The Price of Eggs and the Cost of a King

Trump’s golden palace won’t survive the hunger he helped unleash. History has seen this before, and it always ends in revolt

The Price of Eggs and the Cost of a King
Photo by litoon dev / Unsplash

I watched a video last night that left me uneasy. It featured everyday Americans shopping at Walmart and Publix, stunned that their grocery bills had doubled or tripled. What used to cost $100 now runs $200, sometimes even $300. And this is Walmart we’re talking about.

I’ve felt it too. My family of three went out for a simple Korean takeout dinner. Nothing extravagant. No steak, no lobster, no drinks. Just one order of soba noodles, a bibimbap, and two sushi rolls. The total with tip? Seventy-two dollars.

That’s insane. Under Biden, that same meal would have cost closer to $50, and even that felt like a stretch.

I watched prices rise during the COVID years. At the wholesale food market, a 5-pound bag of yellow onions went from 79 cents to $1.50, nearly doubling in price. That inflation made sense; it wasn't welcome, but it made sense. A global pandemic disrupted the entire supply chain, a pandemic we were unprepared for, and Trump made it worse.

But this current inflation? This one is self-inflicted. This is what happens when you bring a sledgehammer to global trade and start smashing without understanding. Trump’s tariffs are finally kicking in, and Main Street is paying the price.

@grantchatter

Walmart is Raising Prices and Americans Can't Afford Groceries #costoflivingcrisis #housingcrisis #raising #price #american #fyp

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So let me ask the Trump voters: Are you having fun yet? Are you still cheering for Alligator Auschwitz while you stand in line, shocked at what your groceries cost?

Wasn’t there a rallying cry once about the price of eggs?

I guess you’ve forgotten. Maybe it’s because anyone with a basic understanding of economics knows what tariffs do when coupled with authoritarianism. They strangle economies.

Well, tough cookies ya'll, you voted for this. You can't scream, "I didn't know!" You only jumped up and down with glee when Trump was hurting the people you didn't like, but it's suddenly "real" to you when the shoe is on the other foot.

I have a special message to all those Trump voters complaining about food prices now: Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

Machiavellian overtones

I’ve never been a huge fan of Machiavelli, but even he had insights into human nature, and the quote below captures something essential. The short of it is that Rulers can get away with almost anything as long as people are eating and making a living.

“Men forget more easily the death of their father than the loss of their patrimony.” —Machiavelli, The Prince

Deport undocumented workers? Not their problem. Strip away women’s rights? Who cares. But put steak on sale and everyone’s happy to fire up the grill.

It’s only when people can't eat is when things turn dangerous. People will always feed their families first, and when they can’t do that, they'll revolt.

Just look at France in 1789. When bread became scarce, the monarchy crumbled. The hunger became too much to bear; people rose up, and Marie Antoinette and the King lost their heads.

Trump the King

You’d think Trump might have learned from history. But he hasn’t. He only knows how to grift. Back in December 2024, I wrote:

Trump and his incoming administration’s sole goal is to grift. They are sacking Rome from the inside, grabbing the choicest loot, before throwing open the gates to the Visigoths and sneaking out the back door.

We've seen this in the last 8 months. His cuts and executive orders have started the collapse.

Prices are rising.

Anger is growing.

Inflation is not just coming, it's here.

And it is only going to get worse.

Mark my words, the economy will fall into a terrible recession, and Trump will reap the blame. He will be remembered as the “Inflation President.” Not Carter and certainly not Biden.

I believe that, but Trump doesn’t care. He doesn’t even know how much milk costs and believes that you need an ID to buy groceries. That’s how out of touch he is.

And yet, 77.3 million people voted for him, all because of the price of eggs and being afraid of a woman's laugh.

Just as hunger helped topple the French monarchy, it will topple the golden tower Trump has built for himself. History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes. The golden toilets of Mar-a-Lago might as well be the new Versailles.

I say this to the families who voted for Trump and lost SNAP, Medicare, and other lifelines: remember what this moment feels like. Remember the grift, the betrayal, and the bill you are left with. He never cared about you; he hates you so much that he's willing to let you starve.

This is how revolutions begin, violent ones.

When the food is gone and the bills come due, no king can keep his crown: this time the revolution will be American, and it won’t be televised.

It’ll be felt in the checkout lines, in the empty fridges, and on the ballots.

The price of eggs may just be the cost of a king.