For decades, we’ve been told the same thing: globalization is inevitable, free trade will make us richer, open markets will benefit everyone, and America must carry the burden of global leadership. But look around—what has the average American actually gained from all of this? Wages have stagnated, jobs have disappeared, the cost of living has skyrocketed, and entire industries have collapsed. Meanwhile, the people who pushed globalization — the politicians, corporate elites, and media talking heads —have gotten richer, while the working and middle class have been left to struggle.
Manufacturing used to be the backbone of America, providing stable, well-paying jobs that allowed families to buy homes, send their kids to college, and retire with dignity. Forty years ago, a factory worker could support a family on a single income, own a house, and have savings for retirement. Today? That same job either no longer exists or pays barely more than it did decades ago while everything else — housing, healthcare, education — has tripled or quadrupled in cost. In the 1980s, a blue-collar worker earning $20 an hour could live comfortably. Today, a similar worker might make $25 an hour, but inflation has eaten away their purchasing power to the point that they’re worse off than before.
In 2000, the median U.S. household income was around $63,000. Adjusted for inflation, that number should be significantly higher today, but it’s not. Instead, wages have barely moved while housing costs have doubled, college tuition has tripled, and healthcare expenses have gone through the roof. Look at cities like Detroit and Cleveland, once thriving manufacturing hubs, now struggling with abandoned factories and rising unemployment. Former auto workers who used to earn $70,000 a year now work in warehouses for $40,000 — if they’re lucky. The so-called benefits of free trade didn’t trickle down to them.
Meanwhile, illegal immigration has only made things worse for working-class Americans. Go to a construction site today, and you’ll see that wages have been driven down because contractors are hiring cheaper, often illegal, labor. A trade job that once paid $30 an hour now pays $20 or less. It’s the same in agriculture, food service, and other industries that used to provide stable jobs for working-class Americans. At the same time, big cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York are overrun with homelessness, drug addiction, and crime. There are over 600,000 homeless people in America today, and that number keeps growing. Why? Because regular, hard-working Americans can no longer afford housing. In places like California, even people with full-time jobs are living in their cars.
And yet, while American citizens struggle to keep a roof over their heads, Washington is happy to throw billions of dollars at foreign wars. The U.S. has already sent over $130 billion to Ukraine, and there’s no end in sight. Meanwhile, Europe — wealthy nations with just as much at stake — contributes far less, expecting the U.S. taxpayer to carry the load. Why is it that our leaders always have money for war but never enough to fix our own cities, secure our borders, or take care of American veterans? Every day, thousands of illegal immigrants cross our border, receiving free healthcare, shelter, and other benefits, while American families struggle to afford the basics. Why is it that our government will take care of everyone else before it takes care of its own people?
Inflation has made life unbearable for the middle class. Gas prices have soared because the government shut down pipelines and restricted oil drilling, making us dependent on foreign energy again. Grocery bills have shot up because higher fuel costs drive up transportation expenses. Home prices and rent have skyrocketed because of bad economic policies and mass immigration. Interest rates are so high that young families can’t afford to buy their first home. This is not just “part of the economic cycle” — this is a direct result of bad leadership and policies that prioritize global interests over American interests.
Small businesses have been crushed, too. During COVID, thousands of small businesses were forced to shut down while giant corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and Target thrived. Government aid overwhelmingly went to big businesses while small mom-and-pop shops were left with crumbs. Look at what happened to thousands of restaurants and family-owned stores — they never recovered. Yet the same politicians who claim to fight for “the little guy” are the ones pushing policies that benefit multinational corporations while strangling small businesses with regulations, taxes, and inflation.
And through all of this, we still hear the same nonsense from the media and political elites: “America must lead the world,” “We have to take responsibility for global stability,” and “The U.S. should set an example.” But leadership isn’t about throwing money around and being taken advantage of. Leadership comes from strength — economic strength, industrial strength, and national security. A weak America, burdened with debt, inflation, and internal chaos, is not a leader at all. No other country would let itself be taken advantage of the way the U.S. does.
This is why 77 million Americans voted for change. Because they saw what was happening to their country. They saw their wages decline while corporate profits soared. They saw their towns hollowed out while politicians got richer. They saw foreign wars funded while their own communities crumbled. They saw crime rise while their government refused to enforce laws. And they had enough.
America doesn’t need to “adapt” to globalization — it needs to break free from it. It needs to secure its borders, rebuild its industries, bring back jobs, and put American citizens first. The people who voted for change didn’t do it out of fear, or ignorance, or any of the other insults the media likes to throw at them. They did it because they lived through the economic destruction that globalism brought, and they know that America is stronger when it stands on its own feet.
Leadership isn’t about sacrificing yourself for the rest of the world. It’s about making sure your own country is strong first. If America doesn’t take care of itself, it won’t be able to take care of anyone else. And that’s exactly why so many people voted to put America First again.