It's a slow burn.

The US is being asset stripped, slowly but surely. To quote Hemingway in his 1926 novel, The Sun Also Rises:

"How did you go bankrupt?" Bill asked.
"Two ways," Mike said. "Gradually and then suddenly."

We're all feeling the pinch from that long time vehicle of wealth distribution, inflation. We feel it with every purchase we make. It can be caused by many factors but the end result is the same. Ask yourself this: Where does the extra money go when prices rise because of inflation? The money doesn't just disappear. Who benefits?

Inflation is just one aspect of the fleecing we are being subjected to, albeit probably the most obvious as we live it everyday. It's a slow drain.

That is the "gradually" aspect of Hemingway's quote in the context of this essay.

Attribution: Pexels.com

Another not so obvious factor of the slow bleeding out of the taxpayer is the on going property tax scam. If you're a home owner or property owner then you're well aware of the problem of rising real estate taxes and how the schools are a big driver of those increases. You may may be told that's due to population increases, aging schools, and rising costs of administering the finances, teachers needing raises and their pensions must be met. These are the usual arguments made for the need for additional revenues, and many times the revenues requested are above and beyond astronomical.

Please watch this to get a clear picture of the problem:

You may think that you're exempt from this because you rent. No you're not, unless you're homeless and living in the streets. As the owner's tax burden rises, so does your rent. It affects us all one way or another. Homestead exemption can alleviate the pain, for one property, but the burden is shifted to property owners without the homestead exemption. The taxing body will get its pound of flesh one way or another.

Now, to finish Hemingway's quote: The "suddenly" aspect may be addressed here:

I think most here are already aware of this documentary that exposes how laws have been put in place to steal everything that isn't nailed down. Personally, I can't fathom that they would ever do this, how could the perpetrators ever feel safe again, how could they walk the streets in safety after such an undertaking? But honestly, nothing would surprise me.

But, what do I know? I'm just one person trying to make sense of it all.