The days of the United States being admired by the world as an exceptional example of democracy are over. Instead, we have become a “Mafia” state run by a mentally unstable ego-driven bully thug who demands that Congress members, industry leaders, law enforcement, news outlets, and even sovereign nations submit to him. His weapons are billionaire funding, our military power, trade tariffs, public humiliation, and now the justice department itself with threats of investigations and imprisonment. We are in this position because we looked the other way as greedy billionaires purchased our news outlets, congress members, and Supreme Court justices to fundamentally destroy our democracy and install a useful idiot with a cult-like following as king. And he is a mad king, surrounded by unqualified and highly incompetent cabinet members and advisors. The free world looks on in utter dismay as they watch us implode while China, North Korea and Russia happily siege the opportunity to advance. The changing world order is already beginning with China or Europe taking leadership and making new trade partnerships as the United States moves toward rapid moral and economic decline. We are no longer seen as reliable.
Trump is attempting to usher in a number of changes to our society that will fundamentally alter the way we treat each other. We can no longer count on the collective values of empathy, accurate news reporting, fairness in access to opportunity, and scientific innovation. We enjoyed a few good years when equality and justice were aspirations worth pursuing and when patriotism included holding our leaders accountable for upholding both morality and the rule of law. That is quickly disappearing. Factual history, expertise, and human decency are no longer widely valued. Republicans are trying to convince us that appreciating our diversity, fair treatment, and inclusion of the previously excluded is bad and that there is nothing wrong with discrimination, a lack of empathy, and limiting the rights and opportunities of some people. The days of being able to shame lawmakers for their moral failings is over. And we are about to take our inadequate efforts to provide citizens with worldclass education, healthcare, and infrastructure to a new low.
The dismantling of our government agencies that were created by our elected congressional representatives to ensure our public safety, process our taxes, build infrastructure, ensure justice and accountability, protect the natural environment, assist with our international relationships, and support scientific innovation is not only creating chaos but threatens our physical and economic well-being.
We are literally on our own. As tariffs and mass deportations drive prices up, demand for goods and services will plummet and with it, there will be massive layoffs. A recession or perhaps even another depression is likely in our future if we do not quickly change course. We know from watching other countries that corruption in government stifles innovation as new talent and new ideas, are buried by those fearful of losing their privileged positions. In a corrupt country, police and judges and journalists are bought and paid for (or silenced) by the wealthy, leaving the poor and unconnected hopeless, uncertain, and vulnerable to exploitation and injustice. Economists are forecasting that our economy is about to contract and many of the trade agreements with the rest of the world are unlikely to return if we remain an unreliable trading partner.
I suppose the plan is for families and churches to care for the sick and disabled, the injured veterans, the poor, and the elderly. Absent FEMA, small towns, cities and states will have to rebuild their community post-hurricane, tornado, wildfire, or earthquake. For most Americans, retirement will be a relic of the past without Social Security. And more prisons will become for-profit slave camps. In the poorest states, most of which are red states, only the wealthy will be able to afford healthcare, a decent education for their children, or have the ability to rebuild after a disaster.
In this new social order, women will be returned to the home to resume the role of wife and mother without voting rights again as discrimination laws are rolled back. More women and babies will die from lack of healthcare. Gays and transgender will lose their rights and be shoved back into the closet. Scientific outcomes will be funded by billionaires to suit their desired outcomes. We’ll be beholden to the wealthy and corporations to build our infrastructure as they depend on exploited prison and cheap American labor. Absent safety regulations, workers will once again lose their limbs and their lives at work without recourse or compensation.
If these are not good enough reasons to join the resistance movement happening in towns, cities, and states across the country, I don’t know what is. We either put a stop to this downward spiral now or learn to live with diminished rights and resources on our own in the coming year or so. We must fight harder in the streets, in the courts, and with our personal purchasing power. By all accounts, the resistance is having a positive effect.