In this, the final episode of my series on escaping the tyranny of Trump, it’s time to bring together the threads from a six-part series of in-depth pieces on how we got here and finding a path to the off-ramp. Before we wrap this up, I want to express my sincere appreciation to you, as a reader of my work. In a little under a year, I have established a base of readers for whom Truth Matters has become a trusted resource for fact-centred news, commentary and political analysis. Your support continues to mean the world to me, so thank you again.
History tells us that tyranny is time-consuming for tyrants because defending the indefensible requires a bottomless pit of resources to maintain an alternative universe. Great effort is required to convince millions who voted against their own interests that it was the right thing to do. It must be exhausting to tell lie after lie in the hope that the truth will remain locked in the basement. The reality is that, eventually, the truth will come to light, and in a fair world, accountability follows. Oh, how I wish that were a guarantee.
In this moment, Trump is desperately in search of a win because he knows the walls are closing in and the ugly truth about the economy will soon surface. His federal sales tax hikes, masquerading as tariffs, have not just hurt the economy; they’ve hurt and continue to hurt everyday Americans. The holiday-season feel-good factor is now over. Trump telling people not to believe their own lying eyes when they look at their bank accounts and grocery shopping bills will not wash. The ACA premium hikes are further eroding public confidence in his ability to address the affordability crisis, which he calls a Democratic hoax.
Trump’s biggest concern now is China. Rest assured, they are living in Trump’s head rent-free, and he simply cannot afford for them to win the AI race. He expected to hit China with tariffs and for Xi to fold. BIG MISTAKE: not only did he not fold, but China has accelerated AI development and renewable energy capacity, while their scientists have made breakthroughs in thorium nuclear reactors and other groundbreaking fusion technologies. In 2007, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute determined that the US led China in 60 of 64 frontier technologies. However, in June 2025, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs published its Critical Emerging Technologies Index, which now shows that China leads in 57 of 64 key technologies, and the US leads in just seven.
America is going backwards, scrapping green-technology investments in favour of horse-and-cart fossil fuels. The National Literacy Institute reports:
21% of adults in the US are illiterate in 2024.
54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level).
Low levels of literacy are currently costing the US up to $2.2 trillion per year.
For context, this loss could end homelessness ($30 billion), child poverty ($168 billion), replace the $880 billion stolen from Medicaid, and provide debt-free college education, covering tuition, room, board, books, etc. ($75 billion). This would still leave $1.153 trillion to invest in social programmes (the same as receiving two $ 2,000 tariff dividend checks). Please feel free to take a moment to sit down and grab your breath.
In the meantime, Chinese literacy rates stand at around 97%, as the education system churns out millions of tech-savvy, bilingual students trained to meet the needs of the talent pipeline currently servicing the Chinese 10-year strategic plan. Given the level of gold-standard infrastructure and high-speed rail, the US is facing the inevitability that China will likely be the world’s largest economy in the not-too-distant future.
If we look at purchasing power parity (PPP) rather than gross domestic product (GDP), China already tops the table, with GDP(PPP). For reference, PPP adjusts the GDP figure to reflect purchasing power parity, which shows what money can buy locally. It’s widely regarded as a better measure of assessing the cost of living. Look on it as the real value adjusted for the cost of living.
The US has, in my view, decided it can’t beat China, so it has decided to attempt to use military strength to decapitate it. Good luck with that. Putting aside Trump’s crusade to seize rare earths around the globe. He believes he can now slow down China by controlling its access to oil. This is what the move on Venezuela and the subsequent threatened move against Greenland are all about. All attempts at economic pressure, export controls, and similar measures have failed; this is just a last-ditch effort to register a win.
I can understand why he’s scared. Lack of investment in education and infrastructure in the US has allowed China to leap ahead.
China’s Global manufacturing output (2024): $4.66 trillion, or 27.7% of the global share.
China dominates in exports, foreign reserves, and e-commerce
Accounts for 53% of the world’s steel production
It leads in frontier technologies, and dominates patents in areas that including 5G/6G and quantum communications.
It also dominates in industrial robotics, rare earth processing and shipbuilding,
In just one month (June 2025), according to a report by Amy Hawkins in the Guardian:
‘China installed 93 GW of solar capacity last month – almost 100 solar panels every second, according to an analysis by Lauri Myllyvirta, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Wind power installations reached 26 GW, the equivalent of about 5,300 turbines.’
She continues:
China’s installed solar photovoltaic capacity has now surpassed 1,000 GW for the first time
It produces millions of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics graduates, estimated to represent 40% of university output.
A report by Alex Irwin-Hunt for FDI Intelligence in April 2025 shows the gap in PhD STEM graduates.
The report notes:
“America’s weak domestic STEM talent pipeline represents perhaps its greatest national security vulnerability,” says Stephen Ezell, vice-president for global innovation policy at ITIF, a think-tank, noting the US is expected to face a deficit of 3.5 million STEM workers by 2025.
Jacob Feldgoise, an analyst at Georgetown’s Centre for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET), made the critical point that:
“This emphasises how important it is for the US to attract and retain foreign talent, or it risks losing out to China in research fields”
At a time when this administration is defunding critical research and attacking universities and academic programs, the vice president of the United States is declaring professors to be the enemy. Meanwhile, their alleged real enemy, China, is proving that stupid is really not the new smart. A low-educated population might be useful for electing a convicted criminal as president, but it sucks if you want to win a global technology war.
I mention all of the above to bring into focus that the only card Trump now has to play in his new film role as the global Sheriff of Nottingham, is his military, as evidenced by his efforts to steal resources and tax the world as if it were his thiefdom. I really think it’s time Robin Hood showed up. There is no question that Trump will fail; the only question is, at whose hand will it happen?
There are four options
He drops dead, we should be so lucky!
Republicans in Congress wake up to the inevitability that if they don’t break from Trump, the midterms will be a bloodbath.
Democrats provide a viable proposition to the American people. Unlikely right now
The American people take matters into their own hands and engage in a sustained peaceful campaign of targeted economic disengagement.
It gives me no pleasure to say that I fear item 4 is the only viable option. While it’s a given that engaging with the public to deliver facts, not politics, must remain at the centre of the campaign to use this year’s midterms to put the brakes on his power, there is no replacement for direct action. The simplest and most effective tool at the disposal of every American who wants to see an end to this tyranny is spending power. If weaponised against the administration, it can be devastatingly effective.
The romantic notion that street protests can bring down a government has little chance of succeeding in America. For it to work, it would have to be sustained at a level that is simply impossible, since people would need to skip work, which would be self-defeating, as corporate America would respond with layoffs. If you want to derail the government, you have to attack the corporate engine and starve it of fuel. As for a general strike, forget it
What you have to remember is that 70% of the US economy is driven by consumption. Your consumption provides the fuel that keeps the economy running. Without your spending, the economy grinds to a halt. It is such a powerful weapon that you have to use it with caution.
I would suggest forming an economic team that includes a coalition of progressive economists, such as Stephanie Kelton, Paul Krugman, and Robert Reich. I’d also draft in Scott Galloway to provide input on corporate vulnerabilities, and maybe Elizabeth Warren to examine the political angles. This approach enables a carefully targeted strategy.
It’s OK to have a strategy, but the key to implementation is selling the case to the American people. For this, I’d form a media coalition that includes the likes of Jon Stewart, Rachel Maddow, and Steven Colbert, and the final layer would need to be social media influencers, but the key here is that they can’t be overtly political. It’s about using a layered media approach to create awareness of the campaign. I don’t buy into targeting specific Trump-supporting companies. I think the economic team can draw up the detailed strategy, but in essence, it should be an all-out assault on corporate America.
Once the targets are identified, Americans should collectively stop spending on all listed targets, and that stop should remain in place until the objectives set by the economic team are met. As things stand, 49% of US consumer spending is being undertaken by the top 10% of earners. So, unless the bottom 90% come together and act as one, this is all a waste of time. Hence, my statement of what Americans are prepared to sacrifice, and I have to tell you, I am not optimistic. I fear far too many consumers in the bottom 90% are much like the diabetic who is prepared to lose a foot if they can just continue to eat cakes.
This isn’t about stopping spending on the things people want; it’s about deferring purchases of high-ticket, high-margin goods like white goods, cars (maybe not, though, given the tariffs), and holidays. All this, of course, has the added advantage of encouraging saving. It should, however, be noted that such action is not without risk. Loss of profit often equals job layoffs, etc. That’s why having an economic team to identify the most effective targets is essential. It’s about where the vulnerabilities exist, then hit them hard, forcing the affected companies to pressure the government. Economic disengagement targeted at the consumer sector will also reduce tariff revenue as demand for imported goods fall.
I hate to tell you, but this is now the only option. If people want a solution, they have to provide it, because rest assured, nobody else will.
If you want to catch up, these are the links to PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE
Wake up America and Wake Up Maggotts!! Make America Great Again?
This Despicable FOOL you are supporting is driving the Destiny of our nation down a deep hole as China with Solar, Wind, EV s, and education is rising to the top in the the worlds economy. Thanks to the Despicable Idiot and Brainless Orange Clown and his Cronies!!
We are going in the wrong direction. Not investing in the people in order to raise the standard of living, focus on education, become less dependent on fossil fuel and develop relationships with people instead of attacking them. This regime is focused on imperialism and oil, backward thinking goals!