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https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/08/after-the-moneys-gone/#who-took-the-money-away>
“America is trudging through its third consecutive K-shaped recovery (an
economic rally where the rich get richer and everyone else gets poorer). The
rich have never been richer, and the debt-fueled consumption that kept the
economy going is tapering down to a trickle.
This isn't down to the iron laws of economics or the great forces of history.
It's because we made rules that let rich people steal from everyone else,
including local, state and federal tax authorities, and also workers, customers
and suppliers (and society at large). From junk fees to wage theft to
greedflation, politicians have thumbed the scales in favor of scumbags who
drain the wealth of workers and remit it to parasites.
These crooks and hustlers keep coming up with ways to squeeze a few more drops
out of us. They come up with gimmicks like buy now/pay later (and then slam us
with massive fees when we can't pay later), or margin-based gambling on
cryptocurrency or "prediction markets," both of which are crooked poker tables
where you are always the sucker and the house always wins.
The Trump administration didn't invent the idea of government-supported scams
and hustles, but they sure supercharged it. Trump rips off his supporters like
crazy – as anyone who's long on $TRUMPcoin knows – and surrounds himself with
"businessmen" notorious for scamming workers, customers, and the government
itself.
But even as Trump throws his support behind hustlers and con artists, he's also
backing debt-collectors, whether they're chasing student debt, medical debt, or
the spiraling penalties for missing the fourth payment on your Klarna.
Broadly, these are the two industries in America now: scammers who put
Americans into debt, and industries who torment Americans into paying the debt.
And while these two industries represent a
moral crisis for the nation, they
also represent an
economic crisis, because they are at irreconcilable odds
with one another.”
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
