I’ve written many times about how I don’t understand Donald Trump. He is a draft dodger, convicted felon, sexual assaulter, porn star user, serial marriager(sic), serial divorcer(sic), and so good at making deals he filed bankruptcy 6 times to get out from under those very good deals. So, is he the Second Coming of Something for certain people? Yes.

This is a case of that Duality of Life essayed(sic) about on February 19, 2026. The Hangers-On who profit from Trump’s presidency are easy to understand: they are making money off Trump, a true case of Trickle-Down(slightly) Economics.* The more Trump makes the more they make, so those people are Pragmatic Capitalists. But what about people who don’t make money off Trump? Little people like you and me? Why do they support Trump? A favorite economics phrase: “A rising tide lifts all boats.” But most of us can’t afford a boat.

I can’t remember directly “profiting” from any president. Ones who lowered taxes, of course, left me with a little extra, but we all learn early, the less you pay in one spot the more you pay in another. Research the fees, licensing costs, local taxes, registration costs, etc, in low- or no-income tax states. But in Trump’s case, with ballrooms, new jets, all the gold thingys, kickbacks; and payoffs going to rich people, what are poor people getting out of a Trump Presidency? Can’t they see what is happening? Trump historically says one thing and then does whatever makes him the most profit. Period. Are poor people living a separate, dual life through Trump?

A Texas professor, A. Michele Dickerson, explained the phenomenon on the Daily Show, Monday, February 23, 2026. She wrote the Book, “The Middle-Class New Deal”, but in her talk gave a clear answer about why Poor People are not revolting against Rich People, like the French Population did in 1789. No, I am not advocating for guillotines and head-lopping, but it is a wonder how anyone with less than two nickels to rub together would support the rise and enrichment of not one billionaire, but the entire billionaire caste.** The Professor’s answer, paraphrased: We have been taught to look sideways, inside our own castes, for the problems facing us. She calls it “Looking Horizontally”. We have been trained to look at people who are in our same lower- or middle-class situations as the very people causing the problems. Example: immigrants take all the jobs.

Meanwhile, the Upper Class, The Rich, gather up all the money and power with impunity. The solution? “Look Vertically” says the professor. Her point is a variation on Information Silos, Tribe over Truth, and the phenomenon of families splitting over adoration for one Rich Man or another. Why is this happening?

Because it works. In many essays through the years, I have stated if you blindly believe in ANY candidate from ANY party, at ANY time…you are being snookered. Had. Fleeced. Taken for a ride. Grifted. Conned.

Political passion has always been a part of every election, but the virulence of recent times is the result of Rich People controlling Mainstream, Off-Stream, Mid-Stream, and Legacy Media, with the occasional podcaster or loudmouth pilot-fishing*** a profit off the backs of the Rich Man’s Media Strategy. They have used their soapboxes to make us look the other way, the Horizontal Way.

Spread your news consumption around. Watch something new. Look for The Manipulation. Personally, I watch Fox News at least once a week to see if anything has changed because they are the best at supporting the “Horizontal Look” and ignoring the Vertical. But they are not the only ones. Do this: find a news place where you disagree with what you hear and never stay with media that tells you what you want to hear.

Last word? Think. Please.

*Ai: “David Stockton”.

**Yes, we have a Caste System in America. Ai it.

 ***Beautiful symbolism, if I say so myself. Look it up.