THE K-ECONOMY: Why America Is Splitting Into Two Realities

A CommonX X-Files Breakdown — For the People Living in the “Real World,” Not the News Graphics

Welcome to the K-Economy, Baby. Thanks BOOMER!

If you’ve been feelin’ like half the country is doing great and the other half is barely hanging on… Congratulations.

You’re not crazy.

You’re living in a K-shaped economy — one of the weirdest, most lopsided economic realities America has ever seen. The media barely explains it. Politicians deny it. Analysts downplay it.

But Gen-X?

We SEE it.

We FEEL it.

We’re living it from the front lines.

The K-economy is the reason why your friend got a big raise while your neighbor is working two jobs and still drowning. It’s why some Americans are buying new trucks while others are choosing between gas and groceries.

It’s why your retirement account can be booming…

…while your day-to-day bank account is crying for help.

Let’s break it down CommonX style — clean, honest, a little sarcastic, and absolutely no bullshit.

📈 THE TOP OF THE K — The People Going Up

These are the people catching the “good” side of the K. Their line shoots upward like Bitcoin after an Elon tweet. Who are they?

✔ High earners

✔ Tech workers

✔ Entrepreneurs

✔ Investors

✔ Homeowners

✔ People with savings

✔ People who can work from home

✔ People holding assets (stocks, crypto, real estate)

These folks are doing well even in a shaky economy because:

• Their jobs weren’t wiped out by automation

• Their investments grew

• Their home value climbed

• Their companies padded salaries to keep talent

• They could switch careers or roles easily

• They didn’t get crushed by inflation as hard

• They had a buffer

Basically, they’re riding the upper slash of the K — the rising line.

💀📉 THE BOTTOM OF THE K — The People Going Down

Then there’s the lower arm of the K — and it’s brutal. This is where most of the hurt lives.

✔ Retail workers

✔ Service industry

✔ Trades hit by automation

✔ Warehouse & logistics

✔ Lower-income households

✔ People living paycheck-to-paycheck

✔ Rural & small-town America

✔ Renters

✔ Anyone without financial padding

They’re getting squeezed by:

• Rent skyrocketing

• Groceries doubling

• Interest rates crushing loans

• Wages that did not keep up

• Job instability

• Zero savings cushion

• Higher credit card debt

• No assets appreciating

• Companies replacing labor with AI or outsourcing

This part of the K falls. They’re not imagining it — life got harder, more expensive, and more unstable.

TWO ECONOMIES — ONE COUNTRY

Here’s the crazy part: Both realities exist at the same time.

You can have:

• A booming stock market

• And collapsing bank accounts

• Rising home equity

• And rising homelessness

• Corporate profits at record highs

• And workers taking side gigs to survive

• A high GDP

• And low household savings

And both are “true.” Because the K-economy doesn’t hit everyone equally. It splits the country — sharply.

WHY GEN-X IS PARTICULARLY PISSED ABOUT THIS?

Because we’re the middle kids. Silent Gen had pensions. Boomers had cheap houses and low inflation. Millennials had tech and timing. Gen-Z has TikTok clout and no fear.

Gen-X? We got:

• 2008 housing crash

• Vanishing pensions

• Wage stagnation

• Raising kids through inflation

• Caretaking aging parents

• Rising healthcare costs

• Tech replacing mid-level jobs

• Zero government support

• And now… the K-economy splitting the damn floor beneath us

We’re the generation most affected by this dual reality — not young enough to rebuild, not old enough to retire. We’re the spine of America carrying the weight while nobody notices.

📡 WHERE THIS GOES: SOCIETY DIVIDES

The K-economy isn’t just about money. It shapes EVERYTHING:

• politics

• opportunity

• where people live

• how people vote

• marriage rates

• birth rates

• mental health

• trust in government

• community stability

When one half rises and the other half sinks, you don’t get unity… you get tension. You get two Americas living in one zip code.

💡 OKAY, SO WHAT CAN PEOPLE DO?

CommonX isn’t here just to call it out. We offer real talk + real solutions. Here’s what Gen-X can do in a K economy:

✔ Build multiple streams of income

Side hustles, content, consulting — diversify.

✔ Cut dumb subscriptions

We all have 12 of them.

✔ Build skills AI can’t

replace

Human storytelling, trades, hands-on work, leadership.

✔ Invest in stable assets

Gold, retirement funds, index funds, safer hedges. This is the perfect place to naturally tie in Gold Club Direct: If you lived through the dot-com crash, 2008, COVID, and now this K-economy madness — it makes sense to have something stable. That’s why we trust Gold Club Direct for precious metals. No hype, just stability.

✔ Pay down debt

Inflation makes debt the enemy.

✔ Invest in your own health

A stronger body = fewer bills + more resilience.

✔ Find community

This is why CommonX even exists — real people sticking together.

☠️ THE COMMONX TAKE

Here’s the truth they won’t say on cable news:

We don’t have a single economy.

We have two — and they’re pulling away from each other like broken train rails.

If you’re on the top line of the K, protect your gains. If you’re on the bottom line, you’re not alone — the game is rigged, not your effort. If you’re in the middle (Gen-X), you’re the backbone that’s holding both halves together. And we see you. We live what you live.

And we’re gonna talk about it because nobody else will.

This is CommonX.

This is the X-Files.

This is the real world. Remember, “Eat the Rich,” — they wouldn’t spit on us if we were on fire!

Written by Ian Primmer — Co-host, CommonX

What I Learned From Trying (and Failing) to Out-Walk Jesus

By Ian Primmer - CommonX

There’s something both humbling and hilarious about spending an entire month grinding out 8–10 miles a day — sweating on treadmills, pounding pavement, scrambling between railroad shifts, dentist appointments, gym sessions, and podcast work — only to realize… I still can’t out-walk Jesus. Not even close.

I’ve been on a total transformation arc lately. A real one. I wake up every day and go HARD — treadmill, elliptical, more steps, more miles, more cardio, more discipline than I’ve had in years. And you know what? It’s worked.

✔ I reversed prediabetes

✔ My testosterone clearly went up

✔ My waistline shrank

✔ I feel healthier, stronger, faster

✔ My confidence surged

✔ My marriage heated up

✔ People in the gym literally look twice now

But then I looked at the historical record of Jesus’ daily mileage… And man… I suddenly felt like a beginner all over again.

The Reality Check: Jesus Was Basically David Goggins in Sandals

Historians estimate Jesus walked:

15–20 miles per day. EVERY. DAY.

Across:

• rugged terrain

• brutal heat

• mountain paths

• desert roads

• ancient uneven rocks

No treadmill. No cooling fans. No Nike Air Max cushioning. No Quick Dry moisture-wick socks. No Apple Watch. No electrolyte gummies.

Just leather sandals and purpose.

Meanwhile, I’m over here sweating like a sinner in July trying to squeeze in 8 miles before my dentist appointment.

My Month of Monster Mileage

Let’s be honest — I’ve been putting in WORK:

• 7–10 miles daily

• 12–14 standing hours

• 15,000–18,000 steps

• 120–150 minutes of cardio

• treadmill + elliptical combos

• calorie burns rivaling marathon training

I’ve watched numbers change. I’ve watched my body change. I’ve watched my MIND change.

This transformed me. But the deeper lesson wasn’t about miles… It was about discipline, consistency, and humility.

What I Learned From Trying (and Failing) to Out-Walk Jesus

1. The Body Records What the Mind Honors

Once I committed, my body responded. Fast. Stronger legs, smaller waist, cleaner blood sugar — it all happened.

2. Consistency Beats Intensity

Jesus didn’t “train.” He just walked every day. And that routine shaped His strength. Same with me.

3. Modern Life Softens Us

Even with cushioned shoes and gyms everywhere, we are nowhere near the durability of ancient people. That’s not an insult. It’s an opportunity.

4. Movement Is Spiritual

Walking clears your head. It opens your heart. It centers your spirit. It pulls your life back into alignment. No wonder Jesus did it constantly.

5. You Don’t Have to Out-Walk Jesus — Just Show Up Like He Did

The point isn’t mileage. It’s showing up every day with purpose, humility, and heart. That’s what changes you.

If Jesus Had an Apple Watch…

That thing would’ve exploded. It would’ve been like:

“STOP. YOU HAVE CLOSED YOUR RINGS UNTIL APRIL.”

or

“Congratulations, you have completed 2 months of cardio today.”

The Takeaway

I tried to out-walk Jesus. I failed beautifully.

Because the real win wasn’t beating His miles —

it was meeting myself.

It was waking up every day with intention. It was fighting for my health. It was reclaiming my discipline. It was rebuilding my body and my spirit. It was walking toward the version of me I almost forgot existed.

And that, brothers and sisters… feels holy in its own way.

Zombie and the Voice That Still Echoes

Zombie and the Voice That Still Echoes

There are moments when music becomes more than sound — when it turns into a cry from somewhere deep inside the human condition. For Gen-X, that cry had a name: Dolores O’Riordan.

Her voice was raw and haunting, tender one second and thunderous the next. When Zombie hit MTV in 1994, it wasn’t just another grunge-era anthem — it was a protest wrapped in vulnerability. Dolores sang of violence, war, and the weight of generations growing up in the shadow of conflict. Her voice cut through the noise — not just in tone, but in truth.

She was supposed to record a new version of Zombie with Bad Wolves in 2018. The world knows the rest. Hours before she was set to step back into the studio, her light went out — but her legend only burned brighter. Bad Wolves went on to release their version as a tribute, donating proceeds to her family. The song became both a eulogy and a celebration — proof that the spirit of Dolores can’t be silenced.

For so many of us, The Cranberries were the soundtrack to coming of age. Songs like Linger, Dreams, and Ode to My Family didn’t just define an era — they defined emotion itself. Her lyrics were poetry for the misunderstood, a reminder that pain can be beautiful, and that rebellion doesn’t always need distortion pedals — sometimes, it’s carried by the voice of one brave soul daring to sing anyway.

Dolores didn’t just sing for Ireland. She sang for everyone who ever felt unseen, unheard, or undone by the world around them. And in doing so, she became one of us — one of the true spirits of Gen-X.

Even now, years later, her voice still echoes — through speakers, through memories, through every young artist chasing authenticity in a world that trades it for algorithms. Dolores taught us that art doesn’t have to be perfect — it just has to be real.

Rest easy, Dolores.

The world still hears you.

Crusty Demons of Dirt: When Gen-X Took Flight and Never Looked Back

By Ian Primmer

Before GoPros, before energy-drink deals, before social-media stunts and clickbait “fails,” there were the Crusty Demons of Dirt — a band of maniacs who didn’t just ride; they launched. If you grew up Gen-X, you remember it. Those grainy VHS tapes passed around like underground contraband, covered in dust, duct tape, and fire. Each one was a mixtape of speed, punk rock, blood, and glory. The Crusty Demons weren’t just motocross riders. They were a movement — a cultural combustion engine that redefined what “extreme” meant. They didn’t have sponsors, hashtags, or choreographers. They had balls, dirt, and soundtrack albums loud enough to rattle the gods of safety.

Born from Chaos

The Crusty saga started in the mid-’90s, when Jon Freeman and Dana Nicholson of Freeride Entertainment decided to film what motocross really looked like — not the sanitized, family-friendly ESPN clips, but the wild-eyed desert rides and bone-snapping wipeouts that no one else would touch. They strapped cameras to bikes, hung out of helicopters, and cranked Pennywise and Metallica until the footage felt alive. It wasn’t just a video. It was a sermon for the reckless. Every crash, every burn, every impossible jump became a statement: We’re not here to survive. We’re here to live. The first Crusty Demons of Dirt dropped in 1995 and detonated across skate shops, video stores, and garages everywhere. Within months, it was a cult. Within a year, it was a religion.

The Soundtrack of Adrenaline

You can’t talk about Crusty without talking about the sound. The music was the gasoline. The Offspring. Sublime. Metallica. NOFX. It wasn’t background noise — it was the manifesto. Crusty didn’t just showcase motocross — it fused two worlds that were never supposed to meet: punk-rock attitude and high-octane adrenaline. That combination shaped everything from Freestyle Motocross (FMX) to the look of early action-sports video games. The fast cuts, the soundtracks, the chaos — all of it traces back to Crusty.

The Church of Adrenaline

To the fans, Crusty was proof that we didn’t need permission. We didn’t need perfect hair, million-dollar gear, or safe contracts.
We needed a bike, a buddy, a ramp, and some guts. The Crusty riders — names like Seth Enslow, Carey Hart, and Mike Metzger — were the new rock stars. Covered in dirt, blood, and duct tape, they were the anti-MTV heroes. They weren’t chasing medals. They were chasing moments. Moments where gravity bowed out and instinct took over.

Legacy in the Dust

Nearly thirty years later, Crusty Demons still tour the world with live stunt shows, keeping that renegade DNA alive. You can find them on streaming services now, but nothing compares to holding one of those old tapes in your hands — stickers peeling, label smudged, rewound a hundred times. For a generation raised on DIY rebellion, Crusty Demons was more than dirt and danger — it was philosophy. It said: “We don’t fear the fall, because falling means we flew.” And maybe that’s why it still matters.
Because the world polished the edges off everything else, but Crusty stayed raw.

💥 The CommonX Take

Crusty Demons of Dirt wasn’t a film series — it was a time capsule. A reminder that Gen-X didn’t need filters or validation. We had throttle, distortion, and attitude. They built something from nothing — just like the garage bands, backyard skateboarders, and late-night dreamers that defined our era. And in that sense, Crusty Demons wasn’t just about motocross…
It was about life without training wheels.

Built From the Ground Up: Why Summit Racing Still Defines the Spirit of the Garage

There’s a sound every Gen-Xer remembers — the deep, metallic symphony of wrenches hitting concrete, the slow hum of a shop light flickering to life, and a record spinning somewhere in the background while an engine idles between rebuilds. Before “add to cart” was a thing, there was a catalog. And before algorithms told you what you needed, there was Summit Racing — the original source of horsepower, dreams, and busted knuckles.

In those days, your garage wasn’t a side project. It was your sanctuary. You didn’t wait for motivation. You waited for the weekend.

The Gen-X Blueprint: Build It Yourself, Break It Again, Build It Better

Our generation didn’t grow up in a world of tutorials and influencer builds. We learned by trial, error, and torque. If something broke, you fixed it — because you had to. If the part didn’t fit, you made it fit. And Summit Racing was there for every late-night brainstorm, every half-finished beer, every moment you realized “Hell yeah, this is gonna work.”

For a lot of us, flipping through that thick Summit catalog was like scrolling through the future. Every page felt like an invitation to try something you weren’t supposed to — a bigger carb, a crazier cam, a louder exhaust. It was rebellion printed in glossy color.

🔥 Summit Racing – Gear Up and Build Yours

Still Running Strong

Fast-forward to now, and Summit Racing hasn’t slowed down — it’s evolved right alongside the generation that made it famous. From carbureted Chevelles to turbocharged Teslas, the gearheads of Gen-X never stopped building. We just started building different.

That same garage culture? Still alive. Still loud. Still covered in grease and glory. And while the world’s moved to subscription boxes and disposable everything, Summit Racing remains a haven for people who still believe in fixing over replacing. You can feel it every time you order a part — that mix of anticipation, pride, and a little nostalgia for the smell of motor oil and gasoline.

⚙️ Check out Summit’s latest performance upgrades

The CommonX Parallel

That’s why this story hits home for us at CommonX. We’ve always been about the same thing — building something real with your own hands. Whether it’s a podcast, a brand, or a machine, there’s no shortcut worth taking.

Just like Summit Racing, we came up from garages, basements, and backyards. No investors, no filters, no “growth hacks.” Just heart and hustle. Even now, you can feel the spirit of that culture in everything we do — whether it’s the topics we cover, the people we bring on, or the partners we align with.

Richard Karn and the Home Improvement Generation

When we think of Richard Karn, we think of that same vibe — tools, laughter, life lessons. He represents a generation that didn’t just “have tools,” but knew how to use them. That was the golden age of garage life. Every dad, uncle, and friend had a project car or a busted lawnmower that needed fixing. The garage was our classroom, and Summit Racing was the textbook.

It wasn’t about money or showing off. It was about pride — the pride of hearing something roar back to life because you made it happen.

🔩 Summit Racing: Parts. Pride. Performance.

The Rebellion Never Idles

Today, most people scroll, tap, or stream their way through projects. But the Gen-X mindset? It’s still out there, alive in garages, workshops, and driveways across America. It’s alive in every man or woman who says, “Yeah, I’ll fix it myself.” We don’t wait for someone to show us how — we figure it out.

That’s the Summit Racing way. That’s the CommonX way. And that’s what separates the doers from the dreamers.

Full Circle

So here we are, a few decades later — still chasing that same sound of an engine finding its rhythm. Still turning wrenches to shake off the noise of a world that forgot what real work feels like. Still holding on to something pure — something mechanical, something human. Because for Gen-X, this was never just about cars. It was about building something that runs.

So if you’ve got that itch — the one that hits around sunset when the day slows down — don’t ignore it. Open the garage door. Throw on some music. And let Summit Racing take care of the rest.

🏁 Start Building with Summit Racing Equipment

Because the dream never idles.