Are You the Problem or Are You the Product?

For years, we have been told that the biggest fight in America is the “liberals versus the conservatives,” “left versus right,” or “Democrats versus Republicans.” We have been told that our neighbors are the enemy, that the other half of the country hates us, and that the only way we can save America is to defeat the other team. What if the whole thing is just a distraction? What if the real fight isn’t between regular Americans at all?

A growing body of reporting and research points to a different truth: the real divide isn’t between Liberals and Conservatives; it's between people who live with the consequences of politics and the people who profit from keeping us divided. The simple truth is that ordinary Americans are being used. Not just MAGA, not just Democrats. All of us! MAGA voters have been targets of a level of emotional manipulation that deserves to be called out plainly. Not to shame anyone, but to show respect because you can’t respect someone if you’re not honest with them.

If you’re always angry, you can bet your ass that someone is making money off it. Cable news, talk radio, political podcasts, and social media all run on the same fuel: anger. Not solutions. Not unity. Anger. Why? Because it keeps you watching, anger keeps you clicking. Anger keeps you donating. Anger keeps you loyal. Researchers have shown that social media algorithms boost posts that trigger outrage because those posts get the most engagement. Cable networks, Left and Right, know fear keeps ratings high. Influencers know that the more extreme their message, the more followers they gain.

The evidence is clear: the most loyalty-based, outrage-driven media in America is the one aligned with the modern Republican Party. Studies show it is more likely to amplify unverified claims, more likely to frame politics as existential warfare, and more likely to demand total loyalty from its audience. In other words, if you're mad, they are making money. If you’re scared, they’re making money. If you think the country is collapsing and needs to be made great again, they’re making money. If you think the country is collapsing, they’re making money. The more divided we are, the richer they get.

Look at what they tell us to be angry about, and what they don’t. Every day, the outrage machine tells us to focus on drag shows, immigrants, pronouns, books, athletes, “wokeness,” and whatever the new culture-war headline is. Now ask yourself: Do any of those things lower your rent, raise your wages, fix your insurance premiums, or make groceries cheaper? No! But they do keep you angry, and the anger keeps you loyal. Meanwhile, you’re never told to be angry about corporations raising prices, billionaires paying lower tax rates than you, private equity buying your hospital, insurance companies denying your claim, hedge funds buying your neighborhoods, or donors writing laws behind closed doors. Why? Because the people who fund the outrage machine benefit from those things. People like Rupert Murdoch don’t want you looking in their direction. They want you to use and watch their outrage machines.

Like in “The Wizard of OZ”, the billionaire network is behind the curtain. Here’s the part nobody talks about: a small number of extremely wealthy donors have more influence over American politics than millions of voters combined. This has all been documented by watchdog groups, campaign finance records, and investigative reporting. These donors fund political campaigns, think tanks, media outlets, advocacy groups, social media networks, and judicial pipelines. They do it for one reason, and that reason is to protect their own interests and not yours. The evidence again shows that the most coordinated, best-funded donor networks, especially those focused on deregulation, tax policy, and judicial influence, are aligned with the modern Republican Party. When Americans are divided, Congress can’t get anything done. When Congress can’t get anything done, regulations stall. When regulations stall, billionaires win. Gridlock isn’t a failure. For some people, gridlock is the plan.

Now we come to the Supreme Court, which may be the most powerful institution in the American government. They serve for life. They can’t be voted out by the people. They don’t answer to any ethics code. And on top of all of that, they can strike down laws passed by elected officials with a single ruling. That makes the Court incredibly valuable to the same wealthy networks that benefit from the gridlock and the division. Major news organizations have reported that some justices, especially Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, have accepted luxury travel, private jet flights, real estate deals, and other favors from billionaire donors with political interests. You and I may consider that bribery, but we would be told that there is no evidence of bribery because the Court has no enforceable ethics rules at all. Chief Justice Roberts has not been implicated in these gift scandals, but his wife, Jane Roberts’ law firm accepted more than $20 million worth of business from law firms that had cases before Chief Justice Roberts and the Supreme Court. Roberts may not be taking gifts himself, but he is the one person with the power to stop it, and he hasn’t. He has resisted efforts to impose a binding ethics code, the very reform that would prevent these abuses. If you want to know whether the system is rigged, look at who gets access. Billionaires can fly Justices around on private jets. You and I can’t. Any regular American can’t. That tells you everything that you have to know about who has the ear of the Supreme Court and who doesn’t.

There is a truth that all voters, especially MAGA voters, deserve to hear. If you’re a MAGA supporter reading this, here’s something you deserve to hear plainly: You are not stupid. You are not crazy. You are not imagining that the system is rigged, because it is rigged for all of us. The thing is, you’re just being pointed at the wrong enemy. If someone keeps you scared, angry, and loyal, but your life never gets better, they are not fighting for you. They are using you. The real fight in this country isn’t between right and left. It's between the people who live with the consequences of politics and the people who profit from the chaos.

The only way regular Americans win is by refusing to be played against each other by those who profit by it.