Tips to Survive 2025: Now he's in charge
Prepare for more chaos, watch your wallet, and keep eyes on the prize
Only those who did not believe the candidate’s and Project 2025’s promises are surprised by what has happened. Though I did not expect the Army Corp of Engineers to increase flow from California’s Terminus Dam from 57 cubic feet per second to 1,500 so Trump could claim Gavin Newsom was purposely letting LA burn. (The water released doesn’t approach LA. It’s a very good sign that local officials were able to convince the Corp to cut back so farmers’ Spring irrigation reserve would not be totally depleted. This suggests we do not yet live in a complete dictatorship.)
I also did not expect the President to put the billionaire bros inside the government instead of outside, as advisors. Elon Musk’s team is in the process of interfering with the Administration’s computers. They have moved into administrative and Treasury offices and shut staffers out of the national personnel database. They want to access the payment system that handles trillions of dollars.
The dystopia is going to continue unless Congress or the Courts stop them.
Understand that the libertarian plutocrats’ goal is to destroy the United States. They want the country to dissolve into feudal mini-states that they can run. In case you don’t think this is real, I attended a “Porcupine” “Free Stater” libertarian conference last spring in New Hampshire in which they celebrated Peter Thiel’s attempts to take over Prospera in Honduras and other efforts by other billionaire bros to set up their own mini-states. Despite comprising 1% of the population, these libertarians now control the NH House. They repeat the same mantras about forcing “blues” to leave, that bros say in the video linked just above.
REMINDERS FOR PERSONAL WELL-BEING
Refer back to the first How to Survive 2025 for the basics. In summary:
make large purchases of cars and appliances, stock up on any California nonperishables, such as water-sapping almonds; tariffs will raise prices and CA farmers may have little water for crops this spring
make your home as energy and communications independent as possible; FEMA is being dismantled, disaster or attacks on the grid or communications systems may take significant time to repair;
stash some cash in case charge card systems fail
firm up healthcare and other insurance coverage; private Medicare “Advantage” plans will likely replace Medicare resulting in pre-existing condition coverage disappearing and higher costs for the limited care remaining;
maintain rituals and events that bring community together; don’t allow them to be taken over by MAGA or plutocrat groups;
plan trips to the national parks soon; they are about to be opened to private interests, some for logging, others for the billionaire bros to build their utopias
help raise awareness among the public of what is happening and who is responsible. Donate to independent news sources, like the Associated Press. Such sources not only influence people, they feed AI chatbots that will increasingly inform people’s understanding of the world.
In the meantime, a quick look at how other things in DC are playing out before more suggestions for sane living amid chaos.
PEOPLE WITH BOLT HOLES ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS
Most MAGAs did not realize they were electing Elon Musk and the billionaire bros to manage the nation. Nor do they understand that these internationals have secured estates around the world. Their attaches carry “go-bags” ready to escape to their “bolt holes” in New Zealand at a moment’s notice. Nuclear attacks, power outages, and bio-terrorism need not phase them. They and their families are safe. Btw, this is not just the younger generation of Silicon Valley billionaires. It includes the older Koch network who brought you Citizens United, which made the current oligarchy possible.
INCOMPETENCE AT THE TOP
By bankrolling Trump and backstopping him with their puppet, JD Vance, libertarian billionaires ensured they will have their way. If Trump gives them too much trouble, having him impeached for one of dozens of reasons would be straightforward.
Meanwhile, Trump gets the limelight he loves and the thrill of watching thousands skitter to obey his latest commands. His administration does not understand nor care to follow established communications protocols. His vague memo to freeze grant funding demonstrated he can send military and civilian institutions into a tizzy with a few words.
CHALLENGING THE SEPARATION OF POWERS
Project 2025 promised to expand the power of the presidency. After the surprise funding freeze memo, GOP members of Congress appear willing to hand over their power of the purse. One legislator was quoted as saying Trump’s funding freeze flop is a mark of genius because he throws bombs and then cleans up the mess. A small example of the impact of the freeze, on NSF grants alone, is here.
Fortunately, Judge Loren AliKhan did not capitulate judicial authority and a second judge confirmed the freezes’ likely unconstitutionality. AliKhan paused the freeze until February 3, when the court will review its legality. Meanwhile, agencies are rushing to review thousands of grants for wording that might cut tens or hundreds of millions in funding, if the judiciary should decide that Trump controls the pursestrings.
In the same vein, Musk, unaware that he is not the nation’s CEO, offered federal employees eight month’s pay if they would resign. As former labor secretary Robert Reich warned federal employees, Musk has no authority to do so. He cannot spend money that Congress has not appropriated. Or can he? Those in charge of OMB say the payment system his team tried to access has the power to turn payments on and off. It could both give staff one-time payments and stop funding to any progressive organizations the administration dislikes.
IMPACTS OF DEREGULATION & DISMANTLING JUST BEGINNING
Despite safety warnings, airline industry lobbyists recently succeeded in increasing the number of flights out of Reagan airport. This resulted in a number of close calls. Yet the President removed the head of the Transportation Security Administration, disbanded an aviation security advisory group and froze hiring that included air traffic controllers. This was just days before the tragic crash between a Blackhawk military helicopter and an American Airlines jet.
Will legislators overcome their sycophancy to avert more tragedies? Not yet. Rather than address the excess air traffic and the lack of controllers, GOP politicians rushed to suggest that DEI hiring may have caused the crash. Apparently women and males who are not straight and white are to be scapegoats for any problems that arise over the next four years.
XI’S GOT TO BE SMILING
Chinese tech is on the upswing. Chinese DeepSeek AI capabilities caught Silicon Valley by surprise. Trump appears ready to let China’s TikTok app continue to reduce youngsters’ capacity to concentrate while collecting facial recognition and personal data on them. The Chinese military is gathering power and intel. US will likely fail to effectively counter an invasion of Taiwan due to confusion and people missing from the command chain. Lack of chips from Taiwanese manufacturer TSMC would send stock market poster children like Nvidia into a tailspin.
THE FIX IS OBVIOUS, BUT NOT EASY
Peter Turchin describes political disintegration and how to avoid it in his book End Times. He and colleagues analyzed data of worldwide civilizations’ rise and fall. He notes that civilizations’ fall is typically proceeded by “elite overproduction” or too much wealth concentrated at the top. The solution is straightforward; move more wealth to the rest of society:
The wealthy give away or are taxed to diminish their excesses.
The working class are paid more by increasing demand for their services, reducing the supply of workers, or increasing their pay through collective bargaining (unions)
But that can only happen when the MAGA realize they’ve been conned.
Without a shift in wealth distribution, Turchin points out, disaster is imminent. In the past, revolution or emigration has reduced the proportion of wealthy elites. Or war, disease, or disaster has reduced the remainder of the population. That meant that each survivors’ share of resources was larger.
HOW TO MAINTAIN SANITY AMID CHAOS
At some point, the MAGAs will wake up. Will it be soon enough? Tbd.
Meanwhile, we can maintain sanity each day by turning off the phone and spending time:
outdoors
exercising and engaging in sports
with friends and family
participating in local government, church, or volunteer organizations
mentoring or coaching kids
making music, crafts, or other group activities
REALIZE THAT AI HANDS US MASSIVE POWER
Mistrust of AI may keep many from trying it. Early people probably feared fire when some learned to make it at will. AI massively increases the power of those who use it.
Most people don’t want it helping them write. But what about tech support? Is your computer, phone or just about any other appliance is not working? You can probably find a Youtube video that will help, but Gemini or ChatGPT will respond with a specific fix. And if it doesn’t work, they can walk you through additional steps when you tell them what happened.
Or plant and animal identification? A newer iPhone camera with IOS 18 will identify many North American plants, with details on conditions that help them thrive. It will also ID other items, so use with care.
On the corporate front, compliance submission paperwork submission can be cut by 99% in some cases. Research with Nobel-Prize winning GoogleFold 3 can predict in ten minutes protein folding that previously took a PhD months to unravel. Prospects for conquering diseases are many.
Meanwhile, your queries, your feedback to chatbots, information you publish can all become part of the base of data that AI aggregates in its shared library of worldwide information. It will help decide the values AI is based upon. Embrace it, cautiously.
Those who deploy AI will have far more power than those without.
SCAM & FRAUD REMINDER
As regulation decreases, crypto increases, and criminal communication spreads successful scam procedures, increased vigilance is advised:
phone scams: do not say the word “yes” in answer to a friendly stranger; that word, in your voice, can be used for scams or stealing your identity.
email scams: any email asking for financial information or claiming delivery is impeded can be easily checked before clicking. Look at the return address. 99 times out of 100, scam emails have an obviously false return address.
“your computer has been hacked” screens: do not click anything; just shut your computer down, no matter what the screen tells you. After you re-start the machine, go to settings/security and run any safety checks available.
website scams: ads and websites from Chinese firms are pretending to be US based. People find their orders take months to arrive, if ever. Typically, searches on such companies will uncover many complaints.
SPRING WILL COME, STAY STRONG!
I’m hoping to focus on kids and the next generation next month. They are our true future. But the rush of action from DC may force other topics. Meanwhile, enjoy the first signs of Spring. Dozens of chickadees and a Carolina wren flittered about my snowy yard this morning.
Thank you for keeping us abreast of the situation and helping us deal with it especially selfcare and community.
Thanks for the wonderful article. Though I can't get on board with your take on AI: "Embrace it, cautiously." I think I'll go with "put up with it, (only) when I have to."
Keep up the good work!