Penniless by Design isn’t about loose change — it’s about a government eliminating the smallest unit of value because it has stopped believing the smallest people matter. Trump’s decision to kill the penny is being sold as an efficiency measure, but it amounts to a quiet tax on workers and families who rely on cash. It’s also a confession: the dollar has lost so much value under his “economic leadership” that the coin bearing Lincoln’s face is now deemed worthless.
This essay exposes the petty authoritarian strategy at play: start with symbols that make protest feel absurd, then keep rounding away dignity until no one remembers what fairness looked like. In a performance state, trivial gestures hide structural harm — and those who can least afford it are told to applaud.
If democracy means anything, it means every cent — and every citizen — counts. Pennies are political. So is paying attention.
~ Dunneagin
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