Newest Nuttiness: Trump To Bring Bitcoin Into the U.S. Treasury?

This is not the worst December 7 that America has endured by a long shot. No, that was 1941. But while it was an assault to all of our senses how America was attacked, at least there was a clarity in those days about who was who and what was what. And we have lost that. In 1941, a pre-television era, there was no way that some radio personality, a game show host, would have been in the running for president. Not that they weren’t loved. But people like Milton Berle, who started in radio in 1928 and later went to television, were entertainers and not politicians.

This was known. Lines were drawn. Not nowadays. Nowadays it’s all a mishmash and everything is infotainment, fun and games. As long as you “look the part” on TV, you can do or have anything, in MAGAland. So maybe Trump is crazy enough to try to convert the U.S. economy to Bitcoin. CAVEAT: This is not a reliable source, meaning a Mar-a-Lago insider, from what I can tell. On the other hand, he’s a member of the MAGA cult and may know more about what the fearless leader thinks than you or I. So take it with the requisite pound of salt. I share it here because I was oblivious to what was going around on right-wing media prior to the sky falling in 2016 and so now I believe, and take everything seriously, no matter how insane. Fast forward to 5:54. The entire piece is a hit job on Michelle Obama and Jill Biden and a paeon to how magnificent Melania is. So just get the part about cryto and close the video, is my advice.

Melania Trump EXPOSES Michelle Obama and Jill Biden's SHOCKING Secrets pic.twitter.com/1gtjvvTcyt

— Doug In Exile (@douginexile) December 7, 2024

Yes, this may be the fantasy of a random kook. But if the past eight years have taught me anything it is that there is no bottom to what Trump world contemplates or will do. And there is some fantasy afoot that Trump is a financial genius and all will benefit from his wisdom. Somehow the fact that he’s declared personal bankruptcy six times doesn’t affect his legend. Apparently Trump’s ability to grift is seen as desireable because supposedly this is why young people voted for him — because they want money, too, and they think he’ll provide it. Man, are these people in for a let down.

Gen Z’s lofty salary goal of nearly $600,000 a year underlies a generational shift to the political right.

Why it matters: Young voters were already moving away from a liberal worldview, but if these attitudes hold, the implications for the next few election cycles are profound.

Catch up quick: Financial services company Empower surveyed more than 2,200 Americans in September and the Gen Z respondents — born between 1997 and 2012 — said they would need to make more than $587,000 a year to be “financially successful.”

• That’s roughly three times to six times what any other age group said they would need.

• It’s almost nine times the average U.S. salary, according to the Social Security Administration.

Zoom out: There are a number of factors at play that have a cumulative effect on Gen Z’s financial attitudes.

• Angst: “Many people feel they’re coming up short — with half believing they’re less financially successful compared to others around them,” Rebecca Rickert, head of communications at Empower, tells Axios. “The majority think prosperity is harder to achieve for their generation, which factors into the magic number people attach to success.”
• Persistently high costs: “Sure, groceries, student loan payments, the cost of going out to restaurants and bars all matter — but ‘feeling successful’ when you have to have a roommate to afford rent undermines all capacity for consumption,” David Bahnsen, whose California-based Bahnsen Group manages $6.5 billion in assets, tells Axios.
• The influence of influencers: “These macro trends are exacerbated by social trends. Influencers portray false versions of reality that suggest wealth building being easy and hard work being outdated,” says David Laut, CIO of Abound Financial in California. “It is widely known that comparison is the thief of joy, and this leads the next generation to feel discouraged, setting higher and higher bars as a prerequisite for happiness.”
• Mismatched expectations: “They’re concerned about increased costs of living, hyper-aware that their money isn’t going as far as it used to even few years ago. Our hypothesis is this is having a major impact on what they think it takes to be ‘financially successful’ in our current climate,” Julia Peterson, director of consumer marketing at youth marketing agency Archrival, tells Axios.

Political shift

Those who study Gen Z most closely say it’s a generation that has lived through an almost unbroken chain of financial crises and have grown up prioritizing cost above all else.

• That tracks with a strong shift in young voters toward a “moderate” self-identification, according to youth research firm YPulse.

• “Our data indicates economy is the impetus for the change, and concerns around the economy,” MaryLeigh Bliss, chief content officer at YPulse, tells Axios.

Trump is not a change agent, he’s a chaos agent. If the vote to send him back to the White House was a protest vote against Biden, who steered the ship of state competently, considering that he had to deal with global inflation, then it is one that will soon be regretted. If Trump does his trade war madness, or his mass deportation madness or any of it, the economy will be on full tilt. And it’s going to be on full tilt anyway, with Trump and his millionaire cadre looting the public coffers.

Good luck with this choice, Gen Z, or anybody else who voted for it.

Support the site with a subscription today and see no more ads!

Go Ad-free Now!