Rage Against the Machine
Macro Outlook
SUMMARY
· Popular dissatisfaction has grown into rage
· Donald Trump is a vehicle to express rage
· Current institutions may have run their time
· Breaking the status quo, institutions and norms is the goal
· Societal transformation with a zero-sum thinking is the tool
Rage : The Source
The deepening divisions across American society—rich versus poor, left versus right, urban versus rural, men versus women, and white-collar versus blue-collar—have become flashpoints of national rage because they symbolize a growing sense of alienation and betrayal. Economic inequality, for instance, has left many working- and middle-class Americans feeling excluded from the prosperity enjoyed by the wealthiest. As jobs have disappeared in manufacturing and wages have stagnated, resentment has mounted against elites perceived to have benefited from globalization, automation, and financialization. Simultaneously, political polarization has transformed policy disagreements into moral crusades, with both left and right viewing the other not just as wrong, but as dangerous to the nation’s future.
These divisions are sharpened by cultural and geographic lines. Gender and identity politics have deepened feelings of displacement for some, especially among men who feel the rules of success have changed. The rural-urban split reinforces this estrangement, as cities increasingly reflect progressive values and economic dynamism, while rural areas often struggle with population loss and economic stagnation. White-collar professionals, working in knowledge industries and coastal hubs, are often seen as dismissive of the cultural values and hardships of the blue-collar workforce. This layered resentment is not just about income or ideology—it’s about dignity, recognition, and the feeling that one’s way of life is being erased or ridiculed by a remote and uncaring elite. The rage stems from a perception that the system is rigged—and that no one in power is listening.
Rage : Incontrollable Outbursts of Anger
Donald Trump’s political rise and continued hold over a large segment of the American population can be directly linked to the sense of rage and dispossession that many feel across the country. The image of Trump raising a defiant fist with a bloodied ear after surviving an assassination attempt—widely circulated and quickly mythologized—symbolizes more than personal resilience; it encapsulates a narrative of permanent struggle. To his supporters, he
embodies their fight: against perceived liberal overreach, coastal elitism, government institutions, and cultural displacement. His brand thrives on confrontation and grievance, and in this moment, the physical wound was interpreted as proof that he, too, bleeds in the battle they believe they're waging. It cemented him not just as a leader but as a martyr-in-waiting, willing to bear the cost of a war many believe the political class refuses to even acknowledge.
Rage, internalized over time, has spilled into policy execution. Under the new Republican Administration, this has translated into policies that are designed to punish perceived enemies. Trade wars, immigration crackdowns, attacks on multilateral institutions, and culture war initiatives like education reforms or anti-"woke" governance are about signaling alignment with a population that feels besieged. In this context, policymaking has become an emotional outlet, a way to channel resentment into visible action.
The table below highlights areas where some form of consensus exists and how the new administration has acted in response.
The Target of the Rage
This political rage—rooted in growing economic dislocation, cultural upheaval, and institutional mistrust—is now being actively channeled into efforts to break the status quo across nearly every layer of governance and society. For a large segment of the population, traditional political norms and institutional guardrails are not just outdated—they are seen as instruments of elite control, deliberately designed to exclude their voices and preserve an unfair order. Trump's movement has become a vehicle for disrupting that architecture through direct confrontation. When courts, agencies, or global alliances push back, many supporters see a rigged system protecting itself. In this view, dismantling bureaucracies, purging the "deep state," and withdrawing from international commitments are necessary purifications.
This desire to overthrow the status quo finds resonance in both rhetoric and policy. Trump’s promises to “drain the swamp,” withdraw from the Paris Agreement, or even challenge NATO obligations are understood by his base not as isolationist, but as declarations of independence from systems seen as indifferent or hostile to them. The rage becomes a revolutionary force aiming for fundamental rewiring. This populist uprisings is animated by grievance identity—a feeling of being betrayed by a political, cultural, and economic elite. Rage is a tool for tearing down a system that has, in their eyes, already written them off.
The table below highlights some of the institutional disruptions that have been initiated.
Reaction
The contemporary political climate in the U.S. reflects a paradox where the rhetoric of upholding the Constitution is often used not to preserve institutional stability, but to justify actions that erode it. Invocations of the Constitution are selectively applied to defend sweeping executive powers, restrict federal oversight, or challenge electoral processes, while ignoring foundational principles like checks and balances or equal protection. Similarly, respect for the media—a core pillar of democratic accountability—has been deliberately undermined. Labeling journalists as “enemies of the people” and dismissing credible reporting as “fake news” de-legitimizes independent information sources, eroding public trust and narrowing the flow of reliable civic discourse.
This erosion extends into the international arena and the civic fabric. Undermining foreign relations—through unilateral withdrawals, transactional diplomacy, or public disparagement of allies—sends signals that long-standing norms and partnerships are expendable. Expertise, once revered in policymaking, is now often portrayed as elitist or politically tainted, leading to decisions shaped more by ideology or instinct than evidence. This, in turn, feeds a broader doubt in the very concept of truth. When truth becomes relative—when every fact is contestable and every expert suspect—governance shifts from problem-solving to performance. The cumulative effect of these trends is a weakening of the civic architecture that binds democratic systems: trust, deliberation, cooperation, and factual consensus. These aren’t accidental byproducts—they are features of a strategy to hollow out the legitimacy of the current system and replace it with one that reflects loyalty and identity over institutions and law.
For investors, this attempt at transforming the current system implies that the distribution of probable outcome is much wider. Expect the unexpected. Keep more liquidity.