🎆 Fourth of July 2025: Panem et Circenses - When America Chose Spectacle Over Sustenance
The timeless lesson about bread and circuses that today's leaders forgot
😽 Keepin’ It Simple Summary for Younger Readers
👧🏾✊🏾👦🏾
The article explains how politicians sometimes try to distract people with exciting shows 🎪 instead of solving real problems - like how families can't afford groceries 🍞 even though the president promised to make food cheaper.
It's like if a parent promised to buy you new video games 🎮 but spent all their money on fancy decorations 🎉 instead, and then tried to make you forget about the games by putting on a magic show 🪄. The writer lives near the Mexican border 🌵 and sees how these political decisions affect real families every day.
They use an old Roman saying about "bread and circuses" 🍞🎭 to show this isn't a new problem - leaders throughout history have tried to keep people happy with entertainment when they couldn't provide basic necessities. The article suggests that communities can work together to grow food 🌽 and help each other, rather than waiting for politicians to keep their promises.
🗝️ Takeaways
🛒 Grocery prices continue rising despite Trump's campaign promises to bring them down "starting on day one"
🎭 Political spectacle dominates over practical solutions, following the ancient Roman pattern of "bread and circuses."
💰 The "One Big Beautiful Bill" allocates $3.3 trillion primarily to tax cuts for wealthy individuals and corporations, not grocery relief
🌾 Trump's tariff policies on food imports from Mexico and Canada will likely increase grocery prices further
👥 Mass deportation threats could devastate agricultural labor and drive up food production costs
🤝 Local community action offers practical alternatives through food co-ops, gardens, and mutual aid
📈 Economic contradictions are creating rifts even among Trump's billionaire allies like Elon Musk
🏛️ Historical patterns show that leaders who prioritize spectacle over basic needs eventually face a popular uprising
Fourth of July 2025: Panem et Circenses - When Spectacle Replaces Sustenance
By Three Sonorans
As fireworks light up the Sonoran sky tonight and families gather for Fourth of July celebrations across our borderlands, I find myself reflecting not on the pageantry of patriotism, but on a much older truth about power and politics.
The Romans had a phrase for it: "Panem et circenses" - bread and circuses.
They understood that to keep the people satisfied, leaders must provide both sustenance and spectacle. Feed the masses, entertain them, and they'll stay docile while you build your power.
But what occurs when the spectacle becomes so intoxicating that leaders completely forget about the bread?
The Failed Promise of Pan for the People
Six months into the Trump administration's second term, the harsh reality is setting in for millions of American families: grocery prices continue to climb while promises of relief remain unfulfilled.
Órale, the irony is thick as molasses de caña - the very issue that helped propel Trump back to the White House remains stubbornly resistant to his promised quick fixes.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump stood before grocery store displays, surrounded by eggs and bacon, promising Americans he would "immediately bring prices down, starting on day one."
He told voters about an elderly woman who had to put back one of three apples at the checkout because of high prices. Qué triste, such a powerful image that resonated with families struggling to stretch every dollar.
Yet here we are, and eggs are still more than $1 higher than they were a year ago.
Trump himself admitted in December that it would be "hard" to bring prices down, acknowledging what economists had been saying all along—that presidential promises to dramatically lower consumer prices are often more political theater than economic reality.
The truth is, if the administration had been genuinely committed to providing immediate relief for working families, targeted measures could have been implemented to offer short-term assistance.
Instead of spending trillions on tax cuts for the wealthy, imagine if they had allocated just a fraction of that money toward direct food assistance, strategic subsidies for essential items like eggs and milk, or emergency relief for families struggling with grocery bills.
¿Verdad que sí?
Imagine if Trump spent some of that trillion dollars he’s giving to the wealthy on lowering the cost of a dozen eggs and a gallon of gas to a dollar. Heck, even two dollars. He might have gotten away with his reverse Peter Pan economics, but he forgot the first half of the panem et circenses equation: the bread.
The Circus: Spectacle Over Substance
Instead, we've witnessed an administration that has mastered the art of the spectacle while neglecting the fundamental needs of everyday people.
"Alligator Alcatraz" highlights the brutal nature of immigration enforcement, focused on evoking strong, fear-based images of migrants being ripped apart by alligators and snakes.
This is the circenses part of the equation—the bloody entertainment designed to distract from policy failures.
Ancient Romans threw Christians to lions in the Colosseum to pacify the masses. Today's version involves demonizing vulnerable populations while cameras roll, creating a spectacle that energizes a base while masking the administration's inability to deliver on basic economic promises.
The recent passage of Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" provides a perfect case study in misplaced priorities.
This massive legislation, which passed the Senate in a tie-breaking vote by Vice President JD Vance, allocates $3.3 TRILLION over the next decade, primarily toward tax cuts for higher earners and corporations, rather than grocery relief for working families.
The bill does include some provisions that will help certain families, such as a permanent increase in the child tax credit to $2,200 per child and tax deductions for tips and overtime pay.
But these modest benefits are dwarfed by the massive giveaways to wealthy individuals and corporations, while simultaneously cutting programs like Medicaid and SNAP that directly help families afford food and healthcare.
The Economics of Distraction
What makes this particularly galling is that the administration had real opportunities to address grocery prices but chose policies that economists had warned would exacerbate the problem.
Trump's proposed tariffs on food imports, including 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, which supply 60% of our fresh fruit and 40% of our fresh vegetables, are already driving up prices.
As economist Tyler Schipper explained to CNN, "Tariffs have the effect, especially for goods that are more concentrated in individual countries, to raise prices."
The very policies Trump champions as economic nationalism are functionally taxes on American consumers, making groceries more expensive for the families he claimed to champion.
Meanwhile, the administration's promise of mass deportations threatens to devastate agricultural labor forces. There are more than 2 million undocumented workers throughout the U.S. food chain, including an estimated 1 million working on farms. Removing this workforce would create labor shortages that drive up production costs, which would be passed on to consumers as higher prices.
Es un círculo vicioso - a vicious cycle where the very policies designed to appeal to the base actually hurt the economic interests of working families.
The Borderlands Perspective
Here in Southern Arizona, we understand the human cost of political theater better than most.
Our communities have long been laboratories for immigration enforcement policies that prioritize spectacle over humanity. We've seen how militarization of the border creates suffering without addressing the root causes of migration or improving economic conditions for Americans.
The cruel irony is that many of the families now struggling with grocery prices are the same ones who supported harsh immigration policies, believing that removing undocumented workers would somehow improve their economic situation.
Instead, they're discovering that immigrant labor is integral to keeping food affordable, and that punitive policies often backfire economically.
Nuestra gente - our people - on both sides of the border understand that prosperity comes from cooperation, not cruelty. The Indigenous Tohono O'odham have lived in these borderlands for thousands of years, understanding that survival requires community, mutual aid, and respect for the land that sustains us.
Their worldview offers lessons for a nation that has lost sight of the connection between caring for people and creating prosperity.
When the People Finally See Through the Smoke
The beauty of the "bread and circuses" metaphor lies in the fact that it contains the seeds of its own destruction. Roman leaders could maintain power through spectacle only as long as they also provided basic sustenance. When the bread ran out, no amount of circus could save them from a popular uprising.
Y aquí estamos - and here we are.
Despite months of promises and massive spending bills, families continue to struggle at the grocery store. The spectacle of immigration raids and trade wars hasn't put food on anyone's table.
Even Trump's own supporters are beginning to ask hard questions.
The passage of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" has created a rift between Trump and Elon Musk, with Musk calling the legislation "political suicide" for Republicans and threatening to bankroll primary challenges against Republican lawmakers who supported it.
When billionaire allies are openly fighting over fiscal responsibility while working families still can't afford eggs, it becomes clear that the emperor has no clothes—or in this case, no bread.
La Verdad About Power and Priorities
If Trump and his allies had not been so ruthless and malicious, they might have managed to feed Americans and earn their support. This highlights a key political error: lasting political power requires genuinely improving people's lives, rather than offering mere distractions from their hardships.
La neta—the truth—is that caring for people's basic needs isn't just morally right; it's politically smart.
A leader who could have genuinely addressed grocery prices while building infrastructure and creating jobs would have been nearly unbeatable. Instead, we have an administration so committed to cultural grievance and spectacle that it can't deliver on its most basic economic promises.
The tragedy is that the resources exist to address these problems. The "One Big Beautiful Bill" allocates $3.3 trillion over the next decade, demonstrating that when political will exists, massive government spending is entirely possible. The question is whether that spending serves working families or wealthy donors.
A Fourth of July Reflection
As we celebrate the founding ideals of this nation today, it's worth remembering that the American Revolution was partly driven by economic grievances, such as taxation without representation and trade policies that favored the British Empire at the expense of colonial prosperity.
The Boston Tea Party wasn't just about tea; it was about who gets to determine economic policy and who benefits from it.
Nuestros antepasados, our ancestors who lived in these lands before borders existed, understood that leadership meant ensuring the community's survival and prosperity. Chiefs and councils who failed to provide for their people didn't last long, regardless of how impressive their ceremonies or how fearsome their warriors.
Today's political theater feels especially hollow amid ongoing economic hardship. Families choosing between groceries and gasoline don't require more rallies or raids - they need policies that truly tackle the cost of living.
Looking Forward: Esperanza and Action
But here's where hope enters the story.
The same economic pressures that created the current political moment can also create opportunities for change. When people are struggling and the current leadership fails to provide solutions, opportunities arise for new voices and approaches.
La resistencia - the resistance - isn't just about opposing bad policies; it's about building better alternatives. In communities across the borderlands, we're seeing examples of mutual aid, cooperative economics, and local food systems that prioritize people over profit.
Community gardens, food co-ops, and local agriculture initiatives offer models for food security that don't depend on global supply chains or corporate benevolence. Indigenous-led organizations are revitalizing traditional food systems that have sustained communities for millennia, long before the advent of industrial agriculture.
These aren't just feel-good projects - they're practical demonstrations that another way is possible. When federal policy fails, local action becomes even more important.
How to Get Involved
The path forward requires both resistance to harmful policies and construction of better alternatives:
Support Local Food Security:
Join or donate to community gardens and food co-ops
Buy from local farmers and Indigenous-led agricultural projects
Support food banks and mutual aid organizations
Political Engagement:
Contact representatives about the real impact of trade and immigration policies on food prices
Attend city council and county supervisor meetings to advocate for local food policy
Register voters and support candidates who prioritize working families over wealthy donors
Build Community Resilience:
Learn about traditional foods and sustainable agriculture
Support Indigenous sovereignty and land rights
Participate in local organizing around economic justice
Stay Informed: Supporting independent media, such as Three Sonorans Substack, helps ensure that these critical connections between policy and daily life continue to be explored. We need journalism that follows the money, tracks policy impacts, and centers the experiences of working families rather than amplifying political theater.
The Romans eventually learned that you can't sustain an empire on circuses alone - the people eventually demand their bread, and when they don't get it, even the most spectacular shows lose their power to distract.
In our borderlands, where Indigenous wisdom about community care meets contemporary struggles for economic justice, we're reminded daily that true leadership means ensuring everyone has enough to eat.
That's a lesson worth remembering this Fourth of July.
What do you think? Leave a comment below with two questions related to this article - whether about economic policy, local food systems, or the intersection of immigration and agricultural labor. Your questions help shape our ongoing coverage of these critical issues affecting our communities.
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On the subject of "Bread and Circuses," Trump now plans to host a UFC event. Why not? The US taxpayers will be picking up the tab!
<< Addressing the crowd during an appearance at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Trump said: "Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We're going to have a UFC fight. We're going to have a UFC fight - think of this - on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there." >> Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1mzxz1m9meo