The main question that will be asked in the weeks and months ahead as everyone tries to read the tea leaves of last week’s midterm elections is why America has apparently taken a turn toward the hard Left and the Democratic Socialist agenda that wants our borders opened, our wallets emptied, and our mouths shut—unless we agree Socialism and social disorder are just peachy keen and super wonderful.

Just as with most elections, the Midterms this past week revolved around two issues: who could turn out the vote and which party seemed least objectionable. Very few Americans, sad to say, any longer vote for a candidate because they are perceived to be honest or caring—that ship sailed years ago. Today the tricks to winning are to seem marginally competent, carefully conceal one’s not-so-sly corruption, and try to avoid investigations until after Election Day.

Like most Americans, I wish the bar could be higher; however, for far too many of today’s candidates, running for office is less sacred civic duty and more grotesque get-rich-quick scheme. This pitiful reality is wholly the fault of our two wildly corrupt political parties, which have transformed the voting public into Diogenes with his lamp searching for an honest individual; he or she might be out there, but we  must wade through a lot of toxic narcissists to find that one shining example of an America who is patriotic, practical, and pure. Sadly, this leaves the field open for a lot of scarily strange candidates for public office who would have been dismissed from all consideration only a few short years ago, but the wonder of modern marketing techniques is that any product—and any person—can now be sold to the public with some well-placed lies spread by complicit agents working both online and through the mass media.

If one is to believe the snap polls immediately after the election, the ongoing conflict with Iran swayed many voters (and perhaps induced others to stay home), and the regime in Tehran is clearly thrilled at the prospect of Democrats voting to drop Obama-style pallets of cash on their heads instead of bombs while they work to dig their nuclear weapons program out of the rubble Trump left behind.

In addition, most Americans will choose to vote for their own wallets, so petroleum and gas prices—not to mention new work rules for public assistance—likely swayed numerous voters in last week’s elections. Given that every election will feature some vision of a frightening future that must be forestalled and many Americans—especially our large cohort of fragile young college graduates who went deeply into debt for economically useless degrees—are finding their hopes and dreams are crashing into an economic reality that is very different from what they would prefer it to be, a broad electoral swing was unsurprising.

However, simplistic explanations about war and the cost of living crisis fail to capture the deeper frustrations of many voters—whether Democrat, Republican, or Independent.

For several generations now, Tech, Education, and Government have provided secure employment to those anxious to avoid cut-throat marketplace pressures, but these rapidly stalling jobs machines have been shedding millions upon millions of employees over the past few years. Changing demographics, the integration of Artificial Intelligence into business models that used to rely on human labor, and the sheer inability to continue to borrow and spend unendingly due to stubborn taxpayer pushback and increasingly dubious investors, have cast a great many into the cold, cruel world of Capitalism, which has been a shock, while also slamming the door in the faces of many young people who hoped to spend their lives lucratively tapping away at a keyboard or pontificating to captive audiences—while avoiding any hint of manual labor. The irrational rage that erupted this election cycle over the construction of data centers, which are essential for economic growth and personal convenience in our digital age, speaks to fears that are both malformed and difficult for many to articulate.

I suspect bearing the brunt of the breathtaking economic transformation now upon us—much of it driven by digital technologies crashing through every sector of our daily and work lives over the past several decades—has convinced terrified voters to beat a retreat back to the dead womb of Democrat Big Government government spending and regulation in the vain hope that this will provide the safety and security that today seems elusive as disruptive changes that seem unfathomably powerful scythe through their lives and makes them feel powerless. Moreover, having been sold the Big Lie over the past few decades by Communist/Socialist leaders in politics and academia that seizing the wealth of others—particularly the exceedingly wealthy and successful—will provide a cornucopia of free housing, education, healthcare, and other goodies, the urge to trust inherently untrustworthy elected officials to safeguard them is likely too seductive to resist.

We are, to be honest, now seeing the results of decades of propaganda and misinformation poured into the minds of Americans grasping for some way to comprehend just how quickly a world they once knew and understood has evaporated before their very eyes over the past several decades. As I wrote in a commentary back in 2019 entitled America’s “Mommy And Daddy” Problem . . .

“ . . . the debates about policies are no longer about determining priorities and balancing them against available resources. We instead are asked to choose between the wonderful plans of “compassionate” visionaries who want to provide unending benefits and the “cruel” politicians who actually mastered sixth grade arithmetic. The parade of programs and services many voters expect to be provided at no cost—now with the added burden a basic income for all—is a worrisome sign that many truly consider government to be the indulgent parent they never actually had.

That price tags attached to many of these proposals—universal health care, free college education, job guarantees—run into the tens of trillions of dollars. The mythology pushed by those leaders making the promises—that all of this can be funded by taxing “the rich”—makes the costs seem not only manageable but also an opportunity to wreak vengeance upon those who live lives of comparative ease. Not realizing that the affluent pay the lion’s share of the taxes already, many voters are encouraged to labor under the impression that comfort is just a painless tax increase—for somebody else—away.”

So here we are today. What can we expect for our nation’s future now that Democrats will be in control across our nation next year?

First off, there will be a lot of disappointed Leftists when they find out that there is no cash left to hand out. Much as what happened when Zohran Mamdani became the Mayor in New York City, a great many promises will have to be walked back because the debt overhang resulting from 50 years of fiscal irresponsibility will constrict the ability to spend money on a rather expansive and expensive wish list of government-sponsored waste, theft, and bribery masquerading as help for the average American—instead of the brazen crime it actually is.

Second, Democrats will be in a bloody, bloody mood and work to make life miserable for those attempting to enforce our immigration laws and deport those who have violated them, prosecute fraudulent use of government money or its outright theft, and dare to believe that faith, family, and free enterprise are preferable to more government taxation, manipulation, and intimidation.

If you want a preview of what the next two years will feature, look across the pond to the chaos now engulfing Europe. Brace yourself for the economy-killing taxes of France, the Thoughtcrime prosecutions of England, the job-destroying Green energy madness of Germany, the open border foolishness of Spain, and the globalist manipulations undermining the elected government of Poland. The next couple of years are going to be a rough go for anyone trying to run a business, speak freely, or resist the efforts to erode American sovereignty.

It’s going to be ugly, so brace yourselves for trouble and trauma ahead.