Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

Cloaking a fake “market” with artifice to maintain its asymmetrical distribution of wealth and income also cloaks its detachment from the real world.

I often refer to the dynamics of self-correction and self-liquidation. Systems that use feedback to rebalance extremes are self-correcting: rather than accelerate as they approach a cliff, they slow down and reorganize to avoid runaway self-reinforcing feedback (i.e. positive feedback), a.k.a. run to failure.

Some things are self-liquidating by design. A mortgage, for example, is intended to be self-liquidating: the monthly payments reduce and eventually extinguish the debt.

Other systems become self-liquidating when artifice becomes the “solution” for those seeking to lock the system down to maintain their share of the spoils. This is the inevitable consequence when a culture veers into the black-hole spiral of moral decay, where integrity is dissolved by maximizing self-interest by any means available.

Responding to real-world feedback threatens to reduce insiders’ share of the spoils, and to make sure this doesn’t happen, insiders steer the system away from the real world, creating an artificial, synthetic representation of the system that relies not on real-world feedback but on signals and symbolism that can be engineered to serve the interests of those holding the levers of power and influence.

To those benefiting from a system, corrective feedback is anathema because it reduces their share of the spoils. The “solution” is various forms of artifice that maintain the illusion that the system is stable and responsive to the interests of all, when in fact it’s been locked in a configuration that benefits the few at the expense of the many.

Self-serving artifice comes in many forms: the gaming of statistics to put lipstick on the real-world pig, the TACO Trade–announce some fabrication as a pending agreement with magical powers, virtue-signaling legislation that changes nothing in how the spoils are being distributed, grandiose claims of technological innovations–innovations that just happen to be owned by a handful of corporations–that will benefit everyone, and so on.

This substitution of artifice for authenticity relies heavily on signals and symbolism. Rather than attempt to manipulate all the complexities of the real-world economy, the stock market is now the signal for the entire economy: if stocks are going up, the economy is good.

This elevation of the stock market as the one true indicator rests on an entire universe of symbolic meanings and mythologies. The stock market is the invisible hand, the magic mechanism of price discovery, the engine of growth that rewards innovation and ingenuity while enriching us all with fabulous new technologies, the perpetual-motion device that makes America the greatest generator of prosperity in history, and so on.

Like all good cons, there is some truth buried beneath the hype. An unmanipulated market does indeed have the potential to reward innovation and ingenuity and generate widespread prosperity.

But the whole point of these mythologies is to cloak a manipulated market in the finery of an authentic market. This bewitchment is akin to the Emperor’s New Clothes: a fabrication, a tale, that takes on a life of its own as a mass delusion.

Cloaking a fake “market” with artifice to maintain its asymmetrical distribution of wealth and income also cloaks its detachment from the real world. This is how systems veer into Model Collapse and self-liquidation: the artificial representations, the reliance on easily faked signals and euphoria-inducing mythologies collapse once they collide with reality.

Which brings us to the present, where the stock market has become the economy, the driver of wealth and prosperity as the top 10% who own the majority of stocks can spend freely enough to employ the bottom 90% and pay the taxes needed to fund an out-of-control state sector that lavishes subsidies on every class to stave off a reckoning.

Here is reality: all credit-asset bubbles are inherently unstable and so they pop. While the timing isn’t predictable, the collapse of what is intrinsically self-liquidating is entirely predictable.

Here is the Emperor’s New Clothing version of mass delusion: the Everything Bubble is permanent and will never pop, and if it does, some agency with god-like powers will rush to the rescue.

But self-liquidating systems are not permanent. Their internal dynamics guarantee the end-game is extinguishment. Here is a projection of the Everything Bubble based on bubble symmetry and scale invariance: what goes up will come down on a similar trajectory.

That the Emperor is buck-naked should not surprise us, but awakening from mass delusion is by its very nature a stunning surprise.

These dynamics are drawn from my Revolution Trilogy.

*  *  *

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Public interest in science fiction is rapidly rising in China, alongside the country’s push toward technological advancement.

A new report says revenues hit a record in 2025 while related online searches surged by over 200%, according to the South China Morning Post.

According to data released at the China Science Fiction Convention and reported by Xinhua, total industry revenue reached 126.1 billion yuan (US$18.2 billion), marking a 15.7% year-on-year increase.

The report also noted expanding global influence for Chinese sci-fi intellectual property.

Video games continue to dominate the sector, contributing more than 60% of total earnings.

Sci-fi titles alone brought in 77.91 billion yuan and performed well internationally.

As Wu Yan put it, “Overall, sci-fi games still account for the lion’s share of the market.”

He added that younger audiences favor immersive, interactive formats, where games still outpace other media in both popularity and scale.

The SCMP writes that other segments are also growing. Sci-fi derivatives jumped 179.4% to 7.07 billion yuan, driven largely by original IP and new formats like AI-powered designer toys. Film and TV revenues rose 21.6% to 8.16 billion yuan, while literature generated 5.19 billion yuan.

The industry’s rise builds on earlier breakthroughs in the 2010s, when Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem gained global recognition, followed by blockbuster adaptations like The Wandering Earth and its sequel.

Emerging trends include increased use of artificial intelligence in short- and mid-length video production, as well as growth in offline experiences. Wu noted, “Offline experience projects, such as sci-fi theme parks, have also been very attractive in recent years, similarly because of the first-hand experience [they provide].”

This momentum is reflected in sci-fi tourism, which grew 13.8% to 27.77 billion yuan, with theme parks remaining central. Meanwhile, a newly tracked segment—sci-fi technical equipment—generated 24.74 billion yuan in revenue.

Authored by Micah Zimmerman via BitcoinMagazine.com,

Republican Senators Bill Cassidy and Cynthia Lummis introduced legislation Monday aimed at reshaping the U.S. digital asset mining sector, tightening supply chains, and embedding bitcoin into federal reserve strategy.

The proposal, titled the “Mined in America Act,” would establish a federal certification program for domestic crypto mining operations while phasing out reliance on foreign-manufactured hardware.

It also seeks to codify Donald Trump’s executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, placing the policy on statutory footing, according to a release on the matter.

“Digital asset mining is a big part of our economy. We should be doing it here in America,” Cassidy said in a statement, framing the bill as a supply chain and manufacturing initiative.

Lummis tied the legislation to a broader push to position the United States as a global hub for digital assets.

“The Mined in America Act brings this industry home through forward-thinking initiatives to secure our financial future,” she said.

The bill directs the Department of Commerce to create a voluntary “Mined in America” certification for mining facilities and pools that meet security and sourcing standards. Certified operators would be required to transition away from hardware linked to foreign adversaries over a phased timeline, with the goal of full compliance by the end of the decade.

Lawmakers and industry advocates have pointed to a stark imbalance in the current mining ecosystem.

While the United States controls an estimated 38% of global bitcoin hash rate, roughly 97% of specialized mining hardware is produced by Chinese firms, including Bitmain and MicroBT.

JUST IN: US Senators introduce the “Mined in America” bill to promote Bitcoin mining and codify President Trump’s Strategic Bitcoin Reserve 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/0M478axSE3

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) March 30, 2026

Domestic mining security push

Supporters argue that dependence poses both economic and national security risks. The bill references prior incidents, including U.S. inspections of imported mining rigs and the discovery of vulnerabilities in firmware that raised concerns about remote access capabilities.

To address the imbalance, the legislation directs the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership to support the development of domestic mining hardware.

It stops short of authorizing new spending, instead integrating certified projects into existing federal energy and manufacturing programs.

The measure also positions bitcoin mining as a tool for grid management and energy development. 

By tapping into existing Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, certified operators could access financing for projects that absorb excess renewable energy, stabilize grid demand, or capture methane emissions from landfills and oil fields.

Industry group Satoshi Action Fund endorsed the legislation, calling it a comprehensive framework that links energy policy, manufacturing, and digital asset strategy.

Strategic Bitcoin Reserve gets a formal nod

Beyond industrial policy, the bill’s most significant provision may be its formalization of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve within the Treasury Department. While the federal government already holds a large amount of bitcoin from law enforcement seizures, the reserve would establish a framework for long-term retention and accumulation.

The legislation outlines a “budget-neutral” pathway for expanding holdings. Revenue generated from staking rewards and airdrops tied to other seized digital assets would be funneled into bitcoin purchases. In addition, certified domestic miners could sell newly mined bitcoin directly to the government in exchange for a capital gains tax exemption, creating an incentive to supply the reserve at discounted prices.

If enacted, the Mined in America Act would mark one of the most expansive federal efforts to integrate bitcoin mining into U.S. industrial and energy policy. 

It arrives as policymakers weigh how to balance innovation, security, and competition in a sector that has become increasingly global.

Israel on Tuesday took the drastic step of announcing that it will halt the acquisition of defense-related goods and services from France, according to an Israeli Defense Ministry announcement.

“The Director General of the Israel Ministry of Defense. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amir Baram has decided to reduce all defense procurement from France to zero, replacing it with domestic Israeli procurement or purchases from allied countries,” a Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed.

The move is being done in direct rebuke to France’s decision to not allow flights in its airspace which transport military items to Israel, or also American military flights which are directly connected to Iran war operations. A growing number of NATO and EU countries are doing this, also Italy, Spain, and Switzerland.

The Israeli statement said further, “France has taken a series of actions that have harmed Israel’s security and the operational capabilities of its defense industry.”

“The Israel Ministry of Defense views the French government’s policy with serious concern, as it undermines security cooperation with Israel, a country that is actively operating on the front line against Iran and protecting the security of the Western world,” it added.

Defense ties between France and Israel were already strained going back to the Gaza war:

According to a parliamentary report, France authorized more than 200 dual-use export licences to Israel in 2024 worth €76.5 million — 60 percent less than in 2023 — highlighting how limited and declining defense ties between the two countries already are.

Existing contracts are expected to be honored and private companies may still pursue deals.

Earlier in the day Tuesday, President Trump took France to task for being “very unhelpful” in Iran operations.

“The Country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French territory,” Trump stated on Truth Social. “France has been VERY UNHELPFUL with respect to the ‘Butcher of Iran,’ who has been successfully eliminated!”

The American president then emphasized, “The U.S.A. will remember!!!” France’s Macron has pledged his forces will “never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context.” Other EU leaders have said that essentially this is “not our war”.

These same European leaders have long criticized Israel for the immense civilian death toll after two years of war in Gaza. It stands at over 70,000 killed – a figure which Israel has actually acknowledged, with the caveat that at least some one-third of these casualties were Hamas militants. Some estimates say the death toll could be higher.

Authored by Mary Gilleece via dailysceptic.org,

The recent news that one in eight children are now reported by their parents as being disabled ought to prompt an immediate national inquiry into what on earth is causing a large proportion of the population to sicken.

That millions of children and young people are stricken with disabilities ought to be front page news every day until it is sorted out.

The Telegraph reports:

About 12% of children – or around 1.7 million youngsters – are now living with a long-term illness, disability or impairment, according to fresh figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

This has almost doubled since 2015, when roughly 7% of parents said their child had a disability, according to the department’s closely-watched Family Resources Survey (FRS).

It also comes amid a sharp increase in young people being diagnosed with behavioural issues as well as autism and ADHD.

Almost two-thirds of children with a disability had a “social” or “behavioural” impairment – by far the most common issue cited by parents, the FRS found.

The figures involved ought to terrify everyone for they reveal a population that is riven with ill-health and impairment. If accurate, a National Commission into ‘Physical Deterioration’ similar to the one conducted by Fitzroy in 1904 to find out what was causing the ill-health of young people is needed immediately. With such staggering levels of illness, there is no hope at all that our country will ever return to growth. The Telegraph continues:

The number of children with behavioural disorders who are eligible for disability living allowance (DLA) has almost quadrupled to 276,000 since before the pandemic. This total includes 10,000 children under five and 14 children who are less than a year old.

Roughly 16.7 million people – representing a quarter of Britons – now live with a disability. More women than men claim they have an impairment, though disability is more prevalent among boys than girls.

Scottish people are also more likely to say they are disabled than people living in England or Wales.

The figures show roughly 700,000 of children considered disabled are under 10. More people under 20 are also now in this category than Britons aged over 80.

I am appalled that no-one in politics is calling for an immediate inquiry into these dreadful illnesses destroying the health and chances of so many children. Sure Alan Milburn has been asked to look at the benefits system, but who is investigating the children themselves to find out why they are all so poorly?

The Fitzroy Report was commissioned after the Boer War when it had become apparent that large percentages of recruits were rejected from the Army physical reasons. The report sought:

(1) To furnish the Government and the Nation at large with periodical data for an accurate comparative estimate of the health and physique of the people;

(2) to indicate generally the causes of such physical deterioration as does exist in certain classes;

and (3) to point out the means by which it can be most effectually diminished.

It was thorough in its analysis and took a broad approach to finding out why children were failing to thrive. The commissioners examined such things as “cellar-based and back-to-back housing”, “the employment of mothers too soon after childbirth”, “white bread”, “abuse of tea”, “the desire for pleasure”, “hereditary taint”, “the universal preference amongst the women for factory over domestic life”, “the school system”, “incompetent care”, “parental ignorance and neglect” and “juvenile smoking”, for instance. In a foreshadowing of the current Ultra Processed Food debate, it reports:

A striking consensus of opinion was elicited as to the effects of improper or insufficient food in determining physique, and this factor was acknowledged by every witness to be prominent among the causes to which degenerative tendencies might be assigned, though in one or two cases its relative importance was thought liable to exaggeration.

These latest figures about the catastrophic ill-health of our nation’s children surely ought to demand an equivalent commission. After all, what prompted the 1904 Fitzroy Report is not far off what is happening with today’s Army recruits – growing rejection owing to feeble mental and physical health. In 2019-2020, 28.9% of applicants were rejected for medical reasons growing to 39.2% in 2022-3. Of these, 54% of medical rejections between 2020-24 were for mental health or psychiatric reasons.

This is surely terrifying stuff – our mentally enfeebled young are not fit to fight, to be in school or work. What on earth has happened?

Someone surely should be trying to work out what’s to blame. White bread? Juvenile vaping? Out of town housing estates with no public transport? Smartphones? Gaming? Parental ignorance and neglect?  Perhaps others will take up my cry for a national inquiry and calls will grow for someone like Hillary Cass or Louise Casey to get to the bottom of it all.

Or perhaps such an inquiry would discover that actually there’s nothing wrong at all with these children. Instead it will become obvious that millions of healthy children and young adults are being used in an obscene financial grift by private health and education providers, mental health charities and a gullible welfare system.

Terrifying either way.

A new report from researchers at the University of New South Wales in Australia, published in Carcinogenesis, finds that nicotine-based e-cigarettes are likely to cause lung and oral cancers, a finding that may alarm the millions of young people, from high school through college, and into the professional world, who use them heavily. 

Researchers examined human studies, animal experiments, and lab tests. Together, they found signs that vaping can damage DNA, cause inflammation and oxidative stress, and expose users to harmful chemicals considered drivers of cancer. Some rodent studies also found lung tumors after vape exposure.

“Nicotine-based e-cigarettes are likely to be carcinogenic to humans who use them, causing an indeterminate burden of oral cancer and lung cancer,” the researchers wrote in the report.

The researchers still don’t fully understand the long-term risks, given that vaping only entered commercial markets worldwide in the last 20 or so years. However, they say the warning signs are already present and should not be ignored as cigarette risks once were.

“Though smoking was once given the benefit of the doubt, the same should not now be accorded to vaping, given the strength of relevant carcinogenicity data,” wrote study co-authors Freddy Sitas and Bernard Stewart of UNSW in a related commentary.

Vaping in the U.S. emerged in 2007 and was widely touted as a safer way to consume nicotine than traditional methods involving inhaling smoke from burning tobacco leaves. The trend exploded in 2015 with the introduction of Juul.

Millions of Americans started vaping to quit smoking cigarettes. Instead, if the study is correct, they may actually be increasing their health risks.

Vaping is not as harmless as once thought, and the researchers’ point is that e-cigarettes should not receive the same “benefit of the doubt” cigarettes once did, because the cancer warning signs are already present.

Even before the assessment was released, NielsenIQ data showed e-cigarette sales in the U.S. were weak as of March 21 (according to the Goldman report, which can be viewed in full here for Pro subscribers):

Within Tobacco, dollar sales for BAT were up 1.8% over the past four weeks, versus 1.0% last month; sales for IMB were down 3.5% over the past four weeks, versus down 3.4% last month; and sales for MO were down 2.0% over the past four weeks, versus down 3.2% last month.

The question now is whether the study will go viral and alarm consumers enough with cancer fears, and whether those fears will be enough to change spending behavior in a way that shows up in the NielsenIQ data over the coming weeks.

Via Remix News,

Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) met with controversial Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former jihadi terrorist, in Berlin on Monday afternoon.

Among the topics discussed, one of the most prominent was the fact that Merz wants 80 percent of the Syrians currently living in Germany to return home.

“In the longer perspective of the next three years, it is the wish of President al-Sharaa that around 80 percent of the Syrians in Germany should go back into their homeland,” said Merz, before adding: “We need a reliable repatriation option, cooperation with Syria.”

Merz said he supported that, saying many of them “are needed at home.”

The chancellor also made clear that protection statuses would be reassessed.

“Those who have no claim will leave Germany again,” he said — particularly those who “abuse our hospitality.” He balanced this with an acknowledgment that “we are pleased about the many Syrian skilled workers who have integrated.”

Merz reflected on how, roughly a year ago, the dictatorship in Syria “was shaken off,” and reaffirmed that Germany had always stood by the Syrian people, despite the new government being accused of a number of atrocities against minorities, including Christians and Druze.

Merz described reconstruction as an “enormous effort,” stressing that stability and economic performance would be essential for it to succeed. A German delegation is set to travel to Syria “in a few days” to advance cooperation on that front.

The Syrian head of state opened by expressing his “deep gratitude” to Germany, declaring that “Syria is an important country for Europe” and that the country could “come back stronger,” adding: “We want to rebuild our country.”

He noted that 1.3 million Syrians currently live in Germany, including 6,000 doctors who could make a significant contribution to Syria’s recovering economy.

🇸🇾🇩🇪 German politicians are spreading misleading information about Syrian doctors working in Germany.

5,000 Syrian doctors may sound like a lot, but there are 420,000 doctors in Germany. The number of Syrian doctors is approximately just enough to cover the 1 million Syrian… pic.twitter.com/fHJh9945y9

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) December 30, 2024

As Remix News has reported in the past, Syria lost many of its doctors due to the war, with many of them ending up in Germany and other countries in the West. However, many of them have expressed little interest in returning home.

Al-Sharaa outlined a vision for a “cycle” allowing Syrians to return home, while those who wish to remain in Germany would be able to work there. He described the new Syria as a constitutional state “for all Syrians — without exception,” emphasizing that the country is “very diverse” and committed to deepening the “rule of law,” pledging to work with Germany “in great transparency.”

Despite what al-Sharaa said and what Merz may desire, there is little evidence that most Syrians have any incentive or motivation to return home.

For one, many of them have already become German citizens, and more are being naturalized each month. Even if the German government wanted to return them, they would have no legal mechanism for doing so unless the entire constitution were rewritten. There have been some extremely isolated instances where German authorities have attempted to strip citizenship, but only for extreme violations of German law, such as terrorism offenses.

Syrians also have little financial basis to return to a war-torn country — one that remains unstable. In Germany, they have access to free healthcare, housing, social welfare, and a host of other benefits not available in Syria. However, German conservatives have been pushing for a return of hundreds of thousands of Syrians who have not yet obtained citizenship, arguing that, overall, the migrant group has been a net drain on welfare and society. Furthermore, since the fall of Assad, the basis for their asylum is generally no longer present.

Syrian migrants have been responsible for an enormous amount of crime in Germany since their arrival, including 135,000 Syrian crimes against Germans since 2015.

🇩🇪🔴German police say members of an extended Syrian clan family are said to have committed at least 160 crimes in Stuttgart.

They have cost Germany nearly €500,000 in prison detention fees alone, and that is just for 5 of the highly criminal family.

Now, Germany was so… pic.twitter.com/At9ZKozb5U

— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) December 23, 2025

Merz announced that Germany would help “stabilise Syria” with €200 million directed toward expanding water supplies, hospitals and vocational schools, assuring al-Sharaa: “You can count on Germany’s support.”

Merz closed with a direct appeal to his Syrian counterpart: “Create a space for everyone in the new Syria!” He tied future joint projects to the rule of law taking hold in Syria, expressing confidence that this goal was within reach.

Read more here…

Authored by John Velleco via Gun Owners of America,

This week, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in a case that could redefine one of the most fundamental questions in American law: Who is a citizen of the United States?

Does birth on U.S. soil automatically confer citizenship, even when the parents owe allegiance to a foreign nation?

Gun Owners of America and Gun Owners Foundation, along with several others, have filed a Friend of the Court brief urging the Court to take a fresh look at that question. At issue are two cases, State of Washington v. Trump and Barbara v. Trump, challenging President Trump’s 2025 Executive Order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.”

What interest do Second Amendment rights organizations have in asking the Court to review a case that on its face deals with immigration and the practice of so-called birthright citizenship?

The answer is simple and goes to the heart of who, precisely, constitutes a nation. A nation is defined by those who pledge loyalty to it, not by those who briefly cross its borders for the sole purpose of obtaining citizenship by birth. Citizenship must reflect genuine allegiance and lasting connection, or it becomes little more than an administrative label, stripped of substance. And the rights uniquely reserved for citizens, especially the right to keep and bear arms, gradually lose the constitutional footing needed to sustain and protect them.

The Trump executive order simply reaffirms a principle that was once widely understood but has been steadily obscured: citizenship is not an accident of geography, but a solemn bond of allegiance. It directs federal agencies not to treat as U.S. citizens those born here to parents who are neither American citizens nor lawful permanent residents. This policy aligns precisely with the text and original understanding of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Fourteenth Amendment states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” That second phrase, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof,” is not a throwaway clause. It was deliberately inserted to exclude from automatic citizenship those who owe allegiance to another country.

Opponents of the Executive Order rely on the assumption that any person born on U.S. soil, apart from two narrow exceptions, is automatically an American citizen. A reexamination of the Fourteenth Amendment’s text and its framers’ words shows that this assumption rests on shaky constitutional ground.

When Congress debated the amendment in 1866, Senator Jacob Howard explained it “will not, of course, include persons born in the United States who are foreigners, aliens… but will include every other class of persons.” Senator Lyman Trumbull clarified that “subject to the jurisdiction” meant “not owing allegiance to anybody else.” Their intent was clear: the amendment was meant to ensure citizenship for freed slaves, not to create a perpetual magnet for illegal immigration or birth tourism.

Over the decades, that original understanding was gradually eroded by administrative habit and judicial drift. Judicial decisions and administrative practices have treated children born on U.S. soil to parents who are not citizens or permanent residents, including those here illegally or temporarily, as automatic U.S. citizens. That practice, unsupported by statute or constitutional text, has profound consequences.

The consequences extend far beyond immigration. Citizenship is the gateway to full political rights, responsibilities, and constitutional protections. Among these, the Second Amendment stands uniquely tied to the concept of citizenship. The Founders viewed the right to keep and bear arms as inseparable from the duties and privileges of free citizens, individuals who shared in the responsibility of defending their communities and preserving liberty.

When citizenship is detached from allegiance, the political understanding of “the people” who possess this right becomes blurred. Courts and policymakers then face pressure to reinterpret the Second Amendment in ways that weaken it for everyone. As Gun Owners of America has warned in its amicus brief, the Second Amendment does not erode all at once. It erodes gradually, as the definition of the political community itself is reshaped.

This is why the question before the Court is not merely about immigration policy. It is about the integrity of citizenship itself and the constitutional structure that depends on it.

It was the Administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt which expanded citizenship to include virtually anyone born here, and it is President Trump who wants to return us to our historical roots.  When FDR redefined who is a citizen, he imbued them with the constitutional rights that belong only to citizens, including the Second Amendment.  However, if illegal aliens have Second Amendment Rights given to them without any duty of allegiance, those rights for all of us can be expected to be quite weak indeed. 

Restoring citizenship to its constitutional foundation does not require invention. It requires adherence to the text, history, and original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment. Congress, not FDR and the federal agencies, possesses the authority to establish rules for naturalization. The American people, not executive policy, must determine who joins the political community.

President Trump’s executive order does not change the Constitution; it enforces it. It honors the intent of the Fourteenth Amendment framers and restores clarity to our national identity. The Court should overturn the misguided lower-court rulings, and restore the full meaning of “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

John Velleco is the Executive Vice President of Gun Owners of America.

Remember when blues state Democrats tried to enforce sweeping pandemic mandates for years after it became clear that covid was not the “mass killer” that the supposed experts claimed it would be?  Remember when they called for people to be jailed for publicly speaking about scientific facts that contradicted the narrative?  Remember when they called for people’s children to be taken away if they refused to vaccinate? 

Remember how millions of people left blue states in response to the far-left madness?  Well, Democrats are now pretending that none of that ever happened, but they can’t hide the continuing consequences of their draconian policies.  

The historic population shift that escalated during the pandemic era is still well underway, though the causes are now more economic than political.  We recently covered New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s sad attempt to beg wealthy NY taxpayers to stop leaving her state.  However, New York is only one of multiple blue regions being crushed by an ongoing wealth exodus. 

New York Gov Kathy Hochul is begging wealthy people who have moved to Florida and Texas to come back to New York and pay taxes. 🤣

“I need people who are high net worth to support the generous social programs that we want to have in our state. Now, there are some patriotic… pic.twitter.com/B4ql1ktcq6

— Based Jessica (@RealJessica) March 18, 2026

New data from states like Massachusetts indicate that Democrat efforts to institute state level “wealth taxes” are driving out business owners and corporations, and these residents are taking billions in tax revenues with them.  

Massachusetts was hit with loss of $4.2 billion in adjusted gross income in 2023, one of the largest totals in the country, after passing a tax on millionaires.  The amount was an 8% year-over-year increase, according to the Internal Revenue Service.  The state witnessed a net loss of over 41,000 residents in 2022-2023. Keep in mind, this as during the Biden open borders crisis, and over 50,000 migrants also flooded into MA in that same time period.  

In other words, even with mass immigration, blue states still lost huge numbers of resident.  And, they essentially replaced high earning and wealthy taxpayers with low earning and no-tax migrants.   

Other states dealing with a net loss of residents and wealth include:

California, which has led the nation in net domestic out-migration for six consecutive years. In the period July 2024 -July 2025, the state lost approximately 229,000 residents domestically.  Previous years saw losses of around 239,000–400,000+ annually.  California also lost $11.9 billion in net AGI in 2023 alone.

New York recorded the second-highest domestic losses with 137,586 residents leaving (net) in 2024-2025. IRS data shows significant adjusted gross income outflows, including $9.9 billion lost in one year (2022–2023) and a decade-long net loss exceeding $111 billion.

Illinois suffered a net domestic loss of around 40,017 residents in 2024-2025 (down from higher figures in prior years, but still among the top losers).  IL lost a net $6 billion in AGI from 2022 to 2023.  

Washington State is on the progressive path the self destruction with multiple new taxes, including a “Millionaires Tax” passed this year which is expected to drive most corporations and moderately sized businesses out of the area.  The new law requires a nearly 10% tax on any earners making over $1 million per year.  

Other blue states like New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Hawaii also top the lists for out-migration of wealthy resident.  And where is all this money going?  Largely to red states with less taxes and less bureaucracy.  The point being that, ever increasing taxation is not the solution to a successful state economy.  Only states where people want to live are going to do well.