This is low—even for a politician.

In case you need a reminder of just how much the political class hates you, there’s this:

As devastating wildfires continue to ravage Los Angeles, Sen. Elizabeth Warren took to X to encourage people to donate to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles. 

That’s nice of her—using her platform to help raise funds for those whose lives have been literally reduced to ash and rubble. But wait…

The donation link she provided? Turns out it’s not going directly to these charities.

It’s actually a link to a fundraising platform that takes a 3.95% cut of every transaction and gives it to the Democrats. 

Oh.

So, while people think they’re helping out during a crisis, they’re unwittingly supporting a political fundraiser.

Of course I’m not surprised. 

This kind of behavior is exactly what you expect from a political system that thrives on crisis. Whether it’s a natural disaster, economic collapse, or public health emergency, politicians and governments have mastered the art of using these moments as an opportunity to consolidate power and fatten their own wallets.

We even talk about it in The Tuttle Twins and the Leviathan Crisis. 

In the story, Ethan and Emily find themselves battling the forces of Leviathan in a magical game that turns out to be a lot closer to real life than they expected. Through their journey, they learn how fear-mongering, misinformation, and the power-hungry motives of government officials lead to more control, more power, and fewer freedoms for the people.

Our book is based on Robert Higgs’ Crisis and Leviathan and teaches kids how governments grow in size and influence during times of crisis—just like we’re seeing today. 

The lesson is this: Politicians love to capitalize on fear—promising safety and security to the people in exchange for liberty. Ultimately, they only ever increase their control while at the same time fail to deliver on any of their promises.

And, of course, the government never shrinks back to its previous size and scope once the crisis is over.

If this kind of behavior were limited to one politician or one incident, it might be easier to brush off, but this is a systemic issue. Politicians have been exploiting crises for personal and political gain for decades. 

Every emergency, every tragedy, every natural disaster presents a new opportunity to exert more control, spend more taxpayer dollars, and push for policies that would never fly under normal circumstances.

(See literally all of 2020–2021.)

When we fail to recognize this pattern, we allow it to continue. We don’t just let the political class get richer—we let them increase their power over us.

That’s why it’s so important that we teach our kids about the true nature of government.

They need to understand how these systems work and how they’ve been rigged to serve the elites at the expense of the people they claim to represent.

The more we prepare the next generation to think critically about these issues, the more they’ll be able to spot the patterns that have been used against us for so long. 

We need to teach our kids how to recognize manipulation and how to defend against it.The Tuttle Twins and the Leviathan Crisis is a great place to start.

— Connor