VIDEO: Las Vegas, NV
Ben Cable (Originally Posted Dec. 29, 2025 on Substack)
Las Vegas ends every year the same way: fireworks over the Strip, champagne in plastic cups, promises shouted over bass-heavy countdowns. But when 2026 arrives, the hope here won’t live on the Strip.
It’ll wake up early.
It’ll clock in.
It’ll ride the bus.
Because Las Vegas isn’t just where America comes to escape — it’s where millions are trying to hold on.
THE STRIP CELEBRATES — THE CITY PREPARES
The Strip will sparkle at midnight.
Backstage, workers will already be thinking about January rent.
Housekeepers, cooks, bartenders, stagehands, security — the people who make the fantasy real — are entering 2026 hoping for basics that never make the highlight reel:
- Steadier hours
- Affordable housing
- Healthcare that doesn’t feel like a gamble
- Respect for work that keeps the city alive
Vegas hope isn’t loud.
It’s practical.
COMMUNITIES HOLDING THE LINE INTO 2026
Las Vegas is a city built by communities that rarely get the microphone — and as the calendar flips, those communities are still here, still believing.
- Latino families hoping 2026 brings stability, not fear
- Filipino healthcare workers hoping exhaustion finally meets recognition
- Black Las Vegas neighborhoods hoping investment doesn’t mean displacement
- Asian American business corridors hoping recovery becomes real, not promised
This city doesn’t hope for miracles.
It hopes for fair chances.
TWO VEGASES, ONE WISH
Vegas enters 2026 split cleanly down economic lines.
One Vegas:
- Luxury towers
- Private security
- Endless upgrades
The other:
- Rent notices
- Side hustles
- “Maybe next year” budgets
Yet the wish is shared:
Let 2026 be the year work actually pays.
Hope here isn’t naïve.
It’s stubborn.
FAITH, QUIET AND UNBREAKABLE
As 2026 dawns, churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples across the valley are full — not for spectacle, but for grounding.
People aren’t praying for jackpots.
They’re praying for:
- Health
- Family
- Peace
- A year without constant crisis
In a city built on chance, faith remains one of the few things people can still choose.
TRUTH: VEGAS HOPES ANYWAY
Las Vegas knows the odds.
It knows the system is tilted.
It knows promises are cheap.
And still — it hopes.
Because hope is the only thing this city hasn’t been able to sell off yet.
Vegas enters 2026 tired, diverse, divided, resilient — and unwilling to disappear behind the neon.
CITIZEN BEN SAYS:
Las Vegas doesn’t want a reset.
It wants a reckoning that leads somewhere better.
Fireworks fade.
Bills arrive.
But hope — real hope — punches the clock on January 1.
Welcome to 2026, Las Vegas.
You’re still standing.
— Citizen Ben
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