Saturday Evening, February 1, 2025 - Marcus's Apartment

The Class Portal fills with weekend activity—people logging in between shifts, classes, whatever keeps them from full collapse. Marcus settles into his corner desk, the one by the window where he can see the parking lot and the distant highway. His thesis notes are spread out, but tonight he is here for something else. The server isn't just class discussion anymore. It's become a laboratory. He wants to see how they talk when the professor isn't watching.

The tariff thread starts with Nisha, as these things often do. She's been tracking the executive orders like they're weather patterns.

nisha_d:

Look at Trump's tariff executive orders this week. He keeps saying "we'll make other countries pay," but tariffs are paid by importers here. Companies either eat the cost or pass it to us at checkout. It's a tax, just indirect. Expect higher prices on stuff like tools, clothing, electronics–anything with imported components.

sarah_k:

How fast would prices move? Like… this month? I'm asking as someone living off instant ramen and campus coffee.

nisha_d:

Look at Trump's tariff executive orders this week. He keeps saying "we'll make other countries pay," but tariffs are paid by importers here. Companies either eat the cost or pass it to us at checkout. It's a tax, just indirect. Expect higher prices on stuff like tools, clothing, electronics–anything with imported components.

Look at Trump's tariff executive orders this week. He keeps saying "we'll make other countries pay," but tariffs are paid by importers here. Companies either eat the cost or pass it to us at checkout. It's a tax, just indirect. Expect higher prices on stuff like tools, clothing, electronics–anything with imported components.

sarah_k:

How fast would prices move? Like… this month? I'm asking as someone living off instant ramen and campus coffee.

How fast would prices move? Like… this month? I'm asking as someone living off instant ramen and campus coffee.

Marcus leans forward, typing. The economics gets interesting here—the pass-through effects, the distributional consequences.

marcus_w:

Some pass-through is quick (existing inventory cushions a bit), but for categories with short inventory cycles you'll see it soon (weeks, not months). Small-margin retailers raise prices faster than giants who can absorb costs briefly. It's also regressive: a bigger bite of low-income budgets.

jake_m:

Two things. One, leverage matters. China's been gaming trade for years. Two, this is also about border policy and fentanyl supply chains–the EOs explicitly tie tariffs to those goals. Short-term pain for long-term strategic wins is a real argument, even if you disagree on execution.

marcus_w:

Some pass-through is quick (existing inventory cushions a bit), but for categories with short inventory cycles you'll see it soon (weeks, not months). Small-margin retailers raise prices faster than giants who can absorb costs briefly. It's also regressive: a bigger bite of low-income budgets.

Some pass-through is quick (existing inventory cushions a bit), but for categories with short inventory cycles you'll see it soon (weeks, not months). Small-margin retailers raise prices faster than giants who can absorb costs briefly. It's also regressive: a bigger bite of low-income budgets.

jake_m:

Two things. One, leverage matters. China's been gaming trade for years. Two, this is also about border policy and fentanyl supply chains–the EOs explicitly tie tariffs to those goals. Short-term pain for long-term strategic wins is a real argument, even if you disagree on execution.

Two things. One, leverage matters. China's been gaming trade for years. Two, this is also about border policy and fentanyl supply chains–the EOs explicitly tie tariffs to those goals. Short-term pain for long-term strategic wins is a real argument, even if you disagree on execution.

nisha_d:

"Short-term pain" always lands on folks least able to absorb it. Also, don't forget retailers structure prices in odd ways–loss leaders vanish first. You won't see a label saying "tariff surcharge." You'll just notice store brands cost more and sales get stingier.

billy_j:

Hell yeah this is great. Make it here. Buy American. If Walmart bumps prices, cry about it—I'm done subsidizing cheap junk from China. A little pain toughens us up. Canada will calm the hell down—they need our market worse than we need theirs. And China? Been ripping us off for years—hit 'em where it hurts.

nisha_d:

"Short-term pain" always lands on folks least able to absorb it. Also, don't forget retailers structure prices in odd ways–loss leaders vanish first. You won't see a label saying "tariff surcharge." You'll just notice store brands cost more and sales get stingier.

"Short-term pain" always lands on folks least able to absorb it. Also, don't forget retailers structure prices in odd ways–loss leaders vanish first. You won't see a label saying "tariff surcharge." You'll just notice store brands cost more and sales get stingier.

billy_j:

Hell yeah this is great. Make it here. Buy American. If Walmart bumps prices, cry about it—I'm done subsidizing cheap junk from China. A little pain toughens us up. Canada will calm the hell down—they need our market worse than we need theirs. And China? Been ripping us off for years—hit 'em where it hurts.

Hell yeah this is great. Make it here. Buy American. If Walmart bumps prices, cry about it—I'm done subsidizing cheap junk from China. A little pain toughens us up. Canada will calm the hell down—they need our market worse than we need theirs. And China? Been ripping us off for years—hit 'em where it hurts.

Marcus pauses before responding. Billy's reply comes fast, no hedging, pure conviction. The kind of rhetoric that builds movements—simple, emotional, tribal. But Marcus needs to push the analysis deeper.

marcus_w:

Retaliation risk is not abstract. Canada can target U.S. goods where it hurts politically–ag products, finished foods, select manufacturing inputs. China can do the same and squeeze U.S. exporters. Spirals like this get sticky fast because once you harden supply routes, you don't unwind them easily.

sarah_k:

So worst-case is higher prices here, retaliation there, and we're stuck with more expensive basics while also losing export markets? That seems… not great.

jake_m:

Worst-case is negotiated away. Tariffs are a tool to bring people to the table. If talks produce better terms–on border cooperation with Mexico/Canada or on Chinese precursors for fentanyl–that's the win the White House is after. The point isn't forever tariffs; it's leverage.

marcus_w:

Retaliation risk is not abstract. Canada can target U.S. goods where it hurts politically–ag products, finished foods, select manufacturing inputs. China can do the same and squeeze U.S. exporters. Spirals like this get sticky fast because once you harden supply routes, you don't unwind them easily.

Retaliation risk is not abstract. Canada can target U.S. goods where it hurts politically–ag products, finished foods, select manufacturing inputs. China can do the same and squeeze U.S. exporters. Spirals like this get sticky fast because once you harden supply routes, you don't unwind them easily.

sarah_k:

So worst-case is higher prices here, retaliation there, and we're stuck with more expensive basics while also losing export markets? That seems… not great.

So worst-case is higher prices here, retaliation there, and we're stuck with more expensive basics while also losing export markets? That seems… not great.

jake_m:

Worst-case is negotiated away. Tariffs are a tool to bring people to the table. If talks produce better terms–on border cooperation with Mexico/Canada or on Chinese precursors for fentanyl–that's the win the White House is after. The point isn't forever tariffs; it's leverage.

Worst-case is negotiated away. Tariffs are a tool to bring people to the table. If talks produce better terms–on border cooperation with Mexico/Canada or on Chinese precursors for fentanyl–that's the win the White House is after. The point isn't forever tariffs; it's leverage.

nisha_d:

Except the "leverage" is your grocery bill.

billy_j:

Raise prices if you gotta. We've spent decades shipping jobs away so we could save $3 on a toaster. Enough. Build the factories here. If Canada or China "hits back," good–that means pressure's real. We can outlast them.

marcus_w:

Only if policy follows through–tariffs without investment, workforce, and logistics planning just shift costs. If we want re-shoring, we need actual industrial policy, not just a tax at the border.

jake_m:

Fair. Tariffs are a lever, not a plan. The question is whether the admin pairs them with the rest of the toolkit.

nisha_d:

Meanwhile, students and working-class families get the bill first.

nisha_d:

Except the "leverage" is your grocery bill.

Except the "leverage" is your grocery bill.

billy_j:

Raise prices if you gotta. We've spent decades shipping jobs away so we could save $3 on a toaster. Enough. Build the factories here. If Canada or China "hits back," good–that means pressure's real. We can outlast them.

Raise prices if you gotta. We've spent decades shipping jobs away so we could save $3 on a toaster. Enough. Build the factories here. If Canada or China "hits back," good–that means pressure's real. We can outlast them.

marcus_w:

Only if policy follows through–tariffs without investment, workforce, and logistics planning just shift costs. If we want re-shoring, we need actual industrial policy, not just a tax at the border.

Only if policy follows through–tariffs without investment, workforce, and logistics planning just shift costs. If we want re-shoring, we need actual industrial policy, not just a tax at the border.

jake_m:

Fair. Tariffs are a lever, not a plan. The question is whether the admin pairs them with the rest of the toolkit.

Fair. Tariffs are a lever, not a plan. The question is whether the admin pairs them with the rest of the toolkit.

nisha_d:

Meanwhile, students and working-class families get the bill first.

Meanwhile, students and working-class families get the bill first.

The thread quiets. Marcus bookmarks the conversation for his notes. Nisha frames it as class warfare, Jake as strategic necessity, Billy as patriotic toughness. Each worldview has its own logic, its emotional core. Gold for his thesis—how economic policy becomes identity.

The system pinged an update, and the conversation shifted.

system:

Update: On January 29, Trump ordered preparation of Guantanamo Bay to detain migrants; memo to expand Migrant Operations Center capacity to tens of thousands (reports cite up to 30,000).

nisha_d:

See Trump's order on Guantanamo Bay? Are we really doing this? Offshore detention where lawyers can't easily get in, indefinite holds, "processing centers" that look and feel like prisons. Call it what it is or we'll sleepwalk into it.

sarah_k:

Is "concentration camp" the right term? That phrase is super loaded. I don't want to be sloppy with history… but also this sounds bad.

system:

Update: On January 29, Trump ordered preparation of Guantanamo Bay to detain migrants; memo to expand Migrant Operations Center capacity to tens of thousands (reports cite up to 30,000).

Update: On January 29, Trump ordered preparation of Guantanamo Bay to detain migrants; memo to expand Migrant Operations Center capacity to tens of thousands (reports cite up to 30,000).

nisha_d:

See Trump's order on Guantanamo Bay? Are we really doing this? Offshore detention where lawyers can't easily get in, indefinite holds, "processing centers" that look and feel like prisons. Call it what it is or we'll sleepwalk into it.

See Trump's order on Guantanamo Bay? Are we really doing this? Offshore detention where lawyers can't easily get in, indefinite holds, "processing centers" that look and feel like prisons. Call it what it is or we'll sleepwalk into it.

sarah_k:

Is "concentration camp" the right term? That phrase is super loaded. I don't want to be sloppy with history… but also this sounds bad.

Is "concentration camp" the right term? That phrase is super loaded. I don't want to be sloppy with history… but also this sounds bad.

Marcus takes a breath. Definitions matter here, where history intersects with policy. He needs to be precise.

marcus_w:

Historically, concentration camps are mass detention outside normal judicial process—administrative custody based on status, not individual conviction. Not death camps—that's a different category. Guantanamo for migrants would satisfy several criteria: extraterritorial site, limited due process, group-based detention. The label depends on duration, conditions, and scale.

jake_m:

Guantanamo already houses a Migrant Operations Center for maritime interdictions. Expanding capacity during a surge isn't the same thing as building death camps. The government says it's temporary processing and national security logistics. Language matters, but so does being precise about the actual policy versus historical atrocities.

nisha_d:

The vocabulary is a warning system. If you normalize mass detention without trial, the line moves. "Temporary" has a way of becoming policy.

billy_j:

You can't have a border without places to hold people. Boats roll in, folks cross–where the hell do they go while we sort it out? We've got bases, fences, Guantanamo. Use 'em. Fast hearings, fast flights home. That's not tyranny–that's finally enforcing the law.

marcus_w:

Two risks. One, rights: access to counsel, credible fear interviews, medical care. Two, precedent: once an offshore complex exists at scale, future admins inherit it. In practice, architectures of exception expand.

sarah_k:

Practically speaking, who checks conditions? Media access? Lawyers? If it's hard to see, it's hard to fix.

jake_m:

There should be oversight–IGs, courts, press pools. Build accountability into the plan. The policy goal is deterrence and throughput, not cruelty. If the admin can't guarantee oversight, it should rethink execution.

nisha_d:

Deterrence by suffering is still suffering. We'll regret the euphemisms later.

marcus_w:

Historically, concentration camps are mass detention outside normal judicial process—administrative custody based on status, not individual conviction. Not death camps—that's a different category. Guantanamo for migrants would satisfy several criteria: extraterritorial site, limited due process, group-based detention. The label depends on duration, conditions, and scale.

Historically, concentration camps are mass detention outside normal judicial process—administrative custody based on status, not individual conviction. Not death camps—that's a different category. Guantanamo for migrants would satisfy several criteria: extraterritorial site, limited due process, group-based detention. The label depends on duration, conditions, and scale.

jake_m:

Guantanamo already houses a Migrant Operations Center for maritime interdictions. Expanding capacity during a surge isn't the same thing as building death camps. The government says it's temporary processing and national security logistics. Language matters, but so does being precise about the actual policy versus historical atrocities.

Guantanamo already houses a Migrant Operations Center for maritime interdictions. Expanding capacity during a surge isn't the same thing as building death camps. The government says it's temporary processing and national security logistics. Language matters, but so does being precise about the actual policy versus historical atrocities.

nisha_d:

The vocabulary is a warning system. If you normalize mass detention without trial, the line moves. "Temporary" has a way of becoming policy.

The vocabulary is a warning system. If you normalize mass detention without trial, the line moves. "Temporary" has a way of becoming policy.

billy_j:

You can't have a border without places to hold people. Boats roll in, folks cross–where the hell do they go while we sort it out? We've got bases, fences, Guantanamo. Use 'em. Fast hearings, fast flights home. That's not tyranny–that's finally enforcing the law.

You can't have a border without places to hold people. Boats roll in, folks cross–where the hell do they go while we sort it out? We've got bases, fences, Guantanamo. Use 'em. Fast hearings, fast flights home. That's not tyranny–that's finally enforcing the law.

marcus_w:

Two risks. One, rights: access to counsel, credible fear interviews, medical care. Two, precedent: once an offshore complex exists at scale, future admins inherit it. In practice, architectures of exception expand.

Two risks. One, rights: access to counsel, credible fear interviews, medical care. Two, precedent: once an offshore complex exists at scale, future admins inherit it. In practice, architectures of exception expand.

sarah_k:

Practically speaking, who checks conditions? Media access? Lawyers? If it's hard to see, it's hard to fix.

Practically speaking, who checks conditions? Media access? Lawyers? If it's hard to see, it's hard to fix.

jake_m:

There should be oversight–IGs, courts, press pools. Build accountability into the plan. The policy goal is deterrence and throughput, not cruelty. If the admin can't guarantee oversight, it should rethink execution.

There should be oversight–IGs, courts, press pools. Build accountability into the plan. The policy goal is deterrence and throughput, not cruelty. If the admin can't guarantee oversight, it should rethink execution.

nisha_d:

Deterrence by suffering is still suffering. We'll regret the euphemisms later.

Deterrence by suffering is still suffering. We'll regret the euphemisms later.

A CRT thread opened up, but his focus had already shifted. The Class Portal was useful. Curated. Everyone here modulated their language. For the raw patterns—the unfiltered discourse—he needed Twitter.

He closed the laptop and pulled out his phone.

Nisha's Twitter was a firehose of activist rhetoric and social justice organizing. Her latest post from that afternoon read:

@nisha_desai_activist: Trump's tariffs = regressive tax on working people. Higher prices on essentials while corporations get leverage. This isn't economic nationalism–it's class warfare from above. #Tariffs #EconomicJustice

@nisha_desai_activist: Trump's tariffs = regressive tax on working people. Higher prices on essentials while corporations get leverage. This isn't economic nationalism–it's class warfare from above. #Tariffs #EconomicJustice

The replies tell a story. Her followers are the activist left–students, organizers, academics. They amplify her message:

@ClimateJusticeNow: Exactly! While billionaires get tax cuts, workers pay more for basics. This admin hates poor people.
@DSA_ChapterLead: Nisha breaking it down as always. We need to organize against this. Who's with me for a campus teach-in?
@TransRightsWarrior: And don't forget how this hits trans healthcare costs too. Imported meds will skyrocket.

@ClimateJusticeNow: Exactly! While billionaires get tax cuts, workers pay more for basics. This admin hates poor people.

@DSA_ChapterLead: Nisha breaking it down as always. We need to organize against this. Who's with me for a campus teach-in?

@TransRightsWarrior: And don't forget how this hits trans healthcare costs too. Imported meds will skyrocket.

But there are critics too–conservative accounts who wander in:

@PatriotVoice2025: Liberal tears taste so good. Tariffs protect American jobs. Cry more.
@RealAmericaFirst: You're the one waging class warfare by defending China ripping us off.

@PatriotVoice2025: Liberal tears taste so good. Tariffs protect American jobs. Cry more.

@RealAmericaFirst: You're the one waging class warfare by defending China ripping us off.

Nisha engaged selectively, quote-tweeting the supportive ones, ignoring the trolls. Her community was echo-heavy but mobilized—ready to protest, organize, resist.

Marcus switched accounts. Jake's feed differed. His posts were measured, factual, aimed at persuasion rather than rallying the base.

@jake_morrison2025: Trump's tariffs aren't about punishment—they're leverage. China floods us with fentanyl precursors, Canada lets migrants cross freely. This brings them to negotiate real border security and fair trade. Short-term costs for long-term wins. #AmericaFirst #BorderSecurity

@jake_morrison2025: Trump's tariffs aren't about punishment—they're leverage. China floods us with fentanyl precursors, Canada lets migrants cross freely. This brings them to negotiate real border security and fair trade. Short-term costs for long-term wins. #AmericaFirst #BorderSecurity

His replies showed a different world. His followers were the Trump coalition—working-class conservatives, veterans, small business owners. They saw him as one of them:

@FactoryWorkerJoe: Finally someone talking sense. I've lost jobs to China for 20 years. Time to fight back.
@VeteransForTrump: Jake gets it. Tariffs + wall = secure borders. No more sanctuary cities bleeding us dry.
@SmallBizOwner: As a retailer, I hate price increases. But if it stops the cheating, I'll eat the cost. American manufacturing first.

@FactoryWorkerJoe: Finally someone talking sense. I've lost jobs to China for 20 years. Time to fight back.

@VeteransForTrump: Jake gets it. Tariffs + wall = secure borders. No more sanctuary cities bleeding us dry.

@SmallBizOwner: As a retailer, I hate price increases. But if it stops the cheating, I'll eat the cost. American manufacturing first.

There are liberal replies too, but they get ratioed quickly:

@ProgressiveVoice: This is economic suicide. Global trade built prosperity.
@UnionStrong: @jake_morrison2025 Tariffs kill union jobs too. Wake up.

@ProgressiveVoice: This is economic suicide. Global trade built prosperity.

@UnionStrong: @jake_morrison2025 Tariffs kill union jobs too. Wake up.

Jake responded to critics, citing sources, asking questions. He didn't block; he engaged. His community was defensive but confident—patriotic, practical, convinced they were the real Americans.

Marcus closed the tab. Then he pulled up Billy's account. He usually avoided it—the display name alone—@MAGA_BillyJ_PatriotWarrior—told him exactly what he'd see. But for his thesis, he needed the full spectrum. Jake represented the articulate, college-educated MAGA voice. Billy represented something rawer.

Billy's latest post from that night read:

@MAGA_BillyJ_PatriotWarrior: TRUMP IS A F***ING GOD. Tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada—ALL OF THEM. Make these globalist parasites PAY. You wanna flood us with fentanyl? You wanna steal our jobs? F*** AROUND AND FIND OUT. #MAGA #TrumpIsMyPresident

@MAGA_BillyJ_PatriotWarrior: TRUMP IS A F***ING GOD. Tariffs on China, Mexico, Canada—ALL OF THEM. Make these globalist parasites PAY. You wanna flood us with fentanyl? You wanna steal our jobs? F*** AROUND AND FIND OUT. #MAGA #TrumpIsMyPresident

The replies came fast. The true believers congregated here:

@TrumpOrDie2025: HELL YEAH BROTHER! NO MORE NICE GUY BULLSHIT. TRUMP SEES WEAKNESS AND CRUSHES IT.
@PatriotMom1776: Finally a REAL MAN in the White House! God chose Trump to save America from the communist takeover!!!
@LibsGetRekt: Tariffs = liberal tears. I'm stocking up on popcorn for when these snowflakes realize Trump ALWAYS wins.
@WhiteHouseFaith: Trump is God's instrument. Praying for his strength as he battles the deep state demons.
@WorkingClassWarrior: Been laid off 3x since NAFTA. FINALLY someone fighting for US. Don't care about "trade wars"—WE'VE BEEN LOSING FOR DECADES.

@TrumpOrDie2025: HELL YEAH BROTHER! NO MORE NICE GUY BULLSHIT. TRUMP SEES WEAKNESS AND CRUSHES IT.

@PatriotMom1776: Finally a REAL MAN in the White House! God chose Trump to save America from the communist takeover!!!

@LibsGetRekt: Tariffs = liberal tears. I'm stocking up on popcorn for when these snowflakes realize Trump ALWAYS wins.

@WhiteHouseFaith: Trump is God's instrument. Praying for his strength as he battles the deep state demons.

@WorkingClassWarrior: Been laid off 3x since NAFTA. FINALLY someone fighting for US. Don't care about "trade wars"—WE'VE BEEN LOSING FOR DECADES.

This was worship, not political support. Veneration. Trump as savior, as warrior, as divine instrument.

When liberal replies wandered in, they got destroyed:

@ResistanceVoice: This is economic illiteracy. Tariffs raise prices on Americans, not foreigners.
@MAGA_BillyJ_PatriotWarrior: Shut the f*** up, traitor. You want China to own us? You want open borders? GO LIVE THERE. We're taking our country back.
@TrumpOrDie2025: @ResistanceVoice Go cry to your communist professors, soyboy.
@PatriotMom1776: @ResistanceVoice You're probably on Soros payroll. Get out of MY country.

@ResistanceVoice: This is economic illiteracy. Tariffs raise prices on Americans, not foreigners.

@MAGA_BillyJ_PatriotWarrior: Shut the f*** up, traitor. You want China to own us? You want open borders? GO LIVE THERE. We're taking our country back.

@TrumpOrDie2025: @ResistanceVoice Go cry to your communist professors, soyboy.

@PatriotMom1776: @ResistanceVoice You're probably on Soros payroll. Get out of MY country.

Billy didn't just engage—he attacked. His replies were profane, tribal, absolute. No room for nuance, no acknowledgment of complexity. The world binary: Trump supporters and traitors. Patriots and parasites.

Marcus scrolled further. Another post from the previous day read:

@MAGA_BillyJ_PatriotWarrior: Liberals screaming about "concentration camps" at Guantanamo. STFU. You break into MY country illegally, you get detained. Don't like it? DON'T F***ING COME. Trump is cleaning up the INVASION Biden caused. This is WAR.
@BorderPatriot88: BASED. Round them up, ship them out. No mercy for invaders.
@TrumpWarRoom: Anyone who compares Trump to Hitler is a DISGRACE. Trump is saving us FROM tyranny, not creating it.
@FaithAndFreedom: The left hates God, America, and Trump because Trump exposes their lies. Spiritual warfare is REAL.

@MAGA_BillyJ_PatriotWarrior: Liberals screaming about "concentration camps" at Guantanamo. STFU. You break into MY country illegally, you get detained. Don't like it? DON'T F***ING COME. Trump is cleaning up the INVASION Biden caused. This is WAR.

@BorderPatriot88: BASED. Round them up, ship them out. No mercy for invaders.

@TrumpWarRoom: Anyone who compares Trump to Hitler is a DISGRACE. Trump is saving us FROM tyranny, not creating it.

@FaithAndFreedom: The left hates God, America, and Trump because Trump exposes their lies. Spiritual warfare is REAL.

Marcus screenshots these too. The layer beneath the Class Portal civility, beneath Jake's measured arguments. The emotional engine—rage, fear, devotion. Billy's feed isn't a debate space; it's a ritual of affirmation. His followers come to declare loyalty, to perform toughness, to immerse themselves in a worldview where Trump is infallible and enemies are everywhere.

There it was—the Weimar parallel, visible in real time. The Nazis didn't win through intellectual argument. They won through emotional mobilization: humiliation transformed into righteous fury, the worship of a strongman who promised restoration. Billy's Twitter feed showed that process happening now.

Marcus toggled between the three feeds on his laptop screen—Nisha's activist left, Jake's pragmatic MAGA, Billy's true believer world. Three different Americas. Nisha and Jake could maybe talk, grudgingly. Billy's world was hermetically sealed. No conversation possible there, only tribal warfare.

The Class Portal had been a seminar room. Twitter was the streets.

He leaned back, scrolling between the feeds. The class chat had been interesting, but this was what he needed for his thesis. Here were the multiple Americas, stratified by rhetoric and rage. Nisha's followers saw tariffs as elite predation; Jake's as working-class defense; Billy's as holy war. The last two might share a vote, but not a worldview. And none acknowledged the others' legitimate grievances.

For his comparative work—Weimar's polarized press, the Nazis' mastery of working-class resentment—here was the raw material. How movements built by exploiting economic anxiety. How language created worlds where the other side became the enemy.

Marcus saved screenshots of the threads. Tomorrow he'd cross-reference with the Class Portal logs. How economic policy becomes cultural warfare. How fear of loss motivates more than hope of gain.

The apartment was quiet. His roommates wouldn't be back for hours. He opened his thesis notes and began typing the words forming in his head:

Three Americas. One vote. Different worlds.
None saw the other side's grievance as real.

Three Americas. One vote. Different worlds.

None saw the other side's grievance as real.