Cold facts, the average American can't cover a $300 emergency expense. They're broke, way poorer than we're giving them credit for. We're talking people scraping by, living paycheck to paycheck, while the top 10%–those pulling in over a million a year, living in big mansions, renting out their second mansion to some other rich fuck just a rung below them on the totem pole–fuck up the whole ratio. Take them out, and don't even get me started on the billionaires, who are absolutely screwing the curve. The median income? Probably around $30,000 a year, maybe $35,000. Don't quote me on the exact number, but the point stands: things are way worse for the average American than we're letting on.
Look at places like Florida, Louisiana, or the Pacific Northwest, where wildfires are ravaging everything. We saw this with the Palisades fire–people, regular folks, wage laborers, uber drivers, teachers, gig workers, lost their homes. They were renting, not owning, so when the flames took everything, they had nothing to go back to. The developers? They don't give a fuck. They rebuild, and now the rent's significantly higher–proven fact. Those people who lost everything? They're just left to what, die effectively? They can't afford the new prices, can't buy property, can't even find a new place to rent. They're screwed, and we're gonna see this accelerate. Accelerate.
Take Florida. A lot of 70+ year old retirees, snowbirds flocking for the sun. But when summer hits 115 degrees and hurricanes tear through like clockwork, it's becoming less habitable. Logical conclusion: fewer snowbirds. They are the people who can afford to leave anyway. Add in COVID, still running rampant, and the fact that Boomers, the main retiree crowd, are aging out and dying off. Then there's the wealth disparity–many don't have the cash to keep up the snowbird lifestyle. Now, let's say 25% of people have the money to up and leave, sell their house, buy a new one without being out on their ass. That's generous, probably way too high. That leaves 75% of people stuck, no way to relocate, no cash to start over, in a collapsed space. And what's the government's position? Nothing. We've privatized everything–healthcare, housing, you name it. All they offer is indefinite detainment, militarized police, and hyper surveillance. That's it.
Those places–Florida, Louisiana, the Northwest, Arizona–are gonna become hotbeds for resistance.
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