Pitchforks coming?

The word “pitchforks” is coming up more frequently in my YouTube videos.

We are now in the midterm electioneering cycle, summer is here, and the anger seems to be growing as well as some insanity.

A couple of little notes that I’m seeing:

• One insanity that shocked me was that Thomas Massie was voted out in the primary. thought he would have been voted in because he seemed to be doing what the voters wanted: 1) get the Epstein files released, 2) pushback on the war (“no more war”), and 3) vote in everything else T wanted. He seemed to be 100% in compliance with what the voters wanted, but no, the Kentucky primary voters said otherwise.
• Another insanity was the Texas primary voters choosing Ken Paxton over John Cornyn. Paxton came with scandal plagued past while Cornyn was just meh but had served 24 years (I think). But no, primary voters chose someone who appears ethically challenged. I thought Cornyn hewed close to 100% of what T wanted but it appeared that it was not enough. Are the voters looking for sleaze?
• Now Paxton attacks Talerico as vegan. Nothing about affordability or whatever it is Texas needs. Instead, it’s veganism or maybe it’s woke. That’s such an old topic that I’m sick of it.
• Texas rural voters are super mad about the data centers springing up around the state, increasing the electricity rates, bringing noise pollution, and consuming limited water. This is a huge quality of life problem as well as an affordability problem. They are so mad that they are going to vote Democrat! (These are hard core Republican, since at least the 90s if not longer)
• Farm bankruptcies are rising which probably lead to food shortages and eventually further price increases. Again, affordability issues.
• More affordability issues arising from private equity getting their fingers into the pies of housing, medical services, utilities, anything that impacts the average American. The consequence: prices, rents and fees are increasing. In one story, someone had utility bills more expensive than her mortgage.
• College students are booing graduation speakers when they talk about AI in the work world. So, nobody likes AI with its ability to take over whole swaths of jobs.
• T had 4 attempts on his life since 2024, so the crazies with violent inclination are picking up on the anger in the air and translating that anger into action. Not a good sign.
• As I said before, the word “pitchforks” is appearing more frequently in the YouTube videos. So, I’m not the only one feeling the tension in the environment.
• The words “French revolution” is also appearing more frequently, although not as frequently as “pitchforks”. To me, “French revolution” has nasty implications and I don’t want to go there.
• A YouTube feed showed me a video of a guy who was so frustrated because he thought Americans should be out on the streets. To me, that sounded like calling for violence although he didn’t say that. How many others are thinking that?
• Even the billionaires are taking note. First, T’s ballroom is really another word for bunkers. After multiple attempts on his life, he really is insistent on getting the ballroom (bunkers) built. He needs that security because he is sensing the rising anger in the air and probably fears that if all hell breaks loose, he would be one of the first targets.
• Peter Thiel has “fled” to Argentina, a favorite spot for Nazis. News say he is worried about the direction US is taking and decided to get out of dodge.
• My friend said that the elites are building bunkers, much like T. If they are, then it is probably because they realize the huge wealth/income inequality plus the AI phenomenon will have destabilizing impact on regular people.

Those are the items that come to mind very quickly.

Quick look at gas prices

Here are some images of what I’m getting from FRED for gas and diesel prices.

Sources of data comes from FRED:
Gasoline
U.S. Energy Information Administration, US Regular All Formulations Gas Price [GASREGW], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GASREGW, June 6, 2026.

Diesel
U.S. Energy Information Administration, US Diesel Sales Price [GASDESW], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GASDESW, June 6, 2026.

This image out of Power BI needs some finetuning but it’s good enough for now. It is missing data on the next release date, and other date information. But for now, we can see from the graph that gas prices have increased since the start of the Iran war.

It looks like prices have surged almost 50%.

Image 2 is just a closer look at the gas prices, and it appears to be dipping downward; however, experts say do not expect that to last long.

Quick look at diesel prices

Same thing with diesel.

Diesel prices also saw a sharp surge in prices upon initiation of Iran war.

Here, we see prices leveling off but again, experts say do not expect that to last long.

Closing

Take those gas prices, your grocery prices, your utility bills, and any other thing you buy and you start to see steep increases in everything. EVERYTHING.

This is how you get angry people.