The following is a transcript of a Final Note from Kai Ryssdal that aired at the end of Thursday night’s episode of “Marketplace.”

This final note on the way out today …

… about what’s happening in …

… and to …

… this economy right now …

… an economy that I’m obliged to remind you …

… affects everyone.

A lot of what happens in American capitalism is far from perfect.

We all know that.

But the same kind of capitalism that’s so problematic …

… is also what makes the United States …

… despite its flaws …

… the economic envy of the world.

And that doesn’t just happen out of nowhere.

There’s a baseline set of conditions that foster the investment …

… the trust …

… and the confidence that make the American economy what it is.

The institutions of this economy work, in no small part …

… because the institutions of this democracy work.

The rule of law.

Regulations and processes clearly set forth.

An expectation of fairness …

… and of recourse when wronged.

And all of them are under assault right now.

There are illegal takeovers of government systems.

There are illegal shutdowns of government agencies and departments.

There are forced mass resignations in critical agencies.

And there are private operatives assuming government power and authority.

I said two weeks ago that this program’s not going to chase everything that comes out of the White House.

And we’re not.

But the lasting, structural damage that’s deliberately being done to this economy and everyone in it … has to be pointed out.

From Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s State of the State 2025

“But if there’s one thing I’ve learned as Governor – there are no magic bean fixes. And each year there’s some difficulty that requires us to work hard to overcome it. This year the surfacing difficulty is Donald Trump’s and Elon Musk’s plan to steal Illinois’ tax dollars and deny our citizens the protection and services they need.

“Let me offer a few examples.

“20 million Americans, 700,000 of them here in Illinois, will lose healthcare coverage — if Congressional Republicans are successful in their effort to cut the Affordable Care Act — and rural hospitals across Illinois will be shuttered.

“The Trump administration cut off funding for food safety inspectors for nearly a month, impacting more than 70 meat and poultry facilities in Illinois. Without these inspectors, the supply chain collapses, prices go through the roof, from farmers to truckers to meat packers to retailers, jobs will be lost.

“Meals on Wheels programs — which home deliver 12 million meals per year to 100,000 seniors and people with disabilities in Illinois – are on the federal chopping block.

“This is real. The new administration and the Republican Congress and Elon Musk intend to take these programs away. For all the Illinoisans watching at home – let me be clear, this is going to affect your daily lives. Our state budget can’t make up for the damage that is done to people across our state if they succeed.

“There are people – some in my own Party – who think that if you just give Donald Trump everything he wants, he’ll make an exception and spare you some of the harm. I’ll ignore the moral abdication of that position for just a second to say — almost none of those people have the experience with this President that I do. I once swallowed my pride to offer him what he values most — public praise on the Sunday news shows — in return for ventilators and N95 masks during the worst of the pandemic. We made a deal. And it turns out his promises were as broken as the BIPAP machines he sent us instead of ventilators. Going along to get along does not work – just ask the Trump-fearing red state Governors who are dealing with the same cuts that we are. I won’t be fooled twice.

“I’ve been reflecting, these past four weeks, on two important parts of my life: my work helping to build the Illinois Holocaust Museum and the two times I’ve had the privilege of reciting the oath of office for Illinois Governor.

“As some of you know, Skokie, Illinois once had one of the largest populations of Holocaust survivors anywhere in the world. In 1978, Nazis decided they wanted to march there.

“The leaders of that march knew that the images of Swastika clad young men goose stepping down a peaceful suburban street would terrorize the local Jewish population – so many of whom had never recovered from their time in German concentration camps.

“The prospect of that march sparked a legal fight that went all the way to the Supreme Court. It was a Jewish lawyer from the ACLU who argued the case for the Nazis – contending that even the most hateful of speech was protected under the first amendment.

“As an American and a Jew, I find it difficult to resolve my feelings around that Supreme Court case – but I am grateful that the prospect of Nazis marching in their streets spurred the survivors and other Skokie residents to act. They joined together to form the Holocaust Memorial Foundation and built the first Illinois Holocaust Museum in a storefront in 1981 – a small but important forerunner to the one I helped build thirty years later.

“I do not invoke the specter of Nazis lightly. But I know the history intimately — and have spent more time than probably anyone in this room with people who survived the Holocaust. Here’s what I’ve learned – the root that tears apart your house’s foundation begins as a seed – a seed of distrust and hate and blame.

“The seed that grew into a dictatorship in Europe a lifetime ago didn’t arrive overnight. It started with everyday Germans mad about inflation and looking for someone to blame.

“I’m watching with a foreboding dread what is happening in our country right now. A president who watches a plane go down in the Potomac – and suggests — without facts or findings — that a diversity hire is responsible for the crash. Or the Missouri Attorney General who just sued Starbucks – arguing that consumers pay higher prices for their coffee because the baristas are too “female” and “nonwhite.” The authoritarian playbook is laid bare here: They point to a group of people who don’t look like you and tell you to blame them for your problems.

“I just have one question: What comes next? After we’ve discriminated against, deported or disparaged all the immigrants and the gay and lesbian and transgender people, the developmentally disabled, the women and the minorities – once we’ve ostracized our neighbors and betrayed our friends – After that, when the problems we started with are still there staring us in the face – what comes next.

“All the atrocities of human history lurk in the answer to that question. And if we don’t want to repeat history – then for God’s sake in this moment we better be strong enough to learn from it.

“I swore the following oath on Abraham Lincoln’s Bible: “I do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the state of Illinois, and that I will faithfully discharge the duties of the office of Governor …. according to the best of my ability.”

“My oath is to the Constitution of our state and of our country. We don’t have kings in America – and I don’t intend to bend the knee to one. I am not speaking up in service to my ambitions — but in deference to my obligations.  

“If you think I’m overreacting and sounding the alarm too soon, consider this:

“It took the Nazis one month, three weeks, two days, eight hours and 40 minutes to dismantle a constitutional republic. All I’m saying is when the five-alarm fire starts to burn, every good person better be ready to man a post with a bucket of water if you want to stop it from raging out of control.

“Those Illinois Nazis did end up holding their march in 1978 – just not in Skokie. After all the blowback from the case, they decided to march in Chicago instead. Only twenty of them showed up. But 2000 people came to counter protest. The Chicago Tribune reported that day that the “rally sputtered to an unspectacular end after ten minutes.” It was Illinoisans who smothered those embers before they could burn into a flame.

“Tyranny requires your fear and your silence and your compliance. Democracy requires your courage. So gather your justice and humanity, Illinois, and do not let the “tragic spirit of despair” overcome us when our country needs us the most.

“Thank you.”

Found on Substack

And from Gayla Trail, also on Substack

There are small, simple things that we can do repeatedly everyday to help build capacity within our body’s nervous systems. I say this while also acknowledging that some people are dealing with more than others on physical, practical, and material levels, and that no bodies are built for this. What I’m offering is something small and accessible to all that can help to resist the deregulation we are being made to feel.

The first thing I learned to do was Orienting. This is basically about engaging our body’s senses to signal that we are safe. Whenever you remember, pause for a moment and feel your feet on the ground, or your butt on a seat. Allow your gaze to wander wherever it wants to go. Moving your head is good, but you don’t have to. Listen with curiosity for the sounds you can hear. What is the taste in your mouth right now? What do you smell? Find a place in your body that feels safe and go there. For me, it’s my hands. I usually follow that up by touching something nice that is around me: a plush blanket, rubbing my earlobes, running my hands over my eyes, face and neck.

All of this need only take a minute. It’s not about doing something big, but doing something small repeatedly, which leads to change over time. Set timers on your devices so you don’t forget. Eventually, you’ll start remembering on your own.

And one more from Substack