Change my mind.
On a more serious note, the reality of inflation, stress on the middle class, and people being addicted to mind numbing drugs because they can not handle reality. In fact, the idea of a pharmaceutical induced zombie comatose middle class man or woman who couldn’t deal with reality really took off in the 1970’s.
Thank God they couldn’t advertise on the big three networks back then or America might have turned into one giant waste case at the time.
So how does Micheal Douglas’ insane character of William Foster from a 1993 movie has to do with expressing the middle class frustrations with inflation, urban rot, government corruption, “boomer” arrogance, and today’s society?
Let’s review this scene which is right out of the Elon Musk Doge playbook:
“Just trying to justify your inflated budgets.”
Where the hell have we heard that before? 32 years after the movie was made has America, state governments, and local governments continue to abuse their taxpayers like a pimp beats the hell out of his whores and insists they generate money so they can increase their power and squander the future.
Why did this psychological movie inspire a reflection on to how the working and middle class feels about the boomers though?
For the record, I am a boomer, albeit on the tail end of that crew, lumped in by some random Wikipedia entry, but here I am. The Gen X and Millennial crowd hate was best demonstrated by Douglas’ character of Bill in this scene:
The golfers reflect the attitude of the modern “self-entitled” boomers that is perceived by the younger generations. Mr. Foster reflects what they want to do to the boomers because how dare they not vote for socialism and be forced to share their wealth!
Does that sound about right? And no, I really don’t care if someone age 25 to 55 hates my guts, I worked hard for what I have, maybe they should try it instead of majoring in Mozambican Gender Studies and taking on $100,000 in student loan debt and expect the rest of us to subsidize their lives.
Try reading a contract instead of depending on mommy and daddy to hold your hands through life.
For those getting an Ivy League education or at the University of Alabama, Mozambique is in Southwest Africa.
This brings us full circle from 1979, to the Chevrolet Chevette with the D-FENS license plate, and to inflation.
Inflation has always been the scourge of advanced societies, be it created for financing military adventures, colonial expansion, or social design. It destroyed colonial Europe after the US experienced the Panic of 1907, when the arrogant families of the continent thought America was finished. It eventually weakened and destroyed the British Empire and ended the dominance of the royals across the majority of the world.
Now the United States is in the midst of another situation which is reflected by the detachment from the gold standard in August of 1971 and advancing forward to the movie Falling Down being highlighted and discussed as an example in this commentary.
Two scenes of many reflect the frustrations with inflation and the crisis in the economy which the middle class experienced in 1993. The first scene was the trigger event for Michael Douglas’ character in the Korean grocery store when the owner attempted to overcharge him for a simple can of “Coke classic.” That’s something my younger readers may not quite be familiar with, but check out the can in the scene below.
The grocer is attempting to do what any merchant does, stay ahead of the price of materials and goods at the wholesale price. But when he rampages through the store destroying products as he hears the prices of various goods, it demonstrates the frustration most Americans feel now when they are going to regular grocery stores in 2025.
The second scene is the famous 11:31 a.m. is too late for breakfast scene at a fast food restaurant called “Whammyburger.”
One can fast forward past the typical customer service issues the average American has been enduring the past twenty plus year to the point where good old Bill is holding up the “whammyburger” and asking what is wrong with this picture.
Shrinkflation, that’s what’s wrong.
And since the late 1990’s fast food restaurants, sit down establishments, grocery stores, hell my favorite measure of less product and more inflation the Dollar Tree have all seen lower quantity and quality for more money.
Yet the “experts” scream this isn’t inflation it’s an improvement in the product due to a hedonic adjustment instituted by a faceless BLS or Federal Reserve bureaucrat who is just happy now that the DOGE job cuts haven’t hit his pension level; yet.
Now that our national debt is far north of $50 trillion, not the bullcrap number highlighted by the two lying political parties, the government, or the smiling fools on financial television, the reality of what these pages have been warning about, along with many others, is about to come true:
Many thanks again to James Turk for coining this phrase.
So the problems we are witnessing the economy and markets now is primarily being blamed on the trade war and tariffs, but the reality is that if America didn’t elect to engage in a policy of currency debasement in parallel with incrementalist inflation the United States would not find itself in the situation it is now.
In reality, the ability to compete in a complete and total free trade laissez-faire global system sans globalist governance, would have been much easier, yet the voters, politicians, and of course financial privateers only engaged in short term thinking with a simple philosophy:
Who cares, by the time it’s an issue I’ll be near death or dead.
As this collapse in our economic system marches forward, primarily self-inflicted, remember this movie not just for its plot, and what happened in it which is still being parroted today:
The white middle class is racist.
Boomers are evil.
Inflation sucks and private business exploits citizens with it.
The police don’t have enough money so crime can run rampant unless you vote for more money for them to waste.
Younger people need a bailout from the older, wealthier boomers, and of course government, not to be forced to work harder or in actual productive endeavors.
Lastly, too many people in our society are not mentally strong enough to deal with basic everyday life so society create reasons and doctor proscribed mental illnesses willy-nilly as the individuals are psychologically and emotionally too weak to deal with reality in a rational manner. Eventually most of these pathetic weak souls turn to drugs, alcohol, or worse, psychiatrists or psychologists.
The 1950’s and 1960’s made it too easy to think that empires last forever. The collapse of communism gave the country a short term boost thinking that everything would be awesome forever and Brittania, er America would always rule supreme.
Now the bill for the party of the past 40 years is coming due.
And sadly, it does appear that America is Falling Down.
