiet or refusing to take any clear stand regarding the most pressing issues at current, they are wasting away the chance to put up any sort of adequate robust opposition. Silence in the face of oppression is siding with the oppressor. Silence during moments that require extreme moral clarity, turn into complicity of the actions or words of the oppressor. The refusal to speak or take a clear stand shows the people that you might be in support of the actions overall, but just not the aesthetics of it. An example a lot of Democrats appeared to be of the mind that they could run/manage ICE better than the Republicans. Even when they realized the majority of their voters oppose it and many want it abolished. Many Democrats still refuse to call Israel out for the genocide or even recognize it. Much of the “old guard” stands in the way of progress, when it is overwhelmingly is an issue nearly 80% of the population agrees on. This spinelessness, fecklessness and refusal to firmly take a stand against the inhumanity we are all seeing across the country and planet goes far past incompetence. Much like the functions of the false promise of trickle-down economics, those weak character traits mentioned earlier have successfully seeped and trickled down all the way to the local level, spreading into even the smallest municipalities.

Many local, city, and state government officials lack any sort of moral conviction or will needed to pursue more aggressive pushes from the left on policies, where it appears most of the right side of the isle is only ever pushing further to the right. The Republican Party appears far too captured by the monied interests of corporations, billionaires, and reactionaries that it is riddled with its own litany of problems, but issues exist within the Democrats which require some constructive criticism, introspection, and outrospection in order to get to the bottom of. The Democratic party often struggles with constructive criticism, because unlike the Republican party, there is a struggle within the party over “control of the microphone”, so to speak. The Republicans get exposed for ridiculous expenditures and the most I’ve seen is a strongly worded letter from the state Dems. Republicans wasted $3 million on a right wing Hooked-On-Phonics program forced down the throat of universities, and all I heard were crickets. Money “running out” for school closing vouchers only after a week? After previously hearing talk of it not happening altogether, I would argue they threw it together after heated pushback by angry parents. However, I do wonder, why did the parents have to be the main ones pushing back, and not their representatives at every level? Well, they did send a statement that they are “Hoping” to work together to solve the issue. Last I heard we had a large $370 million of revenue surplus funds, where did those go? The state republicans are not trying to solve the issue when they have wasted all this money, that could have just went to this much more important program. We have mass public criticism and backlash against flock cameras across the state, and the West Virginia Democrats offer up an incredibly vague, milquetoast message in favor of privacy rights, while refusing to take a clear stand on if they are in support of the cameras or not. Refusing to be clear on such issues only serves to make one look disingenuous, inauthentic, and morally malleable.

Subscribe now

We have some of the most brazenly corrupt and dishonest officials on the national and state level. The National WV Republicans seemingly only care about trying to talk about culture war issues while they take hundreds of thousands, from a genocidal state. They want to go after the minuscule number of trans athletes in the state, and bend over backwards for Trump. On the state level we have much of the same and just as insane, grossly amounts of waste with no sort of accountability, and we cannot forget the usual “Socialist/Communist” fear mongering. To address this point to Democrats; Republicans call everybody in the party from Chuck Schumer to AOC a socialist/communist anyways; stop being so scared of this cheap tactic. In the eyes of the public, the National Democrat Party is widely viewed as primarily consisting of elitist, smug, smarmy, fence sitting reactionaries that’d made Bill Maher blush. With all this Republican baggage mentioned above, can one West Virginia Democrat official please tell me where is the spine to go on the offensive? Crafting an effective message that resonates with voters, by exposing this corruption the opposing side is engaging in should be easy enough. There are loads of ammunition, with more coming out by the day it seems, so why sit on it? Do they plan to ever use it to their advantage, to work and flip seats? I feel a strongly worded statement coming in.. Whom or whichever consulting firms the state Democrats are using, if any, should be fired. Knowingly or unknowingly, they have a lot of y’all acting like controlled opposition. A clear pathway of aggressive pushback and standing up to this sort of incompetence is all too clear to me; so, if y’all feel like actually winning, want effective messaging, and are serious about bringing drastically needed material improvements to our beautiful state; hit me up!

With all that being said, it raises the question, why don’t the Democrats nationally and locally operate in a more aggressive, organized fashion to combat the advances on the right? Culprit No. 1 is, of course, the almighty dollar and its seemingly ever-growing influence, be it on the process, various lobbies, or candidates themselves. Culprit No. 2 that is also largely responsible, is the absence of any sort of political will in the current Democratic Party. Now the suppression of political will is greatly affected by the corrosive nature of money in the political system, especially if you are one of the spineless. Any sort of politician promising policy aimed at changing the status quo or the bottom lines of a corporation a little “too much”, must be stopped at all costs. An example I’ll point to a politician with a legitimate desire and plan to address something as disruptive to the status quo as wealth inequality, a certain inspirer of political will, Bernard “The Sandman” Sanders. Those money interests, corporations, and billionaires that are at risk of losing profits will collectively dump literal truckloads of money on any method that reduces the likelihood of the true change-makers winning races. Even currently, one can look at the Democratic primary race for Senate in Michigan for another example of this. Abdul El-Sayed, a doctor with strong moral convictions regarding healthcare, and the political will to get money out of politics; the status quo’s, billionaire’s, corporations, and AIPAC’s/Israeli lobby’s worst nightmare. Speaking of the lobby that mysteriously does not have to register as a foreign lobby, AIPAC, and the rest of the Israel lobbies have dumped more than $30 million just into this one political race. Just months ago, the Israel lobby spent millions across different races up and down the ballot in New York City, only to be beaten by candidates with spine, strong moral conviction, political will, and the ability to inspire and activate voters. Once you push past and dig through all the mountains of cash you will find several true working-class representatives, successfully working to increase their numbers and bring working-class priority to the forefront of our politics. At this point, if you asked me who the best working-class representative would be in any particular race; my answer is whomever AIPAC is spending every dollar they can to defeat.

I would also say that the lack of political will at the highest positions of the National Party, over time has had a trickle-down effect on the overall amount of political will, and potency of its influence down to the local level. This is one of my biggest issues with politicians, and more specifically the Democratic Party’s leadership; They do not inspire political will in the younger generations. More often than not, they only serve to stand in the way of progress and are examples of what and how not to be. There are a few of handfuls of men and women in the houses of congress that are true fighters, with unwavering moral convictions and spine; with some more on the way. When you see footage of them speak you can just see, hear, and feel it. Another is The Democratic party has an issue with being too wavering in their convictions. And when one bends their moral convictions so easily, to such little public pressure or when it pressure is manufactured by your opposition, they appear as unprincipled and do not stand for anything; and these days nobody should support any politician so flexible, especially when it comes to any sort of human rights, environmental beliefs, or campaign finance policy. A lack of political will paired with a weak flexible moral compass, only leads to the creation of spaces where voter apathy is able to germinate.

As material conditions worsen, the masses will increasingly yearn for someone with unwavering moral convictions, revolutionary optimism and empathy, and advocates for politics of priority with the political will to follow through, to become the microphone for their needs and interests. Sadly, throughout history, these times of desperation often have been used by charlatans to enrich themselves while delivering nothing to the people; further sowing the seeds of political apathy. We shall see how much longer the loudness of money will be able to drown out the will and desire the masses have for change. I do believe there is a reckoning in store for both sides of the isle, but the first reckoning I believe will and needs to be with the Democratic Party. I’ve mention before that the time of corporate feckless, spineless democrats, and politicians in general, appears to be quickly coming to a close; because as material conditions continue to worsen, the myth of American economic meritocracy is increasingly becoming discovered by the masses to be just that, a myth.

I’ll conclude with a question, quoted from a song; To every politician whose relevance exists only with the lifeblood of money supplied by billionaires, corporate and/or foreign super PACs:

“Will you bite, the hand that feeds you? Will you stay down on your knees?”

- Trent Reznor

A highly disturbing vote has taken place that will further our descent, on the downward spiral towards Techno-Fascism. The recent House of Representatives vote on the Fiscal Year 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes the $1.5 trillion, in “discretionary defense funding”, that Trump’s requesting from his spineless lackies. Despite this incredibly inflated budget; during a time where states are experiencing tragic floods with little to no federal assistance, states without clean drinking water, and so many going hungry, living on the streets; the one aspect about the NDAA that concerns me the most is the integration of the US military with the military of Israel. It's not enough that over the years they have received over $330 billion of our taxpayer money, with an extra $500 million a year for missile defense on top; which is likely a lot higher this year given the conflict in Iran that Israel dragged us into. A country that is still engaging in an ongoing genocide, with war crimes happening on the daily. Nearly 60 Palestinians were murdered in the past week, including a family home of sleeping children that was firebombed, according to Drop Site News. Each day that passes, Israel furthers their plans of exterminating the entire population, as they now currently occupying nearly 70% of Gaza. Our representatives are aware of all this money going into Israel, while ignoring all the death coming out Israel. In what's essentially been a live streamed genocide, the majority of the House, 216 members, voted in favor of this military merger with Israel. Absolutely shameful, and abhorrent.

This integration, if passed by the senate, will serve as an accelerant for the roots of the surveillance state of fascism, that’s spreading throughout the country. In the NDAA, among the areas of cooperation with Israel includes a list: AI, drone threats, electronic warfare, cyber capabilities, advanced sensors, biotechnology, and whatever “emerging technologies” are. Although the list feels like reading the schematics for building a cyborg, the line that refers to “Network Integration” and “Data Fusion”, is incredibly worrisome and should alarm everybody, regardless of party. The legislators have not clearly defined these terms, and one can surmise that the Israeli military and government by extension, would have access to American networks and data. Whether or not it refers to strictly military networks and data, or public ones, the answer does not seem exactly clear. Regardless, giving a foreign county this level of access is unheard of. This decision is one that, if passed, I believe will leave a lasting stain on the country’s reputation, but especially those that voted in support of this military merger. This type of merger only serves to further entangle us and blur the lines between the actions of Israel and the actions of the US. This also makes any sort of untethering ourselves from Israel that much more difficult, and only reinforces the claims that the Israeli government is really the one in the driver seat. The votes of approval despite all of the evidence there is, truly shows the rest of the world that we are in an era devoid of any sort of empathy. That we are governed by people that are complicit and supportive of the extermination of an entire population. The 209 republicans, 6 democrats, and 1 independent should never be allowed to claim that they care about the safety of families, children, marginalized communities, or even try to position themselves as some sort of beacons of morality; spare us your lies and hypocrisy. As the conflict with Iran wages on, it is clear, that the only ones interested in its continuation are the Israeli military and war profiteers. Nearly every attempt at a ceasefire, or any sort of peace agreement, has been violated by Israel, because our government has refused to rein them in, to pursue peace. We have reached the point where Iranian officials report that they are done negotiating any sort of terms due to the consistent violation of every ceasefire or the Memorandum of Understanding that they have agreed to. Who can blame them? Would anybody continue to negotiate with a person or group that has constantly lied to them, and has been taken advantage of them during talks time and time again. Our words hold no weight on the global stage, given how hollow and untrustworthy the rhetoric coming from the US has been. To further reiterate this, we look no further than the New York Times report, showing that Trump had gone through the Iraqi Prime Minister, as early as this week, to try to make a deal with Iran to end the conflict. However, Iran had no desire to even speak because they believe our word means nothing now. There are even Wall Street Journal reports showing that top Trump officials are moving around with heightened anxiety and paranoia because they feel like they have targets on their backs, now that Iran no longer wants to negotiate with them. How would bringing Israel further into the fold benefit us this situation? They have been the aggressors in nearly every instance, and continue to be the ball and chain that’s weighed us down to the place we find ourselves at. The willingness to shackle ourselves to this genocidal entity, shows the rest of the world this administration’s enormous lack of empathy for every innocent person killed because of their unchecked complicity with the Israeli government's objectives. Bloodthirsty and reprehensible.

Subscribe now

By further connecting ourselves to the hip of the Israeli military and government, it will also open us up to new potential vulnerabilities that might not have existed before. Also worth noting, there is and has never been a country this entwined with the US military and government. I believe that if it were any other country that was being proposed to merge affairs with to this degree, that person would be laughed out of the halls of Congress. Israel is not our greatest ally; they are our worst with no contest. Going all the way back before the USS Liberty that was struck by Israel resulting in the death of Navy Sailors, Israel has had an incredibly questionable history of “partnership” with the United States government. An allyship littered with accusations and proof of spying and espionage against the American government, military, and even private individuals, all to further their own agenda. The Pentagon as recently as June 6, 2026, reported that they have raised the threat level of Israeli spying to “critical” due to the intensity of attempts. With the Israeli government having such an extensive, documented history of spying and meddling in affairs with the sole intent to shift outcomes to ones favorable to them; I do not understand what there is to gain from a move like this. We are at critical threat level in regard to Israeli spying, yet we are giving them more access to vast amounts of US military networks, data, assets, and funding? Would this not make spying attempts astronomically easier for Israel? It appears that we are only further opening ourselves up to be taken advantage of; somebody tell me, how do you square this circle? Is the $330 billion, plus $500 million every year, as well as nearly unlimited access to the Oval Office not enough? Israel finally got a US president that they could convince to join and offer unlimited cover for them in attacking Iran, and those 216 representatives still believe Israel is entitled to more? Immoral, and unconscionable.

In the past much of the technology, and equipment developed in Israel with US Taxpayer money, gets deployed and tested on the people of Palestine before ultimately coming back home to be used on us. All of these flock cameras, predictive policing algorithms, and surveillance technology that are popping up and being installed in towns all over the country; they are all tools used in Israel that have made their way back to the US to be implemented on all of us. We are paying for the technology that is being used against citizens when protesting police violence, government corruption, or the actions of the administration in charge. Dystopian and fascistic.

Israel is not our true ally; they are not the “only democracy in the Middle East”, nor are they even a democracy. Israel in its current form is an ethno-nationalist, religious-supremacist apartheid state that is committing a genocide, that nearly everybody on the planet recognizes except this current administration. They have shown throughout this iteration of conflict with Iran, that they have no peaceful ambitions, only ones of expansionism, domination, and subjugation. Never forget the genocide that is taking place in Palestine, and all the innocents being killed in Lebanon, could have been avoided, AND still could be ended with a single phone call. It may sound incredibly naive to boil it down so simplistically, however it is quite literally that simple, and it has been done before in the past to check Israel and keep them from committing war crimes. We fund Israel with so much money that all it would take is a spine and willingness to turn off the money faucet to Israel in the event they do not comply with our requests. We must continue to demand a severing of all funds going to Israel from every representative, especially those up for re-election. Let their decisions be a litmus test to show you who and what these politicians will prioritize. If representatives are putting the interests of a foreign country and government over the needs of their constituents; they have no business being in politics and probably need to be investigated for possible treason; vote them out. I hope, but am not confident, that the Senate will have enough stones to offer some sort of roadblock, or push back against this incredibly un-American policy. Only time will tell. As it stands 216 members of the House of Representatives have showed themselves to be Zionist genocidaires, AIPAC/Israel lobby sellouts, or people that may be too afraid to speak up. To them I would say silence in the face of oppression, is ultimately siding with the oppressor. It’s spineless and feckless.

The future is looking pretty dark for the working class, folks. We are currently in the midst of an ongoing class war that we have been losing and are being dominated by the billionaire-Epstein class, war mongers, and corporate monied interests. It appears we are barreling down straight towards that type of thing that we all learned in history class was wrong, immoral, and against everything that we’re told America is supposed to stand for; that would be fascism. Although we got the future tech kind, it’s not even the aesthetically pleasing, spacey sci-fi kind, it is a bleak techno-fascism. This feels like the stuff we’ve been warned about, the stuff that our grandparents or great grandparents railed on and worried about back in their day. Regardless, It is incredibly terrifying that such a future is even possible, and the alarm needs to be rung so as many people as possible can hear it. The information in this piece is especially crucial, and pertinent for my Appalachian folk, as we are seeing the roots of fascism beginning to spread to our hills and mountains. If you are against the building of data centers, against flock cameras spying on you and your community, or just anyone in the country that likes to enjoy a sense of privacy and being able to express your thoughts and opinions without feeling like you have to fear some sort of retaliation; this is important for you all to consider and digest. In order to set the stage, there are a few different things that I’ll have to discuss because they are inextricably tied together and provide context for this possible future, trying to make this palatable.

If you looked up the definition of the word on your phone, your AI search wizard will likely bring up this as part of it: “Fascism is characterized by dictatorial power, the forceful suppression of opposition, extreme regimentation of society, information, the economy, and the subordination of individual interests for the perceived benefit of the nation or race.” Now, I want you to keep those characteristics in mind throughout the ride on this web of intersecting events, history, and a little bit of my humor. During World War 2 The United States fought against the forces of fascism at a time where it was running rampant across Europe. many of us Probably grew up watching movies and consuming media taking place during that time. Whether it was watching Schindler’s List, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas or even Saving Private Ryan, at arguably too young of an age; playing video games with friends where you spend hours killing Nazi zombies in a fictional WW2 universe. The themes of being against or anti-fascist seems like they were drilled into many different aspects of media growing up in our lives. Being anti-fascist was the honorable, moral, righteous position that most of our grandparents or great grandparents held with intense conviction; If they were alive and/or served at that time.

To further analyze the current predicament that we find ourselves in it is important to look at things in the context of recent events, starting with the current iteration of the conflict between Israel and Palestine. I am by no means an expert on the situation so I will always refer to experts and historians when working to educate myself on these matters. And as much as I feel confident could argue about specific nuances about the conflict, or history from all I’ve learn the past couple years; the main reason I’m referring to the conflict is due to the ongoing effort since October 7^th to conflate two different opposing ideologies. The first is Anti-Semitism, and the second is Anti-Zionism. Most of us are aware of what anti-Semitism is, and many like me, probably had a lot of history lessons about World War 2, the allied forces fighting the axis of evil, the Nazis, and the Holocaust. In case it is needed, simply put, anti-Semitism is an ideology that practices and promotes bigoted actions and speech directed at the Jewish people. According to Jewish Israeli scholar, Avi Shlaim, he defines Anti-Zionism as “a legitimate, anti-racist political stance that opposes Israel as an exclusively Jewish state or challenges the Zionist colonial project.” Now I would like to believe that the majority of Americans would agree that our strength does lie in our diversity, and society is better overall when it is anti-racist and against being exclusively one race, one religion, or one ideology.

We all have so much going on in our daily lives, stress we worry about That are immediate and right in front of our faces, that it can be incredibly hard to focus and put time towards much of anything that is outside of your immediate surroundings. Which makes complete sense, given that we have so many people that financially struggle, roughly 60% of our people in the country live paycheck to paycheck. So many of us are just too focused on surviving and providing for our families that they don’t have time for things such as geopolitics. Luckily for us, I have an issue with focusing too much on the things outside of my immediate situation. With that being said, those hate mongers that peddle in bigotry to sow division, benefit from our struggle and our lack of time and energy to focus on issues outside the immediate.

So, to run that back, this would mean that Zionism is a racist political ideology that believes Israel should be exclusively a Jewish state, in remembering from the definition of fascism from above, that includes the subordination of individual interest for the perceived benefit of the nation or race. this would clearly indicate that Zionism is a fascist ideology by definition. However, those that benefit from spreading misinformation and fomenting hatred amongst all of us have been working overtime to marry those 2 terms, anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, as to become undistinguishable from each other. For those who I would argue are anti American political actors, hate mongers, and war profiteers, they have used this conflict and conflation to their advantage to further their agenda of amassing is much power and control is possible. This effort seemingly has been successful for them to execute due to the sensitivity of the issue, paired up with the spreading of misinformation, insane financial backing, and a large chunk of people that likely have not went down the rabbit hole that is the tragic history of Palestine, and the Israeli-Zionist Apartheid State. Those that breathe life into this conflation that have been able to test the bounds of what is protected speech, expression, protest, and assembly. The ability to call any anti-Zionist or anybody that disagrees with you an Anti-Semite, was shown to be rather potent for a time. One area where this plainly showed itself was the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions protests that took place across our country and the world. The demonstration on Colombia campus that resulted in the arrest of activists like Mahmoud Khalil, showed the country that yet again that the government would side with moneyed interests, over the passioned pleas of the majority. According to reports, a large group of billionaires and billionaire donors came together with the goal of lobbying the NYC Mayor Eric Adams to help end the pro-Palestinian protests and succeeded in many cases. Whether by administratively or forceful, violent means many protests and demonstrations were quelled, showing the. Country the true nature of those running the campuses. The BDS protests ultimately hurt the bottom line for the billionaires, the reputations of the school likely strained both entities’ relationship with Israel and any contributions the schools may have been given in the past, or future. This is just another example of the billionaire class wielding its weight to influence public opinion, and to use force against the public, or any opposition to keep them in check, when necessary.

Now the next part I will set up for context, is regarding ICE, their actions, function, and role in this future. I do respect actual good police officers, their job, and role in society. Officers that look like, are from, or at the very least are open and involved within the community they serve. The ones that truly work to protect and serve the people, those guys are 100% heroes in their own right and deserve to be acknowledged. However, the way that ICE operates in its current form clearly mimic characteristics of a personal paramilitary force, seemingly made-up of untrained people that were failed police officers. A task force with literally a budget larger than that of the All of our other law enforcement agencies combined, and larger than the military budgets of many nations across the globe. Many ICE “officers” were folks that couldn’t cut it to be true good policeman, whether it was because they were unfit mentally, physically, or had beliefs that didn’t align with a true Police Department. ICE officers are not held to the same standard that police officers are or the same standard as U.S. military personnel, they do not have to undergo and pass the same hiring process and screenings that either of these departments utilize. And any person with eyes and ears can see their presence around the country has stricken communities with fear; further sewing them with racial division and working to stoke, exacerbate, and agitate tensions among the populations and communities they interact with. Regardless of your opinions on immigration, I believe that most would agree there are better more humane ways to carry out immigration enforcement that doesn’t include this inhumane treatment of other human beings. How cruel and twisted it is that we have a jail facility full of primarily women and children that are innocent of any crime and yet subjected to otherwise criminal conditions including but not limited to reports of being served food covered in mold, or riddled with maggots, crowed conditions, and lacks of basic hygiene access. There sadly enough have even been sexual assault by ICE on detainees, inside the prison. Our fellow humans, our neighbors being treated as if they are viewed as being lower than even animals, a scourge, that must be “dealt with” in one way or another. Then there are their horrible actions, we have seen reports of nearly 80 people confirmed to have died at hands of ICE and CBP. The handful of folks that were essentially murdered on camera, have created much an uproar, as it should. We have essentially seen about 5 or 6 people shot and killed on video or live camera with there being 0 accountability for any of the “officers” involved. Now I believe that if a police officer or even military personnel were to kill somebody there should be an investigation, accountability, and justice to be handed down. There hasn’t been one serious consequence of these killings, getting away with the lie that they were either violent extremists, or trying to use their cars as a weapon to imminently cause fatal harm. There’s many a video and report of an ICE officer breaking the law, causing harm and trauma, displaying outright racist tendencies, and for not one to have had any repercussions tells you every think you need to know, it was created to be an above the law untouchable personal army that the administration could deploy on a whim, devoid of any morality and accountability. What it appears that is happening in part is a stress test of our system, being done to gauge the amount of push back and resistance they will receive when they decide to escalate tensions. And at its helm, not the previous one working behind the scenes, such as the literal puppy killer, Kristi Noem (look it up), or Tom Homan, a guy that when he speaks, I get a forced image of the bug villain from men in black talking in my head. (pictured here)

It’s not even the DHS Secretary we have currently, the hugely underqualified Mark Wayne Mullen. It is a guy by the name of Steven Miller. This man is a perfect combination of Mr. Burns and Paul Joseph Goebbels, a German politician, philologist, but mainly known as Chief propagandist for the Nazi Party. Whenever this man speaks, it just seethes of hated for anybody with skin a shade darker than his pasty self. He espouses white nationalist rhetoric as a true propagandist would and is usually one of the first to defend the horrible actions of ICE after, the DHS secretary takes the majority of heat and blame for ICE’s most recent killing. Mr. Miller’s history is quite sad and riddled with a lot of hate speech and insecurity, so I won’t bore you. However, he is arguably in the driver seat when it comes to giving orders to ICE. He is the one demanding arrest and detention quotas of around 2000 a month. He told ICE agents to stop going after criminals and start going to the Home Depot to round up “illegal aliens”. A racist, xenophobic phrase, continued to be used, that has only worked to dehumanize, round up, and detain any migrant, immigrant, and sadly more these days, US born citizens of a complexion darker that what ICE deems as “white”, or “American” to them in that very moment.

Now I personally have a lot more I could say about ICE and their fascistic escapades, but moving forward the main takeaway from all of that is to layout that is a man like Mr. Miller, who some have even argue is the “Shadow President” of the second Trump Administration, is in charge of his own personal military that are full of racist agitators, and some racist propagandized into thinking that this is the solution to improve their worsening material conditions; with a budget larger than every law enforcement agency in the US combined. Geared up with the finest, most advanced equipment that our taxpayer money can buy, that’s been battled tested by our good friend and greatest ally, Israel, on the people of Palestine in past protests, riots or uprisings of any sort. All this brought to you by the American taxpayer, at around 330 billion given to Israel over the years.

Now putting Stephen Miller aside for now we must talk about some policy. I swear If Steven Miller didn’t write these himself, I bet you every dollar I have he wishes he did; truly policy that’d make both Mr. Burns, and Joseph Goebbels proud. Three policy goals of this Administration to discuss further, as they are central pillars to the increasingly likely future of techno-fascism that is afoot.

First to bring up, the attempt at overturning Birthright Citizenship. Thankfully and luckily, it was upheld by our Supreme Court, but barely. Seeing as this is one of those laws that has been around since the 1800s, it is incredibly crazy to me that this was something that could even go to the Supreme Court and could be up for discussion in the first place. Really think about what that says about the time we live in that there are people that feel righteous in being the ones to try to change this type of precedent that’s been around for over 200 years. Creating the type of fear and anxiety stoked by the prospect of being deported to another country that you weren’t born in, or have never been to, much like many of the people rounded up by ICE. Horrendous, shameful, and un-American. As civil rights and liberties in the public sphere erode with actions of the administration, there without a doubt will be further attempts to judicially remove rights away by challenging established precedent.

Second is the NSPM-7, which on the White House’s website reports, is a federal directive issued by the Trump administration on September 25, 2025, that establishes a coordinated counter-terrorism strategy to investigate and disrupt domestic terrorism and organized political violence. It broadly directs the FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) to target the infrastructure behind political violence, particularly focusing on radical left-wing groups. This sets up the avenue for the administration to go after the funders and financiers of “radical left-wing groups”. It is also important to broadly, but briefly mention purpose, and use of the terrorism statute in the US. If you are somebody that is designated with the terrorism statute, The US government Is able to deny you your habeas corpus and does not have to afford you any due process rights. This effectively allows them to be the judge jury and executioner, regarding matters of what is “deemed” as terrorism, by the Administration in charge. The terrorism designation is purposely vague, which can and has been used nefariously to jail and prosecute political dissidents and dissenters in the past.

Thirdly, and most recently, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio’s recent summit appearance, speech, and subsequent report the state department released. The main goal I got is that Rubio went to reiterate and reaffirm the administration’s commitment to combating what they’re calling far left political terrorism. The new acronym that you will start hearing thrown around in the near future, and will undoubtedly be used as a boogeyman term, FLT, or Far left terrorism. According to the White House website “far-left terrorism is characterized by violent attacks against private citizens, government officials, police and law enforcement, businesses, and critical infrastructure across the globe. Groups affiliated with this movement ascribe to revolutionary anarchist or Marxist ideologies, including anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity, using these to incite and justify violent assaults domestically and overseas”. I bolded those labels to highlight how vague and ambiguous those phrases are, so keep them in mind.

The first and most talked about group to get labeled with this designation appears to be multiple variations of the organization “Antifa” in the United States and other countries across the globe. Now so far, when asked to further specifically examples of what they mean by far-left terrorism things sort of get cloudy. At the summit, Rubio referred to a shooting incident Involving a transgender person, whom if you quickly do any research was easily identified and characterized as a far-right Nazi extremist, and if you ask me that sounds pretty un-American to me. Rubio is trying to conflate being transgender with inherently being on the left here, no doubt a sinister intention. The State Department released 100-page document that tries to levy the claim that the rise of all this far left terrorism comes from America’s greatest enemy, Cuba. Possibly one of the biggest, laughable stretches imaginable seeing as The United States has maintained an embargo that has kept Cuba in a stranglehold, being choke off from basic resources. Now also among this document appears to have been about 43 organizations and individuals supposedly tied to the Cuban government and are responsible for aiding Cuba in the spreading of violent far left terrorism that we see in this country. A chunk of the individuals included in this list are people like Chris Smalls, the ladies from Code pink, Hasan Piker and other activists, all folks that were part of a flotilla mission with the sole purpose of bringing aid to Cuba such Electric generators, and to highlight the conditions of Cuba that our country’s embargo have created among the population. Also, on the list released, are organizations like Democratic Socialists of America, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Democracy Now and Amy Goodman, the Black Lives Matter movement, and even the late George Floyd is included on this list; among many other groups, and individuals with supposed links to Cuba. Even sitting congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s daughter, is caught up in the crosshairs. A new era of McCarthyism is here people, and I genuinely worry that this will be used to round up more people than the time of its inception.

Other examples of vagueness that I would point to are when Republicans or other administration officials have been asked to describe exactly who Antifa are, where they are located, or whom their leader is, they struggle to provide any concrete answers. A large part for this reason is because Antifa simply stands for anti-fascist. Antifa is not a group of people roaming around looking to cause chaos and bedlam, it is quite literally an ideology that I would argue is one of the most American ideals to hold. I remember seeing a video of a WW2 vet, giving his opinions on the current political climate; and it was both very heart and gut wrenching to watch how upset he was that he felt like everything he fought against all those years ago, seemingly have taken root and were growing. The American values we have and enjoy, like freedom of speech, expression, and assembly by function are, “Antifa” or against fascism, and contradicts the definition of the word fascism itself. Because as defined up above, fascism is an ideology that rules by suppression of the freedom of speech, expression, and information of society.

Now given everything that I have set up so far Are you able to see how this would easily help the administration publicly levy accusations, round up, and permanently jail their political opponents or really any person or organization that they deem “terrorist”? In the definition of FLT, it mentions anti-capitalist sentiment; And these days hear a lot of people calling their political opponents socialists and communists, regardless of how far left from center they are. In this case the way they throw around the Communist label on literally every person that disagrees, criticizes, or engages in any sort of pushback against the administration as being anti-Capitalist. This would include everybody from Chuck Schumer all the way to Zohran Mamdani. Pure McCarthyism.

Subscribe now

Another important thing that I want to focus on about these two aspects of NSPM-7 and the FLT, specifically the “against business”, and ‘’anti American” distinctions. This is where my fellow Appalachians need to make sure they follow along. Because this is the future we are seemingly flying towards. The current administration obviously receives money or items, cuts deals, and outsources a variety of things like technology, equipment, intel, etc. from the handful of billionaires that own most of the AI and tech sectors, as well as foreign actors with their own pursuits. A large chunk of the profits and revenue the tech-billionaires and their businesses rely on the entangled relationship with the current American administration, and the Israeli Government. The tech-billionaires have been able to get basically everything they ask for as long as Trump or someone over there is getting a slice of the pie. Also, we all know that that the government has typically been on the side of corporations, billionaires, and moneyed interests over the interests of the masses; especially when they are getting their pockets fattened. With how entwined the current administration is to the Tech and AI billionaires of today, it is not hard to conceive of a future where tech companies are considered “Pro-American business”, and have their actions supported, and properties protected by the current administration, by let’s say the Gravy Seals over at ICE, or hell maybe even the US Military if they wanted? The anti-business label could easily be placed on any person, or group that opposes the actions of a private tech billionaire’s corporation that is connected to, or supportive of the administration. So, for my Appalachian folks does this mean if you protest data centers being built outside your town, you are by law anti-business and anti-American, so therefore can be designated as a far-left terrorist, denied your due process, and arrested or rounded up by a personal paramilitary force? One that so far has been able to kill natural US born citizens as well as other migrants and immigrants without any sort of accountability? Does this mean if you oppose flock cameras spying on you and your community that you are an anti-business, anti-American, member of Antifa and will be rounded up by ICE or the police? If you are somebody that advocates against the poisoning of your states natural wells and water systems by a mining corporation that’s dumping waste into them, but since that corporation is tied to the administration somehow, they can designate you a terrorist and place you in jail permanently, without any due process? Could you be considered a Far-left terrorist for say wanting to unionize your workplace that’s owned by Elon Musk, Peter Thiel or any other billionaire that cozies up to the government, and writes blank checks to get their way? Hell, while we are at it, since every democrat is a socialist communist, Marxist, anti-capitalist, Antifa member, let’s get those voter rolls, find these liberals, send the masked gestapo brigade and LOCK THEM UP!

I didn’t forget Palestine. With how in-bed the current administration is with the current Israeli government, paired up with the massive money faucet that is ran by the Israeli lobby which AIPAC belongs, to further the interests of Israeli government with the aid and involvement of the US military and government. Given these relatively loose and vague distinctions and definitions for terrorism as laid out in NSPM7 and our newest designation the FLT; would this mean any opposition to Israeli qualifies you for a ride, straight to jail? Say you are pro-Palestinian, and anti-genocide and attended a protest, does that make you anti-American because our government is funding and supporting the country committing it? Does it mean if you are somebody that advocates for all or just some the money that goes to Israel to just come back home, and go to bettering their material conditions; does that make them anti-American far-left terrorist, and not deserving of their rights? If someone gave a strong speech criticizing actions of a foreign government committing genocide, wrote an eye opening article about how all the money spent going overseas could actually be better spent at home, or a viral post criticizing the actions of ICE after they have killed yet another one of your neighbors using unnecessary lethal force; could they be rounded up, put in prison and deported to a country they have never been nor have any connects towards? If that is the case, Denmark or Norway for me please!

Jokes aside, we have to ask ourselves ultimately where does this end, because I could continue to go down the rabbit hole of contradictions and hypotheticals that arise from the damage that a vague distinction can have, especially when there are nefarious actors trying their hardest to take advantage of the systems in place to further their own agendas and enrich themselves. However, one thing is clear to me, which is this is a dangerous slope we are driving towards, asleep at the wheel, with breaks sabotaged by the mechanic that we thought was a friend. Today it could be the chronically online, troll that hasn’t touched grass in months, or even Trumps favorite anti-American Palestinian, Chuck Schumer, but tomorrow it could be me or you. Eventually If you push the wrong people’s buttons it will turn inwards. Are you a far-right outdoorsman that learned a data center is being built on your hunting lands and protested it? I’ve saved a seat for you. How about a conservative miner that’s worked nearly your entire life underground only to develop black lung; and now must undergo a legal pursuit for financial compensation for years of life stolen from you? With no answer, you and your coworkers group together and unionize to bring about tangible material changes; hold up there sir, the owner of the mining company gave the administration a donation of a couple million earlier this month, what you are sir is anti-business, so straight to jail, I’ve saved you all seat here to. Are you a good protective parent worried about risk and vulnerability that reported on all the Flock Safety cameras popping up in your Neighborhood, the impact it could have on your children, their development, psyche and safety? Sorry to tell you lady, but that is also anti-business so buckle up, there’s room for you here to on the deportation flight to CECOT, or God knows where.

This is a recipe for disaster, one meant to allow for disappearing me, you, and all of our neighbors. This recipe is being followed to bring about what I referred to as techno-fascism, and if brought to fruition could bring about the end to such things as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of free expression, assembly or even freedom of navigation, for millions of people. Slightly further down this road comes the criminality of being empathetic for those suffering and experiencing an ongoing genocide, or even that neighbor born in a different country and has lived in the community longer than you have been alive, being rounded up by ICE for being just a little “too” brown. Loving someone of your choosing doesn’t seem to even be off the table at this point. I’m not sure, if they could get away with charging someone for their thoughts yet, but I would not put it past some of these people down the road. What they’ll undoubtedly deem a terroristic thought crime; someone tell Marco Rubio, and Steven Miller to stop watching Psycho Pass, and then go tell Peter Thiel, and Mark Andreessen to pause the plans they’ve got for building the real life version of The Dominator, because that’s not the future that we want, or need.

_{Dominator Portable Psychological Diagnosis and Suppression System is the iconic, transforming firearm carried exclusively by Inspectors and Enforcers of the Public Safety Bureau.}

Americans must organize and push back against the advancement of this hyper polarized surveillance-state future that is possible, because the majority of our government or those able to put on the breaks, are either in bed with, or receive financial backing from billionaires, one of their companies, or another corrosive monied interests. The people need to overwhelmingly push to overturn previous court rulings governing the allowance of money into politics; not only just overturning Citizens United, but re-examining the Buckley v. Valeo decision of 1976, in order to dismantle the dark money faucet’s foundation, and prevent it from rebuilding itself in a new image. It is up to us to us to organize and demand a future devoid of money in politics, living in a constant state of paranoia, and the disappearing of our neighbors. Because we must remember that the majority of us are all the same class, the working class; and while many battle over often manufactured cultural issues, we are all losing the class war being waged against us and our communities, we are now beginning to lose our ability to voice any dissent at an increasing accelerate rate.

When you think of the current necessities of life today, what comes to mind? Water? Food? Shelter? Medicine or Healthcare? I would even go as far to include education, happiness and even fulfillment as necessities of current life in today’s society. For the first five things listed most would agree that these are necessities of life. I think I could make a strong argument that education is one as well, as it’s needed in numerous ways to grow and progress in life, as well as being needed for the maintenance of one’s livelihood. Happiness and fulfillment are sort of a given, but a necessity in my mind, nonetheless. Without happiness or some sort of fulfillment in a persons life, one could expect to see negative outcomes, especially in terms of mental health. Without them, many could be consumed by stress, despair, depression which can lead to a myriad of societal issues, such as an increase in rates of suicide, disassociation from one’s community, or even antisocial behaviors. With all that being said, I have always wondered why these things are viewed as commodities, and treated as avenues to monetization, or profit generation, especially at a time where this is so much wealth generation that many societal issues could be fixed or at least adequately addressed. While I am not against people treating themselves and wanting expensive/fancy things, I am of the mindset that a society should provide at least a minimum standard of living for its people in a nation of such wealth. That fact that we have homeless people in this country, families without clean water, food insecurity, people dying because they do not have healthcare or access to it in a country of so much wealth should be viewed as a glaring failure of our system. And no, I’m not so naive that I don’t understand the forces that contribute to this growing problem. Most of the things I listed have inelastic demand, and people will be willing to pay almost any price for it because it’s a necessity required for life. Much of the crime that happens is a result of poverty, and is an act of desperation in one way or another due to the lack of one or more of the necessities I mentioned earlier. Given how crucial these things are to human experience, and survival, I feel that in the richest country on the planet, we should be able to provide these necessities to our people for free, or at a heavily subsidized rate using our tax money. We aren’t being charged for the air that we breathe (yet) why should we be charged for water? I believe these things are all human rights, and again to hammer in this point; in the richest county on this planet, we could afford to provide these necessities to our people using our tax money; it is just a matter of priority.

As humans need these things in order to function, society needs humans in order to function; so, would it not make sense to provide things to the people so that their energy and productivity could be put towards furthering innovation and development, whether it is in the tech or medical fields or any other areas that improve quality of life for us all? The amount of time people spent stressing out over food insecurity, or issues with utilities, housing, medicine, or healthcare; that time could have been better spent on say, creating a new lifesaving drug, a cure for a type of cancer, discovering a new fuel source, or technology that improves all of our lives. Think of all the potential snuffed out or prevented from flourishing due to the failures of our system. $113.3 Billion dollars spent over 108 days on the Iran conflict between, Feb 28th thru June 16th, now just imagine the amount of material improvement that could have happened here at home with that money; I bet that’s more than enough money to fix the water in Flint, MI, Southern WV, and anywhere else in the country where Americans do not have clean water. We have the Pentagon which is the largest discretionary spending item in the federal budget, and funds the entire U.S. military; has a enormous budget of an estimate $1.05 Trillion dollars and has never passed a budget audit. Never any sort of legitimate explanation as to why they have failed all 8 audits since starting them 2018. Nobody held accountable, and no sort or repercussions for the consecutive failures. Typically, when any department fails an audit in the normal world, those departments either get shut down, or have their budgets and staff reduced or replaced. Yet, we continued to increase their budget year over year, dumping endless amounts of taxpayer money into it, and even then, Trump is asking for an additional $1.5 Trillion for the defense budget. The $330 billion dollars that we have given and funneled over to the country of Israel, which allows them to provide healthcare and education to their citizens, while they commit genocide and war crimes just miles away from their cities. A country that just very recently detained California Congressman, Ro Khanna, when he tried to see the results of settler-colonialism violence in person. Upon his arrival the Congressman was met by Israeli settlers, and military soldiers pointing their American made assault rifles at him, and then detained him. Weapons paid with his own tax dollars; what a sick and twisted reality we are in. Why does Israel deserve our tax dollars more than we do? Why do we have so politicians that refuse to improve all of our material conditions, while we send seemingly endless amounts of money overseas for war, carnage, and expansionism? Why is this money not being spent on us here at home; it is our tax dollars after all? Why can we not take that money to improve the material conditions for every American? Have we not done enough around the globe? Every dollar spent on a bomb going overseas is a dollar stolen from your neighborhoods and communities. Imagine how much better off we would be as a country if we took every dollar that was spent blowing up a school and put those dollars into the schools around this country, in your towns. Every dollar spent destroying the life of a person overseas, could have been used to improve the life of an American here. The short and broad answer as to why, is the allowance of money into our politics, and the priorities of our government officials, usually as a result of this money.

Any politician that tries to say that we cannot afford to provide the things, like universal healthcare, free public college tuition, or universal childcare are just lying to us; it is just a matter of priorities. An example that I will point to; Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic Socialist Mayor of NYC. He ran on an affordability agenda and won because it spoke to the needs of everyday working people, and within a few months of his tenure Zohran has already been completing agenda items that everyone said was impossible. Plans in place for city run grocery stores to help those struggling with food insecurity. Freezing the rent for the rent-stabilized apartments that are owned by neglectful, code violating landlords. Providing free universal childcare programs, to help working families. On top of accomplishing all of these items, he has also balanced the budget for NYC, closing a projected 12-billion-dollar gap, without increasing property taxes or slashing public programs; on the contrary, as laid out above, he was vastly expanding social programs. This example destroys the argument that we cannot afford these things for the whole county. With the vast amount of wealth in this country, I believe that if we were to shift our national priorities towards focusing on the needs of the working class, we could accomplish even more than Zohran has. His campaign ought to be an example to people, that a better type of politics is possible, one that is empathic, compassionate, and best of all responsive to the needs of working people. By balancing the budget, Zohran was also able to disarm the claim that if we provided these necessities to everybody, it means most or nobody is allow to have nice, fancy, expensive “treats”, or we’d see a reduced quality of life in some other form. In my opinion the results accomplished should be more of a defining quality of one’s governance, than any sort of labels slapped on them; because at the end of the day, actions speak louder than words, right?

The lies told to us, also serve the purpose of discouraging the people from even trying to advocate and/or push their representatives for these things. Always trying to squash out any sort of ideas or attempts at betterment, naysaying, while spewing that the quality of life for the majority will only worsen, but not providing any sort of alternative. Those tasked with maintaining the status-quo understand that if some of these policies were to move forward and pass, it would only draw attention to their tenures of inaction, as well as expose those paying politicians for years or decades of status-quo maintenance. People today have been so conditioned to have apathy and/or mistrust towards the government along with the political process that seeds of doubt have been implanted in working class people. Doubts that having hope or expectations that actual positive material changes are feasible, are just unrealistic, idealistic, pie in the sky dreams. They have been expected to accept menial changes from the government for far too long, and it has only increased resentment and disengagement from the political process. All of this cause people to fall into the trap of nihilism, void of any prospects of a better future. A future where your needs and interests are represented instead of the interest of corporations, billionaires, and monied interests.

We, as a country of such immense wealth, we could end homelessness and food insecurity across this country if we truly serious and made solving these issues a top priority. Instead, the priorities of many of our government officials seemingly are the interests of Israel, and the further expansion of the US empire, increasing the amount of wealth, influence, and capital for those at the top of it. Whether it’s stealing a country’s oil, kidnapping leaders of foreign countries, or outright killing them in a bombing, it is clear that the priority of our government is not us. If were to take even a fraction of the money used towards going to war, or to attempt to overthrow foreign nations, and invested it back into communities, and improving the lives of workers across this country; we could see dramatic improvements in healthcare and/or infrastructure. I have never quite understood the justification for such an enormous military budget especially when they cannot pass an audit; but I am not so naive to the fact that weapons manufacturers, defense contractors, and war mongers have bought and paid for their politicians to vote in the way that bests suits these companies and billionaires, instead the will of the people.

This gross use of money trickles all the way down to the state level, in various forms. An example: the opulence and flashiness of the “America 250” celebration held at the WV state capitol. This celebration was reported to cost taxpayers $2 million dollars and was the host of the world’s largest ferris wheel... correction, the world’s largest PORTABLE ferris wheel. While the focus and priority of the governing party was on this 250th celebration; just a short 45 min drive south, the residents of Wayne, WV continue to live without clean water, as do many others in the southern counties. I wonder, do you think you could see Wayne from atop the 230ft ferris wheel? I wonder how many of those from Wayne or the counties without clean water were able to attend this American 250 celebration? Did they get to experience their tax dollars at work, and take a spin on the wheel? I’m a bit too far north to be able to have made it, but I can at least say that I wish my tax dollars instead went towards fixing Wayne’s, and all counties without clean waters, problem. As mentioned I believe that water is a human right, and as the leader of this state, you would hope that his priorities would be with the people that do not have clean water; but hey guys, the wheel is 230 feet tall!

It is astonishing how incredibly tone deaf and out of touch it is to be smiling and celebrating on TV while your own people 50 miles south have chocolate water coming out of their pipes. Immoral and unconscionable. According to a recent report by WV journalist, Amelia Knisley, that showed that 3$ million went to a program that the state government forced on the university, that only one person signed up for. For this program, the governor gets to pick the director for the program, whose annual salary is a whopping $300,000 annually; Immediately rising him to the top 1.5% to 2% of West Virginian households that earn over $300,000 a year. All of this at the same time you have schools all over the state closing due to lack of funds and resources, state officials looking to cut clothing voucher programs for kids to get clothing for school and supplies. I’d like to take a quick second just to acknowledge and give a shout out to the teachers out there that have ever spent their own money on supplies just to ensure their classes will have a memorable learning experience; you all are selfless, and some of the best this world has to offer! It is incredibly sad, disappointing, and almost maddening that these stark contradictions exist, and the main ones to suffer from it will be our children, and the younger generations.

We have many a crisis occurring in this state, whether it’s the abysmal water situation in the south, the gross waste of taxpayer funds, the hollowing out of our education system, our crumbling infrastructure, or the horror stories one hears about our neglectful CPS system; However, the biggest crisis that we face is a crisis of priority, and a crisis of inaction. The priorities of our state’s governing party, and many in the government are completely out of touch with what the people of WV need. Why do our politicians feel they need to put the interests of corporations or billionaires before those of their neighbors that they are meant to represent; is the money really worth it? If your elected officials are not discussing improving your material conditions; fixing water issues, roads, healthcare, etc., then why are they even there? The entire point of our government is to be by the people, for the people, and work towards improving the lives of its citizens. Any government official that is not working towards this goal and focusing on lending time to distractions and “shiny objects” needs to be either primaried or defeated in the next election so they can be replaced. We all can see the worsening of our material conditions; our roads, bridges, water systems, education, and higher cost of living, all while we watch our state government wastes millions on vanity items, and programs that only appear to benefit the government officials or their friends. I have mentioned in previous writing that we are almost at the bottom rank for every national statistic; it does not need to be this way. We need to really reassess our priorities so that we can adequately address the many manmade crises that have befallen our state.

The working class and its needs must be the top priority of every government. A politics of empathy that’s put the working class at the center when passing laws and legislation. If we had this type of politics at the helm, we would be in a much better place. It requires a desire to break from the current status quo, along with an unwavering belief that transformational change is possible and within reach. It truly is as simple as a change in priority that’s needed, to start us down the path towards tangible material improvement. We need to be loud in our demands for improvements to our living conditions, while consistently applying pressure to move elected officials to vote along with the will of the people. For the politicians that refuse to listen, they need to be given the boot and replaced. We must elect those committed to working to overturn The Citizens United decision, that has allowed the poisoning of our political process by corporate PACs and monied interests. Along with this we must elect officials that are committed to bring forth a mass redistribution of wealth in this country. With income-wealth inequality worse than that of the time of Rockefeller and Carnegie monopolies, the Gilded Age, a redistribution of wealth from the top to the bottom is needed to fix this issue. For anybody thats thinks this impossible I would point them to the tax policy that fixed the issue during that time. It was one focused on up lifting the working class which in turned paved the way for some of the great material improvement this country has ever seen. We need elected officials that will aggressively pursue policy geared toward similar changes. The path forward for us must be paved with a politics of priority, of action, and with an empathic approach that remains steadfast and laser focused on the raising up the working class, addressing their needs, and creating conditions to unlock the full potential of all of our people. Because there is only one majority, the working-class majority.

Thank you for the read! Subscribe below to follow me along this journey!

Subscribe now

Empathy is defined as the ability to put oneself in the “shoes” of another to gain a better understanding of them. Revolutionary empathy on the other hand, is the active practice of putting oneself in the “shoes” of another and their struggle to confront injustices. As to their origins, I believe empathy is innate in all of us, although it is a learned skill and is passive in nature; I believe that it just needs to be activated through acknowledgement and education. The development of Revolutionary empathy requires having basic empathy, of course, but also depends on multiple factors including; exposure to diversity, experiencing or witnessing certain of traumas, injustices, or social contradictions that become too great and reach a boiling point and I feel those are just some things capable of sparking revolutionary empathy in a person’s heart, mind, and soul. Revolutionary empathy is one that instills class consciousness and invokes solidarity among the working class. Revolutionary empathy is a force, active in nature and strives for systemic material change and must be used similarly to a muscle to be effective.

The kind of empathy that encourages people to stand up and speak up for the oppressed and marginalized by working to shifting power dynamics. It’s the urge that makes you speak up for a coworker that’s being belittled by your boss/manager. It is a type of empathy that creates a burning sensation that compels one to try and create change with your hands immediately. That feeling you get that makes you stand up for the homeless person being harassed, as they try to just survive. That urge that just won’t let you “let it go” when you witness some sort of injustice and it causes you to act, that’s the empathy that I’m referring to. The motivation that causes civil unrest leads to legislative changes, following an act of racialized violence or injustice. The actions taken by those protecting their neighbors from the fascist militant actions of ICE, I would argue, were spawned out of revolutionary empathy. When seen in action, revolutionary empathy appears to have somewhat of a contagious or infectious nature on others. When a person sees someone in their shoes standing up to power or authority; that empowers those witnessing it, and they feel safer and more capable of doing so themselves in solidarity as well.

One example I would point to are the actions of the abolitionist John Brown. The burning desire he had to put an end to slavery, whether religious in origin or not, is Revolutionary Empathy turned into extreme action I would argue. Unwavering moral conviction, in a time where his beliefs were in the minority and the face of danger, he remained steadfast in his goal of abolition up until the end of his life. Despite being the first person in the US to be charged with treason, I believe John Brown to be one of the most consequential revolutionary figures of his time. His actions inspired and compelled many others to work more aggressively toward the pursuit of abolition. Many actions taken by other abolitionists were born out of revolutionary empathy.

The work of activists, organizations, and everyday people during the time of the Civil Rights movement, all actions born of revolutionary empathy. The steadfast, unwavering resolve of those set to change a broken system, and laws originating during the time of slavery. Also with the goal of changing the minds of a society as a whole; to plant the seed that would hopefully sprout a better future for their children or grandchildren. Work that would ultimately shift the collective consciousness of the country towards one more equal towards those of different races.

Other examples of revolutionary empathy are actions during many of the anti-war movements that have happened in this country. More recently I would point to, is the sea change that has happened around the Palestinian plight and the apartheid state of Israel. The internal sadness, frustration, and anger one gets when seeing videos, pictures, and stories of war crimes, especially the recent ones committed in Palestine, that causes people to protest in the streets, politicians’ offices, and businesses to demand change, that is another example of revolutionary empathy in action. Before the events of October 7^th, , 2023 most that weren’t the strongest supporters of the Palestinian cause and were largely apathetic towards it, due to lack of education and knowledge of the history or the current events happening on the ground, and this includes myself. After the events of October 7^th, it felt like the mainstream news worked double overtime to manufacture consent to tell the American people that this was a population of violent terrorists and that we needed to give our “friend” Israel the money and the means to “defend” itself against all of those that they claimed were responsible for the attack. Many people who were uninformed or apathetic about Israel and Palestine up until October 7^th could now likely recount at least one cruel, gruesome, inhumane war crime, or act of terrorism committed against a Palestinian, which typically ends up being a child, women, or elderly. The sheer amount of violence, hatred, and collective punishment being broadcasted over every social media platform, and internet news outlet shocked the collective consciousness of most in US society, and spurred the sea change we are seeing currently. Any one out of those thousands of videos or stories, being witnessed is enough to “radicalize” a person into advocating for the Palestinian plight. It is this type of empathy that has a 31-year-old white father from WV, staying updated about the Palestinian genocide, because many of the videos and stories I’ve witnessed have stuck with me. The heaviness I’ve felt, seeing a young father like me hold his child that has been killed or dismembered by the bombing is something I feel like will always stick with me. I get enraged every time I see trauma like this and am reminded that it is our tax dollars that are paying for all of this. And although some may say to just turn it off or stop looking at that type of content; I would say that the Palestinians aren’t able to turn off or stop the violence they have been subjected to for over the past 70+ years, and that we have been paying for it with our taxes. I try to keep myself informed and updated on the current state of things there due to this obligation. I do so that I am able to speak up for , defend, and advocate for Palestinian sovereignty, and their right to self-determination in order to better educate those misinformed on the situation.

The old adage, “the only thing that can beat hate, is love” may be true; however, I would like to suggest it is revolutionary empathy that is capable of fully uprooting hatred that has been sown by hate-mongers and profiteers of division and hate. Especially in this day and age where people are able to manufacture and foment hatred or discontent towards different groups seemingly without much difficulty. For it is easier to hate something/someone that you do not understand. It takes understanding to be able to learn and diagnose the hatred and its sources at its roots. Through learning and understanding we can determine whether a person’s hatred is genuine, or has been misplaced, misunderstood, or manufactured. Likewise, understanding a person and the cause and source of their hatred can assist with navigating interactions with them, as well as allowing you to work in such a way that you can work to educate and dissolve the hatred. For I believe that hatred can only truly dissipate with an empathic understanding. Once an established hatred is dissolved, I believe those affected become more resilient against future attempts to stir, foment, or manufacture hatred between people, groups, or even nations. Revolutionary empathy is not a one and done action; it is a continuum of understanding that invokes change in the current order structure, for the betterment of society or groups of people

I believe revolutionary empathy also has the potential to inspire and plant seeds within people that will blossom into a confident, unshakable moral compass. When a government suppresses or outright refuses to cover the news of things like war crimes or acts of police violence that are being committed, typically it’s to prevent public dissent, outcry, and “radicalization” as the powers that be would call it. However, I believe this “radicalization” is actually, in part, revolutionary empathy. The billionaires, corrupt politicians, and warmongers along with their monied interests, could not maintain business as usual, if Revolutionary Empathy was more widely practiced throughout the public. Having a strong sense of revolutionary empathy among the broader public, as mentioned before, I believe people are more resistant to racial division, misinformation, economic injustice, propaganda, and other forms of deceit that are used to sow hatred and division to keep us distracted. We would in turn likely see a lot less conflict across the country. By doing things such as looking outward, participating in outrospection, being curious to other cultures, active listening, and offering validation, communities can practice revolutionary empathy in order to reduce their own biases, replace anger with compassion, and build more social cohesion amongst communities. I believe that this is why anytime you see a genuine person or candidate driven by a strong sense of Revolutionary Empathy; you see every part of the establishment use every tactic in a panic to make them lose their races. They will dump money in order to sow division, and apathy to try and maintain the status quo; that is unless you’re empathic toward corporations or billionaires. That status quo is to isolate empathy from politics; to keep the ability to maintain existing hatred and develop new divisions across the population, for when the need arises. For it is easier to pickpocket and take advantage of a population that is divided and apathetic toward each other, rather than one united under a shared sense of revolutionary empathy.

“Empathy is, in fact, an ideal that has the power both to transform our own lives and to bring about fundamental social change. Empathy can create a revolution. Not one of those old-fashioned revolutions based on new laws, institutions, or governments but something much more radical: a revolution of human relationships.” – Roman Krznaric

Over the past almost 3 years, I have felt this strong urge to watch, read, and inform myself of some of the history and ongoing events in Palestine. Despite all of the horror Ive witnessed and learned about, I feel obligated to pay attention to the events unfolding, because we as a country are complicit in this Genocide. It is our tax dollars that are funding this, don’t you feel obligated to see or learn how it is being spent? I learned over $330 billion total has been sent from the US to Israel so that they can continue their war crimes. I learned that my tax dollars were being used to equip the Israeli occupying forces with 2000 pound bunker buster bombs, to drop them on civilian city blocks in one of the most densely populated areas on the planet. I learned this conflict has resulted in more children killed than the total of all global conflicts for the past multiple years. I learned that the median age of the population in Palestine is 19.5 years, with nearly half of the population being under eighteen, due to the severity of the violence, and targeting of adults. I watched US politicians deny the reality of what is happening, or worse, show their bloodthirsty glee and support for all the violence and displacement of the Palestinian people. I wonder if they are seeing and reading the same stories, I am, and if so, why are they not doing more to put an end to it? I heard two governments speak of a ceasefire, but the killing has never stopped. Over a thousand deaths have been reported since this “ceasefire”. International organs of justice have labeled these actions of Genocidal intent as well as war crimes, and even have issued arrest warrants for those that orchestrated these atrocities, so why has more action not been taken by the international community?

I watched a corporate state influenced media try desperately to manufacture consent, as the war crimes were unfolding as if they were screaming “don’t believe your lying eyes”. From the beginning of the conflict till now, mainstream media has contributed to the division that is still ongoing, and allows this conflict to continue without much coverage, criticism, or even slight pushback at times. Is the mainstream media refusing to call this a genocide because our country is on the side committing it this time? We cannot claim to be any sort of moral authority or project messages of morality across the world while contradictions, this stark, exist in our current system. Albeit slow, but steady, the public perception and opinion on the conflict in Palestine has largely shifted towards the Palestinians, however if you watched the American media, you would never know. As author and journalist Omar El Akkad had put it “One day, when it’s safe, when there’s no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it’s too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this”

Early on I watched a story unfold, a hospital bombed by Israeli forces under the false pretense that it was being used for military purposes, then when it comes out that it was clearly a civilian hospital, Israeli officials try to blame the ones that they are attacking, as if they would bomb themselves. I can recall a video of a 5 year old girl not much older than my daughter, walking through a burning building that had been hit by bombs; thankfully she managed to get out and survive, but sadly her mother did not. I watched a father mourning as he held the severed head of his small child. Another father cradled his child, while trying to stop the blood pouring from the child’s head after soldiers opened fire on their family car for seemingly no reason. I watched a mother, carrying her infant on her way to get a scrap of food, only to be shot in the head by sniper fire, murdered in cold blood, dropping the child and creating another orphan to this conflict. I’ve seen footage and pictures of countless children with bullet wounds to the head, and chest with clear purposeful placement, with the intent to kill or cause life altering trauma according to doctors on the ground. Recent UN reports show the systematic, intentional targeting of children by Israeli forces. They have created the largest group of child amputees that exists as a result of their actions. I watched children being dragged away from their remaining friends and family, tearful with the thought that they likely will never get to see them again. Young men hugging loved ones, then turning themselves over to the occupying forces with the hopes it will grant their remaining family some freedom from the nightmare scenario that they face. I read reports of the Israeli forces blasting sounds of crying babies, and small children in the night while waiting for when poor empathetic, heroic souls emerge to try and save someone, only to be met with sniper or drone fire, murdered in cold blood. I watched a video of rescue workers up multiple floors in a collapsing, recently bombed, building trying to save lives only seconds later to be blown up by a “double tap” missile strike on live video. I’ve read about the overwhelming number of journalists hunted and killed by Israeli forces as if they were viewed as more of a threat to Israel than Hamas. More journalists killed than during any other conflict. I’ve watched and read reports of how Palestinians had been forced into a constant fearful nomadic struggle of moving around the country to “avoid the conflict” only for their tents and temporary shelters to be bombed in the middle of the night. I witnessed hundreds of trucks full of aid, medicine, food, water, and baby formula be purposely prevented from reaching the Palestinians or getting destroyed by settler criminals and those in favor of the ongoing collective punishment. Rescue workers, cooks, aid delivery workers, and doctors of all kinds are systematically targeted by Israel to make the possibility of sustaining life as low as possible for the Palestinian population. I’ve witnessed the more recent videos surfacing of Israeli settlers committing acts of terror on the remaining Palestinians in the West Bank, in an effort to drive them from their homeland. Maiming livestock, beating dogs with clubs, and dragging them chained behind ATVs. The trauma they cause by endlessly harassing Palestinians in their homes, threatening, beating and even killing them with the support of Israeli soldiers that stand idly by to protect the settlers. These settlers work to drive the Palestinians from their ancestral homeland where some families have been living for generations. Those settlers and soldiers like to claim that Palestinians are “violent savages” and devoid of any morals, or civility, well how about they take a look in the goddamn mirror. I read the accounts of entire family lineages erased from society, or only alive by one or two members struggling to survive the intolerable conditions they are subjected to. I listen to the recording of little 6-year-old Hind Rajab on the phone with rescue workers as she lay trapped in a car damaged by Israeli weapons. As the Red Crescent worked tirelessly to save her, when they attempted her rescue some of the workers along with Hind were massacred in cold blood by Israeli forces. Whenever I see pictures or videos of the immense death and child casualty, my heart aches and I cannot help but get emotional. As the father of a small child, I could never imagine experiencing the horrors that the parents in Palestine have been subjected to too. It is hard not for me to think of that just one small difference, such as my birthplace, and that could as easily be me in those parents’ shoes. While the news of this faulty “ceasefire” has spread, it was almost as if the attention had been taken away from conflict and muddied by the rest of the ongoing conflicts in the region.

I followed a story where video footage showed multiple Israeli prison guards create a shield wall to block the heinous actions taking place behind them. A Palestinian being held there, sexually assaulted and sodomized with an object, by the Israeli prison guards. The Israeli government giving him a “slap on the wrist” sentence, to have some sense of accountability; only for a mob of genocide supporters to storm the jail, riot, and demand he be freed. Currently this former prison guard is now a TV show host in Israeli media. I watched Israeli soldiers video tape themselves wearing the clothing and lingerie while laughing, mocking, and celebrating the trauma that they have inflicted on the people of Palestine. I watched and listened to phone footage recovered from the body of a slain Palestinian Red Crescent Aid worker, which shows Israeli forces chasing and murdering them in cold blood, only to dump and barely try to bury the bodies. Dropping large amounts of white phosphorus, another war crime, in order to “salt the earth” and make Palestinian land unusable for farming. Not to mention the horrible effects that it can have on people’s bodies, which is one of the reasons it is a banned weapon, and a war crime to deploy. I viewed images of Palestine before and after this current iteration of conflict, and the genocidal intent is clear as day. Every place of learning, worship, business, and civil function destroyed; with hardly a single structure left standing, this is clear indication of the intent of attempting the erasure of a population in whole or part.

I listen to these heroic doctors, from all over the world, recount grueling stories of them treating children, women, and elderly that have been permanently scarred due to the actions of the occupying forces. It is hard to imagine the courage and bravery it would take in order to go to a place of such violence and misery to try and save as much life as possible, knowing they are placing a target on the back of their white doctor’s coat. These doctors are truly some of the best this world has to offer; I commend them for their actions and their courage.

I learned about the cruelness of the apartheid system, and the history of 70+ years of oppression and violence brought onto the Palestinians. Over 70 years of subjugation inside of an open air prison. In Israel, Palestinians don’t have the right to vote, are not allowed to cross borders without military permits, must use separate roads than Israelis, and they also only ever get trials in a military court, unlike Israelis. Under Israeli law Palestinians do not have the right to self determination, are not allowed to nonviolently protest without the likelihood of arrest. Palestinian farmers and fishermen are restricted from using their lands and the waters, if their land has not already been seized by the government. Palestinians are not allowed to gain Israeli residency or citizenship through marriage to an Israeli citizen; which has also led to many families being separated and not being allowed to live together. There have been decades of violence and tactics such as “mowing the lawn” as the IOF would put it. So, anybody that tries to preach that all this conflict began on October 7^th is ahistoric and is likely saying this out of ignorance, or to try to justify the need for the continuation of the genocide. With the overwhelming amount of support behind the Palestinian plight, US government officials in support of the genocide have been scrambling to create some sort of solution or resolution to this conflict so that they quell the voices of the masses that now are screaming to put an end to all the killing. This has led to half-hearted attempts at a ceasefire that have consistently been broken by one side, Israel. The highest officials in the government, spewing lies, racism, and hatred while also telling their people that their plans will not be stopped or interrupted by the US; so, who’s really in the driver seat Trump or Netanyahu? All one needs to do is consume a piece of Israeli media translated from Hebrew and their true intentions are plain as day; the complete erasure of Palestinians and their culture from this planet. Because to the current Israeli government, the existence of Palestinians is proof of the cruelty caused during the bloodied history of their current apartheid state. As Israel drags the US into waging more conflict in the region to achieve their goals, I worry that attention and eyes have begun to turn away from Palestine, in order to focus on the new developing conflict. Israeli officials will use this to their advantage to continue to further their genocidal plans of complete extermination, uninterrupted. It is important for us to keep up pressure on our elected representatives and demand that no money goes to Israel until the violence ends. Demand that we follow our own established Leahy law that is supposed to prevent aid from going to countries that are committing war crimes. We must vote out any politician that puts the interest of the Israeli government over ours and our people. We must end Citizens United, that allows endless amounts of money to be poured into our political process, poisoning the well. We must continue to push back against the attempts to conflate Anti-zionism to Antisemitism, as they only contribute to the rise of Antisemitism. There also must be some justice, accountability, restitution for the horrific war crimes brought onto the Palestinians. In the words of author Ta-Nahisi Coats “ If you can’t draw the line at genocide, you probably can’t draw the line at democracy”.

If you have ever watched a WWII movie or documentary and thought to yourself; “I wonder what I would be doing” during this war, or the time of nazi Germany and the Holocaust; well, you are currently doing it now, except for this time we are on the side of the oppressor instead of the oppressed. We are the ones funding war crimes instead of putting an end to them. As hard, and difficult it may be to watch, to hear, or to read, I believe that all of us have an obligation to learn and inform ourselves about the conflicts being committed in our country’s name, with our tax dollars. It is our tax money that is paying for the bombs dropped on the kids and families of Palestine. It is our elected officials that continue to send blank checks to Israel and refuse to show any backbone. Those green lighting this money, share some of responsibility for the unbelievably cruel, and violent events that have unfolded and continue to unfold in Palestine, especially within the past couple of years. It is our money, bombs, and white phosphorus made here on American soil that is being sent over to be dropped on the people of Palestine. We must demand from our elected representatives, an end to the money faucet, and if they will not listen, then they need to be voted out. We must continue to keep our eyes on Palestine, and advocate for the ending of the genocide. If the majority of this country is truly against the actions happening in Palestine, then we must make our government and priorities reflective of that. Because as we remain focused on the myriad of things one can become so easily consumed by; the killing has never stopped.

The working-class people of West Virginia are all too familiar with “benevolent” corporations coming here under the guise of bringing development that will benefit everybody in the state. We know from history of the “benevolent” coal barons of the past, and how they ultimately scarred the land and the towns there; the southern counties are currently suffering from the complete negligence of coal companies that have left communities with contaminated water. Communities ravaged by corporations and left as hollowed out husks of their once, more flourishing selves. West Virginians know all too well how corporations and billionaires see us here; Where we see lush forest filled mountains, they see a land ripe for extraction and exploitation. They think of us as gullible, naive, ignorant, however, when they see videos of town and city halls packed full of people from all affiliations, holding corrupt, bought, and paid off politicians’ feet to the fire armed with facts; the CEO’s and the Billionaires start to feel some anxiety. Worried that by pushing too far they will ignite the flames of solidarity and awaken the dormant spirit of those that stood up against oppressors and coal barons during the battle of Blaire Mountain and the Coal Wars, that still slumbers in the mountain soil.

The solidarity of the people standing up to these wannabe kings and tech feudal lords, during this ongoing data center struggle, as well as the water crisis in the south, makes me feel proud to call myself a West Virginian. If there’s one thing we have a history of and know how to do it is stand up to the oppressors, exploiters, and robber barons to bring about material improvements for the working class. Whether it was the miners and families during the Coal Wars, or the 2018 teachers and personnel that went on a statewide strike to demand better pay; the power and influence of the people when standing shoulder to shoulder, as the working class, is unmatched and louder than any amount of money could ever be. Together, tangible improvements that you can see and feel everyday can be made a reality, if we stand in solidarity. We must demand material improvements, not just when a new crisis is caused by a corporation, but also to vote out and call out anybody that does not stand with workers and would sell the beauty of West Virginia to the highest bidder.

The world’s first Trillionaire. What an accomplishment! I wonder if this achievement finally made his daddy proud? As I sit here with my 3-year-old daughter, in my old home that I was fortunate enough to receive in from my wonderful forward-thinking grandparents; I wonder what, if anything, will I be able to leave my child or grandchild in the future. Here in the state that recently earned the title of worst state for overall economic performance, belonging to the richest country on the planet, my family and I continue to live paycheck to paycheck. With all the news and clamor surrounding the emergence of the first man in the world to get the title of trillionaire, I can’t help but have a few thoughts to express; some food for thought if you will.

Firstly, just how overall disgusting the news of this milestone is. The American Dream, rooted in the idea of meritocracy, has never felt more like a lie and could only be rightly described as the American Nightmare. Is this something to really even be proud of as a country? That we are the country that can produce a trillionaire? It’s incredible to watch people talk about this achievement in such a positive way, when it should really be viewed glaring problem; an abhorrent appendage signaling the cancerous nature of our current economic system. One that is not, and for very long time, has not been a system meant to benefit the working class. The current system is one designed to slowly squeeze the wealth from older generations while subjecting younger generations to the disgusting nature of the system, as it festered over time into the foul one that we have today. A person cannot become a Trillionaire without the exploitation of others, it is just not logically possible. Which begs the question, how many people do you think he exploited along his journey to trillionaire? Maybe more than is his father exploited while owning and operating emerald mines in South Africa? Most likely so, I guess exploiting others must run in the family. Has he really worked more than a nurse working double shifts at hospital; is his work more valuable than theirs? Does he really work harder than a coal miner (or emerald miner), slaving away underground; is his work really more difficult than theirs? I highly doubt it. Wealth the equivalent of my state’s total GPD multiplied by 9, in the hands of one man. He gave Trump so much money he was able to buy his way into being able to create the ridiculous DOGE “agency”, which all that was accomplished was the stealing of Americans personal data to feed his crappy AI tech, and slashing federal funding so that way there would be more money to give him and his ilk another “well earned” tax cut. All of this wealth owned by the man who is responsible for ending USAID, which regardless of your opinions, saved approximately 2.3 million to 4.7 million lives each year according to experts. The man responsible for cutting research funding for pediatric cancer research, cutting funding for the Meals on Wheels program; with all this power? Estimates to end world hunger range anywhere from $40 to $265 billion annually, that’s 3.7 to 25 years of WORLD hunger ended. All of this wealth owned by the man who is responsible for ending USAID, which regardless of your opinions, does do work to end world hunger and saves approximately 2.3 million to 4.7 million lives each year according to experts. The man responsible for cutting research funding for pediatric cancer research, cutting funding for the Meals on Wheels program; with all this power? It’s time that something needs to fundamentally change.

To anybody that lives paycheck to paycheck, is aware of his actions, still idolizes this man because of this achievement; you are part of the problem, and just the type of suckers that he wants buying his Teslas. So while China is pumping out unquestionably better electric vehicles at a far more affordable rate, we are here letting him try to monopolize a budding market, while anybody that would like an electric car is forced to buy his shitty toaster with wheels.

HOORAY! HE DID IT! He has officially won the game of Capitalism. Somebody please give him his goddamn trophy, and send him to space, so he can colonize Mars with his robots and Teslas like he promised everybody. Now is there anyway we could please try the game, but with different, fairer rules? Or hell, how about a different game altogether? Because I don’t know about you all, but I am sick and tired of us in the working class, always being the losers in this game.Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Neil deGrasse Tyson stated during an interview that from the time man was in caves to about 1840, life expectancy in all those years had only increased from 30 years to 35 years, with minimal scientific health advancements and medicine. The current life expectancy in the US is 79, while most other wealthy nations have cracked averages between 80-84 years. The advancements in healthcare science, and medicine have more than double life expectancy in the past 185 years; and Tyson also stated that we gained 20 years of life expectancy just in the past 50 years due to advancements in medicine. This is a phenomenal achievement, and a testament to the extraordinary importance of science and medicine to the development of society and human progression. With this significant role that healthcare plays in our lives and the development of society; why on Earth is this something that is restricted to some, depending on their financial status? Why is access to quality healthcare often determined by which tax bracket you belong to? Why is access to healthcare something that is even negotiable in the first place? Why is it that people must go into extreme debt in order to get healthcare? Why even when it is lifesaving treatment? When and why did medicine divorce morality? It is something that we all need, use, and will inevitably use in the future.

I for one believe healthcare is a human right, and that nobody should be put into debit just medical bills and expenses. We live in the richest country on the planet, so why are we the only developed nation on the planet that does not offer universal healthcare to its citizens? We pay more for healthcare and medications than any other country on the planet. According to reports, the US spends roughly 14887 per person on healthcare, which is double the amount of other wealth nations. This does not mean that the quality of care is better but rather is indicative of large amounts of unnecessary bloat and waste. A prime example was in 2007 when Mylan Pharmaceuticals decided to increase the price of EpiPens by over 500%. They didn’t magically become more expensive to produce, then was purely to fatten the pockets of the CEOs at that time.

Healthcare costs are ranked as the 5^th largest expense from families’ budgets, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. If we are paying so much more for healthcare, why do we not see any benefits of it? Other countries with universal healthcare are shown to be more efficient and more cost effective than our current system here in the US. And to those that would like to give me the “how do we pay for it” arguments; My first response would be to look at our priorities. We currently have and continue to spend billions of dollars funding an ongoing conflict in Iran. The money going overseas to bomb children could be used to provide health to children and families here in the states. Instead of taking life, how about we use this money to provide and save life here. Also worth noting, we currently give the country of Isreal so much money that they are able to provide heavily subsidized healthcare and education to its citizens, so the affordability argument is beyond bogus. And to those that would claim universal healthcare is a “communist or socialist policy/idea” I would ask them, do you know anybody or have any relatives on Medicaid? Anybody in the military? Folks that fall into these categories received something close and similar to free universal healthcare, so why not expand it to cover the rest of us? Why not just give universal healthcare a shot, what’s the worst that could happen? Is it that everybody would receive better quality of care, or big insurance companies would crumble? Oh nooo, the poor CEO’s and their insurance companies!

It’s bad enough that health insurance can be confusing to navigate, especially when you’re learning the ins and outs on the fly; and it doesn’t help that you were taught nothing about it during all those years in the education system, despite its importance to your life. Wouldn’t you feel less stressed and anxious if you didn’t have to deal with private insurance? Doctors would; they overwhelmingly agree that insurance companies have a negative impact on the quality of care they can provide, as well as lowering the amount of time spent with patients due to having to deal with insurance companies. There are countless horror stories, mishaps, or seemingly criminal and morally reprehensible experiences that both patients and providers have had. Recently a Nurse went viral online because as she was about to begin an operation on a patient, she was pulled away where she had to argue and justify the need for the treatment, as she was being asked to not perform the procedure; all the while the patient was laying on the operating table with his chest split open! What level of moral depravity have we sunk to, in order to reach this level of heartlessness. Stories of people denied medication or treatments, both preventative and critically needed all because the insurance company out of nowhere decided to stop covering that medication, procedure, or provider. This type of system encourages and incentivizes providers and facilities to value profits over people.

Another less discussed, but horrible aspect of our current systems is how one’s health insurance is primarily tied to one’s workplace. This type of situation creates an environment of traps, especially for those managing conditions such as diabetes. This aspect makes people less likely to look for new work, leave their current workplace, or even move to a new area, because of the worry that they could/would go a time without health coverage or prescription insurance. And then, what if you’re unable to find new work as quickly as planned? What if the new job’s health insurance does not cover your necessary medications? Or is not in network with your lifelong PCP? These are just some of the “what if’s” found in the trap that is employer health insurance. This I would argue is another lever of control that is pulled and leveraged against employees, by employers and the corporations.

A couple other notable absurdities of our broken healthcare system; Why in the hell are Dental and Eye insurance separate from normal health insurance? Like seriously, I would love to see anybody argue the reasoning as to why they should be separate and are not considered part of your normal health. Ever doctor can tell you the relationship and importance oral hygiene has on your heart and physical health, and vision I feel should be self-explanatory enough, right? I mean it’s your sight for God’s sake... As mentioned earlier, I would say it is absurd that an insurance company can call a provider mid procedure and demand justification for treatment; they are not medical professionals, and they rarely, if ever, interact with the patients aside from sending them a denial of coverage letter. Forcing us to parse these different areas of healthcare is not only incredibly unnecessary but understandably frustrating for patients, and I would venture to say is less efficient than a federally funded universal healthcare program.

The working-class majority’s income and taxes go towards funding our current healthcare system, and they deserve to see the benefits of it, rather than commonly being in the sweet spot of making too much to qualify for any assistance but not making enough to avoid living paycheck to paycheck. With how vital healthcare is to life and society, why do we continue this broken system that values profit more than the health and wellbeing of patients. It is just as vital that we reexamine our values and reassess our priorities so that we can provide access and quality care to every person in this country.

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” – Greek Proverb

Register To Vote Here, and Start Planting Your Trees!

Life becomes more expensive to live day after day, year after year. Currently, the price of oil and gas follows the pattern of an unpredictable pendulum, while the price of everything else tries to keep up. How do you afford it? Are you one of many that is working a second or God forbid a third job? Do you have a side hustle? Not buying your favorite name brand, foods, clothing, or household items to save a few extra bucks? Maybe it's not going on a vacation this year, less family outings, or less date nights with your partner? Are you skipping doctor's appointments? Doses of medication missed or split in half to make them last you longer? How many of you are one unexpected expense from being in the financial “red zone”? One unforeseeable car repair, a medical expense, a broken utility, or a vet visit away from putting yourself in a financial hole that you’d either have to rely on someone to help you out of, or spend your next paycheck or two playing catch up, only to put yourself further behind on bills. Regardless of your method of being able to get by, don’t you feel that it is becoming harder to maintain this diminishing standard of living that we all face? Do you believe that our current system is fair to the working-class majority? Is it unjust? Do you ever have moments where you think or dream that things were different? That you didn’t struggle as much? That you had more time to spend on yourself or with your family? I believe that if a person is working 40 hours a week, there is no reason they should be struggling as many of us are. Additionally, I believe that the working class should not be forced to have to get a second or third job just to be able to survive. In the richest country on the planet, the fact that 60% of us live paycheck to paycheck should be viewed as a complete failure of the system to provide for the people, and we all should be outraged by this statistic. In a system where the working class are the majority, our economic system should be working to improve our material conditions, however those in control of the levers of power have been transforming the system into one that serves corporations and the richest among us, while slowly turning the working class into the “extraction class”. We should all be outraged.

If you're fortunate enough to make six figures here in WV, please understand that you are a lot closer to a homeless person on the street than you are to any billionaire. Many fancy themselves to be temporarily embarrassed millionaire/billionaires, rather than still belonging to the working class, and I hate to break it to those folks; but you are being exploited just as we are, the boot just isn't as far on your necks as it is on ours.

It truly is about class, not party. I believe it is time that we re-examine our priorities, and re-assess how our tax money is raised and spent, because how much longer can you afford it?

I would like to argue that this quote is truer today, and almost any other time in history. All one needs to do is swap out the words "white" and "colored" for any two other types of identity; Republican/Democrat, Prolife/Prochoice, Christian/Muslim, etc. Identity is foundational to the human condition and experience. We all belong to multiple different types of identities which culminate in our own individual sense of Identity, who we are and how we see ourselves. Identities long held or bestowed at birth; "core identities" can evoke emotionally charged, passionate, or even aggressive reactionary responses when facing scrutiny or criticism. This is partly due to the relationship that we have between identity and our moral character. Pitting two different identities is one of the easiest and most successful ways to sew division in a population. Pitting two core identities against another, has an even greater division potential as well as being able to mobilize the population around an issue. Divide and conquer, one of the oldest strategies discussed in history. Throughout history, pitting of core identities such as race, religion, birthplace, etc. has led to tension between groups that can last for generations, especially when being reinforced and conditioned by those using the levers of power. Those in among the oligarchy; the billionaires, high level executives, some politicians, and those with an insatiable greed that would do anything to obtain or maintain the power use division as a tool to power their ambitions. Whether by reinforcing preexisting division or creating new ones, those at the top have consistently kept the masses divided on a number of issues. The more emotionally charged, the better for them and their pockets. The rich and powerful use division as a shiny object to hypnotize groups of the population, while working overtime, so that they can push policy that only benefits them and avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Currently 6 people own and control the majority of all major news outlets, and social media sites. A media monopoly with this much power can hardly function with the people's best interest in mind and aim only for the one goal they all have; to maximize profits. We have technology geared towards increasing engagement, and rewarding virality above all, regardless of consequences or potential blowbacks.

All organs of mainstream news and social media use division and distraction to work on ensuring the continuation of the status quo. That status quo is the continuation of the majority of this country being too consumed with distraction, aggrievement, or simply working to survive. As long as people are too busy looking in front, down, or beside them for the cause of their daily struggle, they will be unable to look at the ones controlling the levers of power that our keeping us from reaching our full potential and achieving many Policy goals, that the population overwhelming support; such as Medicare for all/universal healthcare. However, achieving something like that would affect the bottom lines of the Hospitals, Insurance companies, any pharmaceutical companies, and they cannot have that. During the Coal Wars here in WV, Mining corporations pitted non-unions workers vs. union members against each other, in order to break up any worker's solidarity that was created up until that point. Wedges like this are driven between workers to distract from the fact that regardless of their opinions and beliefs; their boss is screwing them both over. The ultra wealthy and corporations, bank on the hope that between division tactics, their wealth, and their control that they can keep up the charade without any sort of resistance from the people.

    So, what is there to be done about it? I feel that in order for things to change, the masses will at some point have to have a change in our collective mindset, to one more empathetic and selfless and one less greedy or selfish. There also needs to be a fundamental change to the way that we view certain things such as food, water, housing, and education. We need to begin to view these things as a necessity, not a commodity to be sold for profit. I believe that food, water, housing, and education are all human rights and should not cost us anything to obtain. We are the richest country on the planet, and there is no excuse for why we cannot have clean drinking water across the state, access to clean food, safe shelter, and an opportunity to learn without a looming debit bill hovering over one's head. There also needs to be a shift in the way we educate. Schools today, Id argue that would greatly benefit from a financial literacy class, and more civics focused classes to prepare young folks for the world ahead, as well as hopefully achieving high civic participation. The people will need to be education on how to accurately point out, discern, and dispute misinformation so that they can avoid the roadblocks to progress that will inevitably be thrown up by the oligarchs as control and influence begins to slip from their grasps. Through proper education, with revolutionary empathy for our fellow humans, and an adequate check and balance, on the rampant corruption of billionaires, corporations, and the politicians that greenlight their behavior; the masses may be able to change the world, one day, to one more equitable for us all.

Based on the Pentagon's briefing to Congress: $11.3B for the first 6 days, plus $1B/day for each day the conflict continues. According to the Times, that close to 12 billion dollars in the first 6 days could have paid for; Health care for 1.3 million Americans for a year, Full year of food assistance for 5.5 million Americans, Housing assistance for around 1 million Americans, the entire National Park Service for more than three years, Child care or universal pre-K for 900,000 children, Pell grants for 1.6 million students, and the annual salaries of more than 100,000 teachers and nurses to just name a few things. On May 2nd I wrote a comment on Facebook responding to someone asking me what exactly we have lost during this ongoing- illegal conflict in Iran. At the time the current cost of the Iran conflict was $67 billion dollars of our tax money. As of me writing this on May 24th, , just twenty-two days later, the cost has increased to just under $91 billion for the total duration of this 85-day conflict. I would like to ask you to think for a moment; imagine if that $91 Billion was put back into the working class of this country? Imagine the amount of material improvement that could have taken place. This money could have gone to building more or improving the schools in all our communities, instead of blowing them up overseas. That money could have fixed our crumbling infrastructure, provided clean water to communities like the ones in Southern WV currently suffering, or in Flint, Michigan where they STILL do not have clean drinking water to this day. I for one believe water is a human right; and it is immoral and makes no sense why we can spend this much on a conflict, but not to fix this issue and improve the lives of all of us? The Tupac quote rings true, “They have money for war, but can’t feed the poor”.

In terms of what we have lost, firstly, and arguably the most unnoticed but tangible thing we have lost out on, was the opportunity to put this money towards improving the material conditions for the people of the United States. Moreover, the US has lost respect around the world because we showed that our government has no humanity when they do things like kill children. We have lost the trust of the allies around the world because our government looks unstable in its decision making. Most would argue that our standing in the world, in general, has decreased. We were under no imminent threat; all experts have confirmed as such. We have created chaos in the region and objectively gained nothing from it. We have disrupted a global trading route that has been used without issue for decades. As mentioned earlier, the price of oil affects everything, (gas, groceries, medicine, etc. ) and here at home we have yet to feel the full ramifications for the actions taking place overseas. I believe the worse is yet to come in regards to the global economy. So, tell me what have YOU personally gained from this ongoing illegal conflict, aside from more expensive gas? Have any of your material conditions improved, since the Iran conflict began? Wouldn't you agree that this money could have been better spent, here at home?

Just since Oct 7th, 2023, reports so approximately 30-40 million tax dollars have come from West Virginia and went to Isreal. Reports also show that since Oct 7th, Isreal has dropped between 85,000 and 100,000 tons of bombs on the Gaza strip. That is more bombs than all the bombs, during the entirety of WWII, dropped on an area that is roughly the size of Las Vegas, Detroit, or Philadelphia. Isreal can provide Universal heavily subsidized healthcare and education costs and are largely able to do so because WE foot the bill every day that we go to work. We can give a country so much money that it can afford to offer these amenities to its people, but we cannot give these things to ourselves? This is largely due to the influence of AIPAC and the Isreal lobby has on Congress. A summary of pro Israel PAC activity in 2023–2024 reported roughly $24 million distributed to 356 House members and $7.6 million to 40 senators — a combined total of 396 congressional recipients in that cycle alone. I would argue that Isreal’s interests have more representation in the American Federal Government, than ours do as Americans. No one lobby, special interest group, or corporations, or even country should have that much influence on our political process. This influence corrodes and corrupts those meant represent us, the people, all while taking our voting power away thru this separating of elected officials from their constituents. I believe the majority of the country would agree that this needs to end, and to change.

I would like to ask you, who represents you in the whole of the Federal government?

Regardless of your party affiliation, when it comes to who represents you and advocates for our needs in the federal government, I believe the most important quality one should look at is someone that comes from a similar background that one currently lives.

Here in WV, two family names have popped up during election cycles, for nearly my entire life. I’ve seen the family names Manchin and Capito long be positioned as our supposed “representatives” for whose job is to advocate for the needs of the people of West Virginia. I have a question for every working-class person; what have they delivered for you? Do you feel like your needs have been advocated for, by them, during their time in office?

Our previous Senator, Joe Manchin’s residence in D.C. was literally a “house-boat” that is valued at $220,000 but unexplainedly insured for an amount of $700,000; Just the purchasing price of his house-boat is just under the amount of four years of the annual median income of West Virginians ($60K) Senator Shelly Moore-Capito did a recent FOX interview where she wore a $1300 scarf on camera. Now, I'm not one to normally pocket watch a person, but, if you are someone that makes $16.25 an hour or less, she is wearing, at least, one of your paychecks around her neck. Also to put this further into perspective, as of 2026, 28%-32% of Americans reported having less than $1000 in savings, 14%-27% report having no savings at all, and 53-59% reported that would be unable to afford an unexpected emergency expense of $1000, using their savings. When you hear the phrase "income and wealth inequality”, these are just a couple of examples. Gross displays of wealth such as this, while so many across their home state are suffering, I believe is immoral and does not represent the values of the working class.

Families such as previous senator Joe Manchin's, and Senator Shelly Moore Capito, along with her congressman nephew, Riley Moore, are too insulated from the struggles that the working-class face, especially in this state. They are also too insulated from the consequences of their votes, especially when their votes have caused material conditions to worsen and life becomes more expensive for the rest of us. What's their net worth compared to yours? According to CelebrityNetWorth and PoliticianNetWorth, Manchin’s wealth is in the $7–8 million range, placing him among the wealthiest of U.S. Senators. On the other side of the isle for Shelly Moore Captio, per Quiver Quantitative (Sept. 15, 2025) estimates her net worth at about $4.7 million, ranking her 173rd among members of Congress. This figure includes roughly $2.4 million in publicly traded assets tracked via STOCK Act filings. Do you really believe they got to those positions and got that amount of money, because they work harder than us in the working class? In 2025-2026, reports show that Shelly’s campaign has taken $1.7 million dollars of Out-of-State money. Reports also show that in that Shelly and her nephew Riley have collectively taken over $400,000 from AIPAC and other organizations that promote the ongoing genocide and the atrocious war crimes that are currently ongoing in Palestine.
Do you think they have struggled to pay a bill, to afford food or medicine in the past 5-10 years? Do you think Manchin or Capito have struggled to put gas in their cars since the beginning of this Iran conflict, if they even pump it for themselves? They can acknowledge the cost of living increasing for us, but they are not the ones that suffer from it. In fact, they are actively contributing to the problem. Political dynasties often have long deep ties to corporate and/or lobbyist money, as well all may know and can see from the numbers above. This alone also puts them in a position where they are putting profits over the needs of the people, to benefit the companies they have sold their families’ names to. These “curiously”, wealthy politicians, of generational names have over the years has become a force standing above our culture in this state while increasingly separating themselves from it. This does not represent us, and I do not believe it is who we are. We are the state of the battle of Blair Mountain, an event purposely silenced and taken from our textbooks during the great depression; an action I would argue robbed us of our class conscious and history of solidarity of standing together as workers of West Virginia. And as the miners and their families showed solidarity and fought against the coal barons and the corrupt politicians that were bought; I would like the workers of WV to embody that spirit, to organize and stand up to the corporations, and lobbies in order to get REAL representation in the Halls of Congress. Because WE are workers, and I believe a worker should represent us in the halls of Congress, for the benefit of the working class in WV.

Are we not tired of the day-to-day struggle? Working to our maximum capacity, while watching the world around us becomes more expensive to live in. Are we not tired of our current material conditions? Ranked 50th in infrastructure, 49th in healthcare, 47th in education and the economy, are we not tired of these stats? We are part of the richest country on the planet, do we see any of that here? A minimum wage of 8.75 in 2026 is a starvation wage and has not been increased since 2016. Has the cost of living increased for you in the past 10+ years? How about your wages? In 2004, CEOs earned about 60 times more than the typical worker; by 2024, that ratio had risen to 281 times, a nearly fivefold increase over two decades. Of the 1.7+ million people of WV, only roughly 31k are households of a 1million dollars+, this is the 1% of WV. Those 1% of West Virginians receive an average of 67,000 annually in tax cuts, which is almost double the median household income in WV (38K). How many of you, like me, belong to households that earn less that the tax cuts these millionaires get? Are you not tired? I know I am. As of Jan 1, 2026, after this 1% makes their first 60k, every dollar they make afterwards, only 4.58% of it is going back to the state in taxes. (4 cents of every dollar) Have any of you seen any improvements in your material conditions from any of this tax money? I believe it is time to have these few folks to do right by the state and pay more in taxes to improve the lives of us all. The total corporate earnings in WV in 2023 to approximately $5–7 billion to which only 4.1 % of it was collected in state taxes, if we just take 6 billion, that roughly 246 million. I believe that the corporations that extract so much wealth from this state, ought to rightly compensate us for their profits, and pay more in taxes. Manchin called WV an “extraction state”, well, I for one believe it is immoral to extract that much wealth from this state while people are forced to live in conditions that rival a developing nation. There is a water crisis in this state that is being ignored by the politicians, like those that voted no on a clean water bill. Are we not tired? I’ve grown up watching people vote for politicians, only to be shafted by them once they are in office, or once a big check comes their way; are you all not tired of being lied to? Of voting, only to learn it was against your best interests? I believe it is time for REAL material changes that every West Virginian can see and feel each day. Are we not tired enough to rest and dream of a future better for us all? For our children? Our Grandchildren? The Planet? I believe a better future is within our grasp, and I believe the working class should be the ones to create it.