Tom, my opinion is, this is your best writing to date. The vicious cycle you have described, and personalized is to be commended.
Why? Because it is all so, so true. Your fictional documentation of the future, to me. is dead on balls accurate !
Writer’s such as yourself, should be paid. I see movie screenplays in your future. At minimum, Netflix should be picking up on this one today!
I shall share your article with as many as I can.
Before I close,
What a nice surprise it was to see that you chose Trump’s future demise on the day, and month of my birth, 73 years prior. So, I’d like to thank you in advance for this early though completely unintentional personal birthday gift to me!
Don’t ever stop writing, your too damn good to stop !
That means a lot,truly. I’m glad the piece landed the way it did for you. It’s always a little surreal putting something like that out there half speculative, half reflection and seeing readers connect with both parts. The date note made me smile; I’ll take that cosmic coincidence as a good omen. And believe me, this one took forever to write,I wrestled with every paragraph. Thanks for sharing it around and for the kind words about the writing,they keep me at the desk.
This is exactly what I have been talking about for a few years! The convergence of dark enlightenment and christofascism and freedom cities is the real deal! And to keep eyes on the broligarchs and what they paid for by investing in krasnov. Who is THE BIGGEST DISTRACTION EVER!! Great story Tom! 🔥🔥
Thanks so much! You get it exactly that convergence is where the real story lives. Everyone’s busy watching the circus while the broligarchs quietly redraw the map behind it. Appreciate you catching that thread.
Reading this in tears. For all of us. Thank you For spending the time on this to publish this to write every word perfectly horrible as another reader said, and then ended up with the cherry blossoms falling the natural cycle of nature in all of its indifference is what hit me the most the beautiful indifferent cycle of nature except for one thingin the article I would’ve changed was the farmer would’ve gone out to that patch acreage for his ancestor started the farm and I would’ve killed myself there because Hope is hard to find in the darkness. Perhaps they’re still a light out there we can fly too.
You make excellent points, Tom Joad. I gleefully anticipate the weeks of joyous celebration preceding these revelations. Parades, private functions, marches.
I predict that JD Vance alienates everyone by trying to declare these celebrations as insurrection so he can nationalize ICE and the Guard. Miller makes a move to consolidate power but is thwarted, because people can't take him seriously (the Pee Wee Herman meme is just top apt), Noem is busted for transferring more than a billion dollars into private offshore accounts, private security firms use AI to determine a pricing structure for MAGA pundits based on the degree of risk tied to odious policy decisions, and the released Epstein files reveal that he was a world-class blackmailer who hoarded massive amounts of kompramat proving specific financiers' relationships with Trump and Epstein (as well as many government figures on both sides of the aisle, including for some reason Lindsay Graham's Grindr history).
I'm not sure many people realize that none of this begins or ends with Trump. That the mechanisms steering the corruption won't expire when he does.
Disturbing and disheartening as it all seems, I anticipate a sequel coming on this piece. One that expands on these insights, delves even deeper, and poses actionable solutions that support people as they continue to persist.
It's your process, I think. First, you lay a solid foundation of facts and insights. A prompt for reflection, a call to clarity. Allow people to digest it. Later you revisit same with an intuitive eye that fosters light amidst the darkness, giving others strength to continue to persist.
I can't tell you how much I've come to rely on your particular brand of wisdom.
Clarity is essential. Clutter is distracting and debilitating. May this piece travel far and wide.
We desperately needed a global perspective on the foundation of the corruptions we face, while embracing the humanity and hope ever present in your narratives.
That means a lot,thank you. You captured exactly what I hope to do: start with clarity, let the ideas breathe, then return to build on them once the dust settles. None of this ends with Trump, as you said,it’s the machinery underneath that needs to be exposed and understood.
Your words give me reason to keep at it. The next piece will dig deeper into that question of how we persist and what rebuilding might actually look like.
Yes, and I promise to be patient in awaiting the follow up. In my experience, often serendipitous happenings occur that take us east of our immediate intentions. Making us feel as if we've drifted off course. But ultimately following the flow as it comes rather than fighting it (to keep our own self-imposed agenda) uncovers additional insights relative to the original intent. But you know this, you don't need me reminding you. And sometimes, it's the simple pleasures, swirling the amber liquid before taking a sip, watching the smoke curl in the still night air. Stilling the mind to hear wisdom's whisper. Also an element of your well honed process :) Cheers to that.
That means a lot, thank you. You're right, sometimes the best thing we can do is let the current take us where it wants. What feels like drifting off course usually ends up being the path we were meant to follow all along.
And yes, those small moments, the slow swirl of the glass, the smoke hanging in the night air, that's where things settle. Where the noise drops out and the real thoughts start to surface.
Here's to patience, and to trusting the process, even when it wanders.
Excellent and thought-provoking piece. Is this country showing the natural arc of a capitalist society? Was (ok, FINE, is) Trump part of that natural progression? Will persistence be the key to moving forward? Are Americans indomitable in the face of our worst instincts? Are we too smart for our own good, e.g. technologically outpacing the capacity of our own ability to evolve? So many questions.
Exactly,those are the right questions. Trump wasn’t an anomaly; he was the natural expression of late-stage capitalism. Persistence will matter, but only if we pair it with imagination. We’ve always been indomitable,now we have to evolve as fast as the world we’ve built.
It is so nice to read these stories in stead of essays, research or opinion articles. The reflection after reading goes deeper and it stays longer with me. We need to tell more stories. Maybe also stories about futures we would like to live in
Tom, my opinion is, this is your best writing to date. The vicious cycle you have described, and personalized is to be commended.
Why? Because it is all so, so true. Your fictional documentation of the future, to me. is dead on balls accurate !
Writer’s such as yourself, should be paid. I see movie screenplays in your future. At minimum, Netflix should be picking up on this one today!
I shall share your article with as many as I can.
Before I close,
What a nice surprise it was to see that you chose Trump’s future demise on the day, and month of my birth, 73 years prior. So, I’d like to thank you in advance for this early though completely unintentional personal birthday gift to me!
Don’t ever stop writing, your too damn good to stop !
That means a lot,truly. I’m glad the piece landed the way it did for you. It’s always a little surreal putting something like that out there half speculative, half reflection and seeing readers connect with both parts. The date note made me smile; I’ll take that cosmic coincidence as a good omen. And believe me, this one took forever to write,I wrestled with every paragraph. Thanks for sharing it around and for the kind words about the writing,they keep me at the desk.
This is exactly what I have been talking about for a few years! The convergence of dark enlightenment and christofascism and freedom cities is the real deal! And to keep eyes on the broligarchs and what they paid for by investing in krasnov. Who is THE BIGGEST DISTRACTION EVER!! Great story Tom! 🔥🔥
Thanks so much! You get it exactly that convergence is where the real story lives. Everyone’s busy watching the circus while the broligarchs quietly redraw the map behind it. Appreciate you catching that thread.
Reading this in tears. For all of us. Thank you For spending the time on this to publish this to write every word perfectly horrible as another reader said, and then ended up with the cherry blossoms falling the natural cycle of nature in all of its indifference is what hit me the most the beautiful indifferent cycle of nature except for one thingin the article I would’ve changed was the farmer would’ve gone out to that patch acreage for his ancestor started the farm and I would’ve killed myself there because Hope is hard to find in the darkness. Perhaps they’re still a light out there we can fly too.
He laughed; he cried. Every thought and word is perfect and perfectly horrible.
Jesus. That feels so depressingly accurate.
You make excellent points, Tom Joad. I gleefully anticipate the weeks of joyous celebration preceding these revelations. Parades, private functions, marches.
I predict that JD Vance alienates everyone by trying to declare these celebrations as insurrection so he can nationalize ICE and the Guard. Miller makes a move to consolidate power but is thwarted, because people can't take him seriously (the Pee Wee Herman meme is just top apt), Noem is busted for transferring more than a billion dollars into private offshore accounts, private security firms use AI to determine a pricing structure for MAGA pundits based on the degree of risk tied to odious policy decisions, and the released Epstein files reveal that he was a world-class blackmailer who hoarded massive amounts of kompramat proving specific financiers' relationships with Trump and Epstein (as well as many government figures on both sides of the aisle, including for some reason Lindsay Graham's Grindr history).
A man can dream, can't he?
Incredible insight and writing, Tom.
I'm not sure many people realize that none of this begins or ends with Trump. That the mechanisms steering the corruption won't expire when he does.
Disturbing and disheartening as it all seems, I anticipate a sequel coming on this piece. One that expands on these insights, delves even deeper, and poses actionable solutions that support people as they continue to persist.
It's your process, I think. First, you lay a solid foundation of facts and insights. A prompt for reflection, a call to clarity. Allow people to digest it. Later you revisit same with an intuitive eye that fosters light amidst the darkness, giving others strength to continue to persist.
I can't tell you how much I've come to rely on your particular brand of wisdom.
Clarity is essential. Clutter is distracting and debilitating. May this piece travel far and wide.
We desperately needed a global perspective on the foundation of the corruptions we face, while embracing the humanity and hope ever present in your narratives.
Thank you, Tom.
That means a lot,thank you. You captured exactly what I hope to do: start with clarity, let the ideas breathe, then return to build on them once the dust settles. None of this ends with Trump, as you said,it’s the machinery underneath that needs to be exposed and understood.
Your words give me reason to keep at it. The next piece will dig deeper into that question of how we persist and what rebuilding might actually look like.
Yes, and I promise to be patient in awaiting the follow up. In my experience, often serendipitous happenings occur that take us east of our immediate intentions. Making us feel as if we've drifted off course. But ultimately following the flow as it comes rather than fighting it (to keep our own self-imposed agenda) uncovers additional insights relative to the original intent. But you know this, you don't need me reminding you. And sometimes, it's the simple pleasures, swirling the amber liquid before taking a sip, watching the smoke curl in the still night air. Stilling the mind to hear wisdom's whisper. Also an element of your well honed process :) Cheers to that.
That means a lot, thank you. You're right, sometimes the best thing we can do is let the current take us where it wants. What feels like drifting off course usually ends up being the path we were meant to follow all along.
And yes, those small moments, the slow swirl of the glass, the smoke hanging in the night air, that's where things settle. Where the noise drops out and the real thoughts start to surface.
Here's to patience, and to trusting the process, even when it wanders.
Wow! I see it! I believe it! I refuse to participate!
Scary
Here in Europe we fear for the USA and what it has become,
and what global influence it welds...
Thanks for this
When fiction becomes fact I hope the storyline changes. Hope. Feels like less than a coin flip.
I hope so too but. I feel this is pretty spot on.(of course I do, I wrote it)
Excellent and thought-provoking piece. Is this country showing the natural arc of a capitalist society? Was (ok, FINE, is) Trump part of that natural progression? Will persistence be the key to moving forward? Are Americans indomitable in the face of our worst instincts? Are we too smart for our own good, e.g. technologically outpacing the capacity of our own ability to evolve? So many questions.
Exactly,those are the right questions. Trump wasn’t an anomaly; he was the natural expression of late-stage capitalism. Persistence will matter, but only if we pair it with imagination. We’ve always been indomitable,now we have to evolve as fast as the world we’ve built.
I knew all (well, most) of this, but you express in with amazing clarity. And insight. Your effort was worth it. Thank you.
Thank you for reading!!
This is great. Sums up the struggle in important characters and concise hard hitting lines. Will be thinking about this piece for a while. Thank you.
Thank you for reading!!
I met with my therapist today and I told him I was feeling pretty good. That was before I read your piece just now. Oy.
Tom, now I'm ready for my dose of cannabis for the evening... and some lighthearted fun on the tube. [Sigh...]
Me too!! I had to write it😀
Beautifully written, brutally true.
Thank you!!
It is so nice to read these stories in stead of essays, research or opinion articles. The reflection after reading goes deeper and it stays longer with me. We need to tell more stories. Maybe also stories about futures we would like to live in