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Stuck in the Grind: The Real Cost of America’s Broken Promises
I'm looking for a savior in these dirty streets!
Looking for a savior but all I find are cheatsI'm stuck in the grind and can't get ahead.
My pay check comes in but it's gone before bed.
Rent's going up, gas is on the rise,
Don't get me started about grocery highs!I'm looking for a savior in these dirty streets.
Looking for a savior among the empty tweets.
When I was a kid I was sold a dream of picket fences and a better life than my parents. I was told that all I needed to do was work hard and keep my head down and everything would be alright.
Now I'm stuck in the grind, hanging on by a thread
Wages are stagnant, but up goes that bread
Mortgage foreclosure,
Enclosure exposureNow I'm looking for a knight to come riding in
All I find are wolves, dressed in sheepskin.
My Great Grandfather was a reverend and he said, "God only helps those who learn to help themselves." He left my grandmother a small fortune when he passed and she traveled the world.
When I was a kid I was sold a dream of picket fences and a better life than my parents. I was told that all I needed to do was learn to help myself and everything would be alright.
Now I'm stuck in the grind and filling with dread.
The bills keep rising, not my paycheck instead.
Now I'm searching the crowds to find a hero
Scanning the faces, bank account at zero.
My Grandmother was a sea captain. When I was a kid, I told her that someday I would be president and she said, "You can be anything you wanna to be!"
When I was a kid I was sold a dream of picket fences and a better life than my parents. I was told that all I needed to do was work hard and dream big and everything would be alright.
I lost my insurance because my husband got hurt.
I'm stuck in the grind and covered in dirt.
Rent's going up, Insurance is a joke,
Needle tears a hole, I just can't cope
My Great Grandfather was a humble mechanic who ended up an engineer for NASA. He said, "You can be a good mechanic by using your hands, you can be a craftsman by using your head, but to be an artisan you must use your heart."
When I was a kid I was sold a dream of picket fences and a better life than my parents. I was told that all I need to do was work hard and follow my heart and everything would be alright.
Now I'm digging through trash for a leader
Digging through garbage, finding mouthbreathers.
My Grandfather was an entrepreneur and local politician who supported 5 kids and a stay at home wife in a large suburban home in a nice neighborhood. While handing me the Sunday Funnies, he said, "Remember their faces, remember their names, make them feel seen and they'll give you their money and their votes. Then you can have your ice cream and eat it too."
When I was a kid I was sold a dream of picket fences and a better life than my parents. I was told that all I need to do was give and I would receive and everything would be alright.
Now I'm stuck in the grind, too thin I'm spread
Retirement? What's that? I'll work til I'm dead
My father was a adopted and a military veteran who worked in a computer server room at a large corporation. My mother had me at 18 but got a computer programing degree from night school. Eventually they bought her childhood home and a vacation home. They said, "Be a good girl."
When I was a kid I was sold a dream of picket fences and a better life than my parents. I was told that all I needed to do was follow the system and everything would be alright.
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Flapjack Promises: The Sweet Lies We’re Sold
So I was a good girl who worked hard, kept my head down, learned their faces and their names, followed my heart, used my head, used my hands, dreamed big and learned to help myself.
They told us what we wanna hear, “Just hold tight,”
“Trust the system, it’ll all be alright.”
They sell us dreams, but what’s the reality?
Favors for the rich, scraps for you and me.My pay check comes in but it's gone before bed.
They sold me a lie and tell me it's all in my head!
Promises, slogans, but it's just flapjack:
We’re paying their way, they ain’t payin’ it back.Now I'm looking for a savior in these dirty streets.
Looking for a savior but all I find are cheats
But here we are, in a world that feels less stable every day, asking the question that haunts so many of us:
"Will you be the one who fixes this?"
We’re searching for a savior, aren’t we? A knight in shining armor to come riding through the darkness, to sweep away the chaos and bring order, hope, stability. Politicians, advertisers, talking heads—they soothe us, tell us we’re doing great, that our struggles are temporary, that the next leader, the next policy, the next election will be our answer. And it’s nice, isn’t it? Believing that relief is around the corner, that someone else has the plan, that we can just wait for our savior.
We cling to the notion that someone up there—a real knight, a true hero—will rise to fix things. But what if our knight never arrives? What if we’re searching the horizon for a shining figure that was never meant to come?
We’ve been on this quest a long time, and so far, every knight has shown up without the armor, each hero without the courage, and every "fix" more destructive than the last. So let’s talk about that.
The Myth of the Savior
The truth is darker, and the truth is harder. The truth is what we need to hear.
There is no single hero, no knight with the magic sword. The forces that keep us struggling aren’t bound by election cycles, and they don’t answer to those political promises. We’re stuck in an endless loop, searching for the easy fix, and ending up right where we began, time after time.
The Savior is a Myth!
Not only is no one coming to save us. No one person can save us. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling you a lie.
But here’s the truth, loud and clear:
This decline isn’t accidental.
The widening gap, the rising costs, the instability, the debt—they’re the result of a system that’s been built to serve a few, to keep the wealth moving in one direction - up.
The reality?
The Fat Cats have been dismantling the systems that made this a country of upward mobility for decades.
They've done it on purpose.
It's not a mistake.
They know exactly what they are doing.
The system is working exactly as it was designed to.
Keep the rich, rich; the powerful in power; and the Fat Cats perpetually getting Fatter.
Looking for a Savior in These Dirty Streets
We're looking for a savior in these dirty streets!
Looking for a savior but all we find are cheats
We're stuck in the grind and can't get ahead.
The pay check comes in but it's gone before bed.They call it “trickle-down,” but it’s a drought,
Rich stackin’ billions while the workers miss out.
Wages stay flat, profits soar high,
They say we’re lazy, but that too's a lie.Behind the scenes, taxes get cut,
For those who got yachts, while we’re stuck in a rut.
Rich stackin’ billions, we're breaking our backs,
They give us pennies and hand us the axe.Jobs shipped out, debts pile tall,
The ladder to success? Where's our damn windfall?
Now I'm stuck in the grind, too thin I'm spread
Retirement? What's that? I'll work til I'm dead
The anger we feel is real. And it’s righteous. But that anger has been hijacked.
Hijacked Anger: They Divide, We Conquer
They tell you it’s the poor that got you down,
Say it’s immigrants wrecking your town.
Point fingers at strangers, stoke that fear,
But who’s been pulling the strings all these years?
We’re told to look at each other with suspicion—at immigrants, at the poor, at the LGBTQ, at minorities. We're told to point the finger at each other. And while we’re busy casting blame, the true culprits sit unbothered, untouched, far from our grasp, grinning like the Cheshire Cat as they rake in billions.
It ain’t the ones with nothin’ to show,
It’s those at the top, rakin’ in dough.
While you’re busting your back, working for scraps,
They’re countin’ their millions, filling the gaps.They got you lookin’ down, but here’s the deal:
Look up, my friend, to see what’s real.
This game they play, they’ve played it well,
A classic trick, straight from hell.A sleight of hand, a magic trick
Why do we fall for this schtick?
The ones who bleed you dry each day,
Are suited, booted, and hiding away.
Here’s the truth we need to face:
If we want change, if we want a shot at pulling ourselves out of this mess, we need to stop waiting for someone else to save us. We have to stop falling for the illusion that a single policy, a single person, or a single election will turn things around. It won’t!
Real change will come from us—ordinary people, united in purpose and unwilling to wait any longer. It’s about standing up, standing together, and no longer accepting scraps while the few feast.
If we want knights, then we need to pick up our own armor. We need to become the heroes of our communities. We need to challenge the systems, the narratives, and the forces that keep us divided and distracted. It’s not going to be easy. It’s not going to be fast. But it’s the only real solution to a problem that’s been polished and packaged and spun and sold to us as unfixable.
Who's Pulling the Strings?
We're looking for a savior in these dirty streets!
Looking for a savior but all we’re going to find are cheats
We're stuck in the grind and can't get ahead.
The pay check comes in but it's gone before bed.Blamein’ your neighbor, casting the stone,
While the fat cats sit on a golden throne.
Point fingers at strangers, stoke that fear,
But who’s been pulling the strings all these years?It ain’t the ones with nothin’ to show,
It’s those at the top, rakin’ in dough.
The ones who bleed you dry each day,
Are suited, booted, and hiding away.We're looking for a savior in these dirty streets!
But the saviors we need aren't the elites!
We’re stuck in this search, in this loop, looking to everyone but ourselves for the fix. But maybe—just maybe—the answer isn’t in finding the one. Maybe the answer is in becoming one.
Becoming one with your fellow Americans, regardless of the color of their skin, regardless of who they love, regardless of how they look or what they wear.
Ending the Cycle of Abuse
So, let’s end the cycle of abuse. Let’s end the search. Let's end the blame. Let’s rise together, with no more illusions, no more empty promises, and no more “heroines” to soothe the pain. It's time to reclaim what’s ours. The point isn’t about finding the next savior—it’s about becoming the kind of collective force that demands change and doesn’t stop until we see it!
We're looking for each other in these dirty streets
We're done with the tricks. It’s time to seize the treats
No more waiting. No more hoping for someone else to do the work.
How do we do it? Taking Action Where It Matters
Now, you might be asking yourself, "That all sounds great, but how do I actually do it? How do I become the change I want to see?"
Here’s the thing: I don’t have all the answers. No one does. But I do know where we can start.
Let’s start closest to home.
Start by talking about the problems—your problems, your community’s problems, the systemic problems that affect us all. Start by educating yourself on the real causes of those problems. Look past the headlines, past the talking points, and dig deeper. Ask the hard questions: Why is this happening? Who really benefits? You might not like all the answers, but truth rarely comes without discomfort.
Next, let’s start calling out bad behavior—not in some abstract way, but with the people right in front of us. The ones in our lives who perpetuate divisiveness, who keep blaming the wrong people for their struggles. Maybe it’s a friend, a family member, or even a coworker. Have those difficult conversations. Help them see where their anger really belongs. I’m not saying you’ll change every mind, but if you can plant a seed, you’ve done something meaningful.
That’s a great start, but it doesn’t stop there.
Look to your community. What organizations are out there actually making a difference? Find them. Support them. If you have the time, volunteer. If you have the resources, donate. If neither is possible, amplify their work by spreading the word. Doing something, no matter how small, is always better than doing nothing. (Share this article & podcast now!)
And when election season comes around, don’t just show up at the polls—show up informed. Do your research. Learn about the candidates, their policies, and, more importantly, who funds them. Don’t fall for catchy slogans or well-produced campaign ads. Those are designed to manipulate, not to inform. Look for integrity, not flash.
And here’s the hard truth: regardless of party, vote out the incumbents. Why? Because the longer politicians stay in office, the more entrenched they become in that elite world. The world where favors are traded, and the needs of the people are drowned out by the demands of those with wealth and power. If they’ve been there for years, they’re not going to change a damn thing. They’re too invested in the system as it is.
So, vote them out. Regardless of political affiliation, clear the house and the senate. Replace career politicians with new voices, new ideas, and new perspectives. The old guard isn’t going to fix the mess they’ve spent decades helping to create.
We don’t need saviors in shiny armor. We need people—ordinary people—willing to do the hard work, to challenge the status quo, and to start right where they are. That’s how we begin. By taking action, even if it’s small, and refusing to let the weight of the problem stop us from moving forward.
Because together, small actions become big waves. And that’s where real change begins.
Want more information? “Trickle-Down Economics?” comes out on December 2nd. Subscribe now and don’t miss a thing!
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I’m just a left handed girl in a right handed world trying to figure out
“What the Fork🍴?!?” is going on ~ 🤯 Cheryl.wTf 🍴
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