What Do The People Do?: A Reporter Reacts
“When the country of the majority is controlled by a minority in aspects of the press, the economy, social media, and the government, what do the people do?”
In the wake of the inauguration, as we cope-post, joke around, and strategize, the question arises of when the hard conversations will occur.
Firstly, the definition of an oligarchy is a small, wealthy group of people having complete control of a country that contains a less affluent majority. America has always been considered a capitalist, democratic society. Liberation for the people is embedded in American history; liberation was the story for the people in the 13 colonies at the start of this country, liberation from the imperialist social and economic hierarchy they were beholden to.
So, don’t you find it odd that some of the wealthiest people in the world were at the 47th president's inauguration, front and center? Trump, on his own, is one of the wealthiest presidents America has seen to date. According to Andrew R. Chow in Time: “Trump’s team had made $58 million in trading fees alone.” For a president-elect to launch a meme coin the night before they take office seems strange, right? I’ve seen many people say it was under the guise of getting people excited or making a quick cash grab. However, one theory that stuck out to me came from an MSNBC article by Ja'han Jones, where he states, “The digital tokens seem like a perfect vessel for anyone, including foreign governments, to funnel money to the Trump family. That’s one reason some experts have said the ventures — launched within days of Trump’s inauguration — are ripe for blatant corruption.”
We should be scared. Trump’s long-standing history of fraud and tax evasion plays a large role in why we must prepare for the worst and hope for the best. The idea of “declaring bankruptcy to clear your debts without paying them back”, something Trump did six times, may sound like a good idea, but it isn’t. The American Bankruptcy Institute proclaims Trump to be the “king of debt” due to his history of building businesses off large amounts of borrowed money, and essentially, not paying it back by declaring bankruptcy. Do you know what declaring bankruptcy does to our economy? Declaring bankruptcy can cause job losses, reduce consumer spending, increase interest rates, have an impact on creditors (people who loan out money to businesses), and in some cases affect the supply chain. Done in scale, this will affect the economy even more…are you following? Trump did this six times. Between 1991 and 2009. Guess what happened at the end of that timeline. The Great Recession; from December 2007 to June 2009. One can even claim his contributions to the hard times we faced then, and continue to face now, economically. Food was meant to be cheaper, as Trump claimed it would be, but I’m stuck wondering how he plans to do so while threatening any and every country with increased tariffs, as if Americans won’t have to pay more in taxes?
This event is being called the Trump Trade War, according to Erica York in Tax Foundation, where she states “...trade war tariffs have directly increased tax collections by $200 to $300 annually per US household, on average.” Increased tariffs may bring money into the country and our economy, but it takes money out of the pockets of the American people. There's a better way to do whatever Trump is attempting, but we trusted a criminal to run our country.
Secondly, the night a certain meme coin dropped, TikTok was set to shut down. Somehow, the president could reverse the ban on Monday – the day after the law was signed by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce – for 75 days. I’m not sure about you, reader, but when I tried to open TikTok on Saturday at about 11:30, I got a pop-up – completely blocking me from scrolling – that said “We regret that a U.S. law banning TikTok will take effect on January 19 and force us to make our services temporarily unavailable. We’re working to restore our service in the U.S. as soon as possible, and we appreciate your support. Please stay tuned.”
The tone in such a message seemed normal. But quite quickly, another message popped up: “A law banning TikTok has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now. We are fortunate that President Trump has indicated that he will work with us on a solution to reinstate TikTok once he takes office. Please stay tuned!” The reason I find this odd, personally, is because Trump initiated the TikTok ban during his first presidential term. The weirder part is that the government claimed they wanted to ban TikTok for the safety of American data; ByteDance, TikTok's parent company, will still have ownership of TikTok and access to our data.
So, when the country of the majority is controlled by a minority in aspects of the press, the economy, social media, and the government, what do the people do?
The “Normalization of Degeneracy” is a phenomenon currently taking place in our country, with blatant corruption, with Nazi gestures and symbolism – not a goddamn “Roman salute,” as some have called it – and with the dehumanization of immigrants that comes when they are labeled as criminals.
Society is in a downward spiral. When the gap between those who are comfortable and those who are uncomfortable grows large enough to become unbearable, one side must eventually give way.
Trump and Elon Musk have gained an irrationally incomprehensible following, especially based on their reputations and past actions. Being known for his unhealthy obsession with “Making America Great Again,” Trump has been planning to detain and deport massive amounts of Latino immigrants, yet still, he won 47% of male Latino votes during his 2024 election campaign. On his first day, the President of the United States targeted the 14th Amendment to end birthright citizenship. Because the Constitution prohibits this, – and it's currently very difficult to overturn the Constitution – we know this is a useless endeavor. In reality, this is something Donald Trump's diehard, racist, white supporters may want to see. That is his target audience. You can be all, one, or none of those things to support a man like that, but one thing you’ll always be is a fool. His attempt to end birthright citizenship is a pathway for his supporters to bash and criticize the judicial system – the only system protecting the rights of the people. To those of Latin descent living in the Bronx, didn’t you think of your abuelita or abuelito before you voted red? Did you think “it would never happen to us”? How do you feel now when you walk through the Bronx – once a sanctuary – scared for the lives of your undocumented family members? How does it feel to see, usually bustling, supermarkets and stores in Hunts Point, 3rd Avenue, or 168th Street deserted? I’m honestly scared shitless, considering we’re all in the same boat. I'm thinking about my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who are either undocumented or currently here on a visa.
On top of all this, Trump's first few days in office have sent our country spiraling; including, but not limited to: freezing all government aid funding, firing the head of TSA, revoking 78 executive actions taken by the Biden administration including DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies, and the deregulation of AI — meaning AI companies will no longer need to do safety tests before public release, prevent algorithm bias, prevent nondiscrimination, implement safeguards on the use of individuals’ data during large-scale model training, and more. This is making even the internet unsafe.
In times like this, watch the news, but be careful of biases and misinformation. News channels like Fox News are often more right-leaning, while channels like MSNBC and CNN are more left-leaning. Just because the channel you watch perpetuates certain ideas, stand firm in your beliefs and morals (you’re just there for information). Keep your spirits high and don’t be afraid of “Trump's America” — nothing is forever.