James Baldwin once said, “anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.” It’s also incredibly time-consuming. If you’re Black and poor, that’s a double whammy. The American electorate came into 2025 exhausted from emotional fatigue and financial stress. Since the November election, the implementation of Project 2025 has accelerated. We, the People, will need all the energy we have to muster up an effective fightback, so let’s organize to slow down this runaway train.

It is painfully clear that we have a dangerous set of clowns in the White House. And this is no laughing matter. The convicted felon in the White House has signed a dizzying 68 executive orders. This country is about to experience some life-altering changes. The rest of the world won’t have the luxury of being spectators of the pain inflicted upon us poor souls; they are going to catch some hell too.

The MAGA game plan is to keep us distracted, confused, poor and broken down. They are doing a damn good job so far. We are tired because in very steady and subtle ways, we take on more work. Like working two part-time jobs to make one decent-paying job. Like working two people’s jobs at your one job. Like bagging your own groceries. Like pumping your own gas. Like chasing down people for repairs they screwed up. Like researching that new medication prescribed for your mother. All this is mooching on our time and burning up our limited energy.

Over time, the government has reduced the amount of money for social services which includes the proverbial safety net that catches us when there are the inevitable, unexpected situations. This scenario forces families to track down the resources they need to survive. This is especially stressful in the case of natural disasters and the long-term recovery that follows. As climate change increases, these disasters will be more frequent and more destructive. There are only so many GoFundMe pleas to which we can respond.

The current administration has shut down or is threatening to shut down federal protection agencies like FEMA, EPA, FDA, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and others. There is no consideration for who takes on their unfilled missions. The trump administration simply doesn’t care. The government is unloading on us in the name of efficient government and national security. As for the tax dollars saved as a result of these extreme reductions, they will surely find their way into the pockets of the oligarchs inside and outside of the trump regime.

Congress has a big role in stopping this runaway train. You need to get really familiar with your paid public servant; they work for you. Get organized so that you are part of community groups to put pressure on Congress. We will have to remind them constantly what the “for” and “by” the people really means in the U.S. Constitution. A constitution whose words might as well have been written with disappearing ink.

Unless the rising majority truly rises to the occasion and builds a formidable, united front against fascism, we will watch homelessness soar, crimes of survival increase, violence erupt and hope fade. The mainly white clowns in power will create a devolution of civilization that we have never known. Think of all the havoc that Gil Scot-Heron described, times ten. We’ll be scavenging around in a barren world while “whitey’s on the moon,” compliments of Elon Musk’s spaceship.