The Coming Peasants' Revolt

https://www.npr.org/2026/08/26/nx-s1-5943289/electric-bills-summer-heat-oklahoma-power

Are these exorbitantly high electric bills simply a case of supply and demand?

The article mentions the (misnamed) Public Service Company of Oklahoma. A quick online search reveals this company is a subsidiary of the large regional American Electric Power Company (AEP). AEP is a Columbus, Ohio based publicly traded company that has experienced considerable growth in recent years. Profits are up and the CEO's $36 million dollar salary testifies to the company's success.

BlackRock and Vanguard are substantially invested in AEP which means that not only is the company part of a larger Wall Street apparatus (with all its schemes) but it also means that the investor class (generally speaking) is profiting from these schemes which involve the raising of rates.

Now these same people who receive stock dividends from AEP and/or benefit by means of their portfolio will say they're also paying these high electric bills. Maybe they are (or maybe not, it depends where they live), but regardless they are in turn receiving a benefit which cancels out their higher bills and often they will end up ahead of the game. The poor and working class do not have these investments (and Christians should not either) and as such the rich are basically cashing in on the pain and suffering of the poor. One might also reckon it as a regressive tax in which the poor are subsidizing the rich. It's but another form of usury.

Speculation is driving up prices as data centers are closely connected to the AI bubble. Admittedly when it bursts there are some who will lose a lot of money - or rather a lot of fictitious capital. It's only 'real' for those who are prudent enough to withdraw some of it along the way, but many (motivated by greed) do not, always hoping for the next profit tier to be reached, never wanting to miss out on making just a little bit more. And many others don't even pay attention. They hand their money to financial advisors and investment brokers. And many of these people don't really care either. They make their money by moving investments around and charging fees - a process they call investment 'management'. But the speculators are working the system, making their bets, and playing the high-stakes game of musical chairs with other people's money. Those who think investing is about just parking your money and patiently waiting do not understand how the markets works. Even if your dull mutual fund manager isn't a player in the game, he's part of the machine and deeply affected by the activities of the said players and high-rollers.

It will be interesting to see if this inflationary process continues. Ultimately, people will take to the streets and turn violent. In other cases, people will turn to generators as running a home gasoline model is cheaper than paying a $1000 electric bill. I know of people out in the country (where I live) that already do this. They can't pay their escalating bills and you see generators sitting out in their yards that they rely on. But that won't work in subdivisions and urban areas. The logistics either won't work or people won't have it - they'll complain about noise etc. In other cases, social services will come after families without electricity and threaten the removal of their children. Some municipalities will condemn housing units without an active electric service.

In other words something has to give.

Thus far, these companies (with the state) have set up subsidy programmes to help people cover their bills, but the process is invasive and very time consuming and I know of several people that have just thrown their hands up in exasperation. It's almost as if the frustrating process is by design and it involves letting state-connected officials into your home to test for efficiency and the like. The only people who will readily endure the exasperating and intrusive process are those already on public welfare.

Things are reaching the breaking point for a lot of people. Utility bills and inflationary costs associated with fuel, groceries, and basic consumer goods are driving people to despair. And let's not forget health care (so called), much of which is little more than a scam.

These companies (which operate in cahoots with the elements connected to both the GOP and DNC) work to block community solar projects or really any attempt to mitigate use or costs.

People were rightly appalled when UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down in Midtown Manhattan in late 2024. And yet what has really angered some and perplexed others is the fact that Mangione (the shooter) is celebrated in many quarters as a Robin Hood-like vigilante. This testifies to the degree of frustration and growing anger directed at the corporate class and its exploitation of regular working people as well as the poor. Thompson made over $10 million a year and was worth more than $40 million. The CEO of UnitedHealth Group (the parent company) makes over $60 million a year.

The point being that as public officials and corporate leaders grow more paranoid, we're going to increasingly see them living in isolated bubbles for security reasons while the peasants start grabbing their pitchforks or more likely today, 3D printed weapons and ghost guns. I've noticed the Right and especially Christian media are using this CEO shooting as a red-baiting fear-tactic in connection to their latest campaign against communism - which as with McCarthy doesn't really exist.

Until then, Wall Street will push people to the breaking point and then and only then will they consider pulling back ever so slightly. They also heavily rely on police departments and even pseudo-left politicians who provide a 'relief valve' for growing frustrations and social pressures. At some point people will figure out they're being played by the system. Some are already there. The celebration of Luigi Mangione indicates the numbers are probably greater than anyone previously though.

And this is where technologies like AI and Palantir come into play - not to mention drones, cameras, and facial recognition - all the authoritarian and totalitarian tools the corporations (in conjunction with the state) are ready to deploy. The stage is being set for a new type of society.

Those of us who are part of Generation X feel like the world we grew up in is gone - a speck in the rear-view mirror. It was a world connected to previous generations, a world in which technology was on the scene but not yet dominant. We grew up without the Internet, without mobile phones, and a television world comprised of a few channels. It was a world of newspapers, books, stress-free travel, conversation, and deeper friendships. The world we now live in seems deformed and broken, technologically dazzling but hollow and diseased. This generation is ready to die and a new paradigm is about to emerge - and yet increasingly it's looking dystopian. The movies that come to mind may depict it in an exaggerated form but the reality that's emerging is no less dark.

Many are encouraged by the perceived revival taking place, especially among Generation Z (people born between 1997 and 2012). I hope they're right but I also see this movement being rapidly pulled into Right-wing politics and I think most of the excitement is in actuality connected to the Culture War front. I see this as setting the stage for civil war - all the more given that for every convert, I think there are one-hundred more young people that are increasingly hostile to Christianity due to its perceived connection to Right-wing politics. The Church is being torn apart but I think what's coming may prove far worse and more destructive, and for the faithful it's going to be very difficult. For some of us it already is and has been for some time.

The article is about out of control electric bills but that's really just a symptom of deeper problems and when considered in light of social developments and trajectories of the past fifteen to twenty-five years, it's not unexpected and signals a dire warning. And due to compromised leadership and false teaching, the Church is deeply entangled in this fatal morass.