Data points for 2025

Here’s a couple of data points to think about the upcoming year 2025:

1. If tariffs are instituted, that would be like a tax on imported goods that consumers would pay. Prices would rise. Inflation!
2. If mass deportations were to ensue, farms could possibly lose their agricultural workers which would mean fields would not be tended, thus bringing on food shortages. Grocery prices would rise. Inflation!
3. A conservative economist/businessman has said that the impact from the mass deportations could be between a Great Recession and a Depression. I think there would be a matter of timing because the round up into camps can’t happen in one day. This effort would be over months if not years. Great Recession and Depression were years of joblessness. Unemployment!
4. A commentator said that if both tariffs and mass deportations were to happen, then the average Americans (probably 90% of us) will not be able to afford basic goods. Yikes, mass poverty!
5. That murder of United Healthcare CEO unearthed a worrying sentiment among regular people, spanning both aisle of the political spectrum (both right and left). The glee indicates a LOT of people, especially the youth, are angry at the leaders of the capital class. In the chatterbox, there are cries of: French Revolution!
6. The war between the two bro tech billionaires and the other regular supporters of MAGA over H1B visas just erupted this past week. The arrogant and insulting attitude of those billionaires has to be fueling the fire of violent talk. Class civil war!
7. Behind all of this is the threat of AI taking over jobs. A recent news article has reported that the software firms such as Microsoft are already talking about using AI to replace employees as a selling point. Unemployment!

I didn’t do my usual celebratory picture of the new year because it didn’t feel right against the anxious anticipatory mood. If tariffs happen and if mass deportation effects happen as projected, a lot of people are going to be hurt – badly. No one wants to see this.

Anyway, have a happy New Year!

Addendum

1/11/2025

So, you might notice I did not talk about those two “terroristic” attacks in the wee hours of 1/1/2025 – one in New Orleans and the other in Las Vegas.

That’s because I didn’t know enough, really anything, about who and the motivations behind the attacks. The attacks might not have anything to do with the general public mood about large companies, billionaires, or capitalism.

Even now, I don’t know much except both men appear to have personal issues.

The one who did the New Orleans attack had an “ISIS” flag in the cab of his truck as he was running down people walking in the streets, shooting his gun at them. At first the police thought the attack was tied to ISIS due to the flag but now it seems like he was not really associated with the terror group.

That investigation is still ongoing though.

The Las Vegas attack was a car with fireworks exploding. The guy was a special forces military guy who had been in the military for maybe 20 years, so he knew his weapons and exploding devices. It’s kind of hard to believe that he would plan this kind of attack if he wanted to harm anybody.

And yet, his weapon of choice were fireworks sitting inside the car.

I’m leaving out some key details: the car was a Tesla and the building was a Trump building. Immediately, I thought he was going to be a left leaning individual. But it turned out he was a MAGA. That’s the third time a MAGA supporter was involved in violence: twice with Trump’s attempted assassination and now the Las Vegas attempt.

A manifesto/letter was found, and we learn that he was a MAGA who was afraid that the future was going in the wrong direction. He called for people to rise up against the Democrats even though Republicans were going to take over the Presidency, the House and the Senate. In other words, Republicans were going to hold all of the levers of government.

So why did he think the Democrats were going to lead the country astray if they are out of power?

None of it makes sense but it does not sound like he was disgruntled against the lords of capitalism. It is something else.