Republicans and Democrats contribute equally to the nation's fiscal crisis via different tactics. Republicans gut the IRS and cut taxes while Democrats expand spending. Both actions are popular with their respective bases and donors but push the country closer to bankruptcy.

Social and political chaos are symptoms of a foundational economic decay. When the work-to-reward feedback loop breaks—evidenced by housing becoming unaffordable—people lose faith in the system itself and become open to radical alternatives because they feel they have nothing left to lose.

Societal hatred and tribalism are lagging indicators of economic distress. By the time political polarization becomes extreme, the underlying system is already in crisis due to factors like excessive debt and money printing. The economy is the root cause to watch.

Both the hard left, which sees modern institutions as corrupt, and the traditional right, which laments the decline of past authorities, are ideologically primed to reject data showing societal progress. For both, positive trends can be seen as a form of heresy.

The historic gap between Republican and Democratic pride in America reflects a "K-shaped" economy. A soaring stock market benefits a concentrated few, exacerbating wealth inequality and breaking the social contract. This disconnect between headline market performance and the economic reality for most citizens fuels political division.

A deep distrust of the bipartisan "neoliberal consensus" has made many young people receptive to any counter-narrative, whether from the left or right. This creates a powerful anti-establishment bloc that finds common ground in opposing the status quo, explaining the crossover appeal of populist figures.

The current level of hyper-partisanship is not a recent phenomenon but the culmination of a continuous, 40-year decline in public trust across all major institutions, including government, media, and church. Trust was significantly higher even during past national traumas like the assassinations of the 1960s and Watergate.

The widening gap between the economic fortunes of the rich and the middle class is eroding faith in capitalism across the political spectrum. This sentiment is no longer confined to the left, as Republican pollsters find their own focus groups expressing deep skepticism of big business, mirroring progressive talking points and signaling a broad political realignment.

Donald Trump is not the root cause of America's instability but rather a symptom of deeper, long-term issues. These include a decades-long breakdown in institutional trust, the collapse of the "American dream" of upward mobility, and extreme inequality. Focusing solely on Trump distracts from these more fundamental drivers of political crisis.