2025, the Year the Economic 1% Planted Their Flag

They’ve been preparing for this invasion ever since Reagan. But, Elon Musk finally took it upon himself to plant the flag of Team Super Wealth (TSW), and who better to accomplish that than the world’s wealthiest individual? As a further plus, he’s a man entirely without moral restraint, and he’s closely connected at the moment to a president-elect with even less moralsa and a slew of felony convictions as well.

That’s what we call ‘a two-fer.’

As with any sneak-attack, the underdog has countered with violence

The assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was the response of America’s new underclass, an acknowledged replacement of its former middle class. I call it an assassination, rather than a murder, because it was the killing of a public figure to prevent further malfeasance, an almost textbook definition, and the killer and victim were personally unknown to each other.

Both circumstances are prologue

Join me on an American road trip, on a national journey. We begin from a comfortable millionaire upper class neighborhood and ultimately arrive at the homes of overwhelmingly toxic billionaires. This isn’t a history lesson, I was there the entire time, in the back seat, taking notes.

Team Super Wealth began to slowly strangle the middle class when Ronnie Reagan fired a shot over the bow of the union movement. His first act as president was to decertify the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO). They were out on strike at the time.

Democrats, the presumed defenders of both unions and the middle class, were silent on the issue. As union representation disappeared in the aftermath, along with continued Democrat silence, American industry was powerless to avoid being packaged off to the lowest wage nations, primarily China. We went from 98% dominance to today’s 18% without batting an eye.

Interestingly, it took the better part of forty years to sell our middle class down the river, and for China to build one of its own with our industrial base. In the past decade, China built a solid middle class of over seven hundred thousand, a number twice the size of the entire American population.

The world has never witnessed such a transfer of national wealth, and likely never will again. We made the trip in a 1980 Chevrolet, built the year Reagan began to raid the American cookie jar.

The Great Communicator, enabled the largest number of financial crimes in American history

(Wikipedia) The presidency of Ronald Reagan was marked by numerous scandals, resulting in the investigation, indictment or conviction of over 138 administration officials, the largest number for any president of the United States.

During the savings and loan crisis, 747 institutions failed and had to be rescued with $160 billion in taxpayer dollars. Economist John Kenneth Galbraith called it "the largest and costliest venture in public misfeasance, malfeasance and larceny of all time."

This was merely a single example among too many to list.

By and large, the American middle class went to their demise in silence

It was much like watching a small child grow. Not much change day by day, but all of a sudden, fully grown and ready to leave home. In this case, they’d already left home in the dark of night.

The Dad, who had always brought home a middle class income, was working a second job, and the stay-at-home Mom had a job as well. Dinner was whenever anyone had a chance to grab a bite to eat, and family members pretty much passed like ships in the night. The tradition of ‘doing better than your parents’ went out the window along with, one by one, all the strengths and connections that hold families together.

There were the poor, the new poor, and the rich

Healthcare, if you were lucky enough to have it, was usually tied to an employer. Which meant that, if you had a family member with a health problem, you dared not take a better job at a better salary, because your wife or kid became a ‘pre-existing condition’ to a new insurer. A whole new example of wage slavery was invented.

I have a retired friend who collapsed in his home and an ambulance was called. The ride to the hospital took fifteen minutes but, unknown to him, the ambulance was from ‘out of area,’ whatever the hell, that means. Whatever that means, included a $10,000 bill for the ambulance. The CEO at his hospital earns $526,411, and the CEO of the group that owns the hospital, banks over $26 million annually.

My friend lives on $3,500 monthly social security, and the $10,000 is on him.

All of which only goes on for so long, before it’s pitchforks and barricades

And so the first high-profile pushback comes with the killing of Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, by Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect. He pleaded not guilty to 11 charges related to the shooting, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, a capital offense.

Mangione garnered unexpected support on social media. On the Monday following his arrest, platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit were flooded with messages of solidarity for Mangione, reflecting frustration with the U.S. healthcare system. His Instagram account gained thousands of followers, reaching 21.5K, while the hashtag #FreeLuigi trends across platforms.

Supporters have portrayed Mangione as an anti-establishment figure, and that says more for the times we’re in than the crime itself.

Healthcare workers have also weighed in

A TikTok video by an emergency room nurse highlighted her frustrations with insurance denials, stating, “The things I’ve seen dying patients get denied for by insurance make me physically sick.”

As for statistics on how many annual deaths may be attributable to denial of claims, Di Walters, a licensed practical nurse, claims “There are no studies. Under the Bush administration, legislation was passed that made it nearly impossible to sue insurance companies for denying treatment which ultimately causes a patient to die. You can sue your doctor, but your insurance company is protected by law.

“The reason for no studies is because insurance lobbies are in the pockets of lawmakers, doctors and institutes of higher learning, which are usually the ones who conduct these types of studies.

“I would estimate that the number of wrongful deaths caused by insurance companies denying needed care is in the hundreds of thousands. That's a fraction of the number of patients who've needlessly suffered because of insurance denials for medication and other care.”

I’m no lawyer, but is there a case here for a defense?

An attorney I checked with says, “a death can be deemed a justifiable homicide if it was done to protect oneself, others or one’s property from serious harm or death and was devoid of criminal intent or motive. The verdict frees the accused of criminal charges, sentences or penalties. Types of justifiable homicide include Defense of Others. State law (he doesn’t say which state) also allows you to use deadly force to protect someone else from serious harm if it’s deemed necessary.”

Interesting.

So, one would expect Mangione to demand a jury trial

A fundamental principle of death penalty law in the United States is that ‘no person may be convicted of a capital crime except by the unanimous verdict of a 12-member jury.’ That is the law in all 38 states that have the death penalty, as well as in federal cases.

While reactions remain polarized, many see the case as a symbol of deeper societal discontent. One Redditor remarked, “Whether it will result in any meaningful or lasting change to the system… let’s see. I’d like to be hopeful, but I know how this world works.”

With unprecedented public support agreeing with that assessment, it’s hard to believe a twelve-member jury could find a unanimous verdict of guilty.