Fee-fi-fo-fum, I Smell the Blood of a Dying Nation
Hyundai ICE Raid Foretells America’s Dark Future
Monday, September 8, 2025 I shared a note reflecting on the ICE raid at Hyundai’s Georgia plant and how it connects to the larger unraveling of America’s alliances and democratic safeguards. What I did not share in that note is a dream I had back in 2020, during Trump’s first term, that speaks directly to what we are now living through.
The Dream
In 2020, during Trump’s first term, I had a dream of America in dystopia. The nation had no modern technology. I always wondered if it was some kind of EMP that wiped out America’s advancements, because in the dream, the only place prospering was where I worked — a combination department store, supermarket, and office all on one level.
I worked in the office section, in a cubicle. My boss was a savvy businessman who not only knew old programming languages like FORTRAN and COBOL but had preserved the equipment to run them. He built a computer system to manage inventory on an old beige desktop, its black screen glowing with green text.
The streets I walked were lined with empty buildings that once housed thriving businesses. The city wasn’t decrepit like a movie apocalypse, the streets were clean and quiet — it was simply stuck in time, while the rest of the world advanced. The office where I worked was modest, not too large, with cubicles, restrooms, and a break room. Nothing fancy yet not depressing. The space where my boss worked had cages on the windows, one way in and one way out, secure but small. I was happy, I was one of the few Americans that had a good, well-paying job. And I admired my boss for his intelligence and wisdom.
One day Donald Trump arrived with the Secret Service to observe operations. America was suffering, and they wanted to see how to replicate our system. Though Trump himself had caused the nation’s collapse, he still walked in with pomp and arrogance. I even remember Queen Latifah was part of the secret service detail, which bemused me. While Trump, the few people that were with him, and a few Secret Service agents went into my boss’ office, Queen Latifah stayed outside of the office standing guard by my boss’ closed office door. I remember seeing my boss excitedly show Trump the computer system while explaining the import/export business model he operated as Trump stood gazing at the system like he understood it, when clearly he didn’t. I quickly left my boss’ office and returned to my cubicle.
Minutes later, an angry white man burst through the door with an automatic rifle, screaming, “Where is he? Where IS he? He LIED TO US! HE LIED TO US!” I could see the pain and despair on the man’s face as he was screaming and waving the weapon around and then turned and stormed toward my boss’ office. I ducked under my desk while everyone else did the same under theirs. Although the man had no intention of shooting us, only Trump, we were still afraid, because bullets have no name. I then ran to the bathroom to hide, only to realize it had no windows to escape out of. So eventually I ducked out of the bathroom and found the back door, and along with others, ran for my life. I remember sprinting for blocks until I reached safety.
2025
When the assassination attempt on Trump happened in summer 2024, I thought that was the dream fulfilled. That one of his followers would attempt to take his life. Because to be clear, from the dream all I recall is an attempt and then the dream switched to my fleeing for safety. The dream did not detail that the attempt was successful or unsuccessful. However, the 2024 assassination attempt wasn’t the dream’s fulfillment. What I saw in that dream is still unfolding before us.
We are watching, in real time, people in Trump’s Cabinet and others actively working to undermine, destabilize, and dismantle the very structures and safeguards that once held this nation together. Systems designed to protect democracy and sustain society are being eroded — sometimes openly, sometimes under the cover of law.
That’s why the ICE raid on Hyundai in Georgia stood out to me. To sabotage a facility that could have provided almost 5,000 direct jobs and 40,000 indirect jobs in the name of hate — that is beyond myopic. That is self-harm. America looks more and more like ancient Israel in the days of Rehoboam and Jeroboam — when arrogance, folly, and idolatry split the kingdom in two. The division itself was judgment.
It will be a dark day when foreign nations begin pulling their nationals, shuttering factories, and closing offices in America. When they stop trading with this nation. Trump foolishly believes all technology originates in America — it does not. And as this nation isolates its allies, it will be cut off from that technology. With crumbling infrastructure and outdated nuclear systems, America is headed for a rude awakening.
Closing Reflections
Dreams often speak in symbols, and this one was no different. Let me point to just a few:
The Empty City and Lost Technology — a symbol of America losing what it prides itself on most, its edge in innovation and strength, leaving it vulnerable and “stuck in time.”
The Boss with Old Knowledge — a picture of wisdom preserved, the remnant who hold on to what others discarded, and who quietly sustain life when the larger systems fail.
The Angry White Man with a Rifle — a sign of how Trump’s base will eventually feel betrayed and turn on him, their rage threatening the very structures that still stand.
The Back Door Escape — the way of survival God always provides, even when it feels like there is no vision and no way forward.
The wheels are already in motion. Whether you see this dream as a precursor, a forecaster, or simply a warning, the reality is clear: democracy in America is being unraveled. It is textbook, and yet people refuse to believe what is happening is happening because America has long been inoculated against the frailties of other nations. But open your eyes — look at Germany, at Rwanda, at other nations that collapsed under the weight of division, propaganda, and violence.
Things are not going back to the way they were. An election will not fix this. Trump’s federal government has sharply increased the budget for ICE through new appropriations — tens of billions for detention centers, enforcement, and expansion with recruiting for the agency happening around the country, even on college campuses. This is occurring while the federal government is actively cutting social welfare programs funding and sending the National Guard to harass Democratic-led cities.
These are deliberate choices of priority. And when a government pours unprecedented resources into ICE while holding flat or cutting growth in programs like food support, public health, or FEMA’s operational budgets, it is effectively reallocating national resources.
The disturbing decision to rename the Department of Defense the Department of War is not a throwback to a golden age. It is an aggressive statement to the world and to America’s own citizens. You can pretend what is happening is not happening, but pretending will not make it go away.