What HR1, Trump’s tariffs, and the collapsing dollar have created isn’t just inflation. It’s a quiet reshuffling of who sacrifices and who profits. For the bottom 75%, it’s relentless. For the top 2%, it’s optional. For people like Lyle, it’s designed.
Back in Visalia, Maggie had to take out a payday loan to register the car.
“I hate doing that,” she says. “It’s like borrowing shame.”
It’s a 2007 Toyota. The window on the driver’s side won’t roll up anymore. She taped it shut with a plastic sheet.
Her daughter still drinks water.
Bibliography
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