It Starts with Reagan. All of It.

Whenever my friends and I start discussing how we got here, how we missed the signs, when did it start, who started it, I always say for me it started with Ronald Reagan, who in my opinion, decimated the middle class. I have read some books about it, but the man below, in his video which is less than 1 1/2 minutes long, explains it much better than all the books and my sloppy rendition.

And while the rear view mirror is smaller than the windshield for a reason, and I don’t care to debate or discuss the whys - except for trying to see how they might help to fight this moment in history, I think understanding the Republican history in it all, is critical to bringing them down.

If you can’t watch the video, here is the translation.

I understand why MAGA Republicans resent federal workers. Federal workers are highly educated Americans who, until recently, had secure jobs doing what they loved in exchange for a middle-class life and retirement. They were living the American dream we were all promised as kids.

Go to school, work hard, and have the American dream. But for millions of Americans, that dream never came true, leaving them bitter and looking for someone to blame. So who's to blame? Just look at this chart here for a second.

This is the balance of power of Congress over time. After the Great Depression, from 1934 to 1996, the entire time Trump claims America was great the first time, Democrats controlled the House for 58 out of the 62 years, and the Senate for 52 out of those 62 years. And they used those decades of power and control to build labor unions, to guarantee good pay and benefits, to protect your rights as a worker, and to guarantee a safe workplace.

The work Democrats did over those 60 years is the definition of the American dream we have today. And we did it all with a significantly lower economic output, because the wealth created from that economic output was taxed fairly. But Republican billionaires fought at the entire time, and after 60 years of losing, they knew they needed a new war.

Which is why in the 70s, they created the Heritage Foundation, which then propped up an actor named Ronald Reagan. And they gave him a policy playbook called the Mandate for Leadership, which was basically the 1980 version of Project 2025. And Reagan immediately went to work for them.

With the trickle-down Reaganomics bullshit that destroyed the middle class and exploded the national debt, with the demonization of the federal workforce, and with new culture wars rooted in class, race, gender, orientation, and religion. And they paired this all with a war on information, because they knew none of this bullshit would stick to a well-informed electorate. So they came after history books, universities, and news outlets.

And they did all of this for one very simple reason. It's cheaper to feed you misinformation than it is to feed you and your family. Now, after 40 years, millions of hungry, misinformed citizens look at immigrants, homeless veterans, and federal employees as if they're the enemy.

All while Republican leaders and their billionaire donors live out their distorted version of the American Dream, paid for with the wealth generated by the American working class.

Ok, back to work. Search and destroy.