No Stupid Questions

They're busy failing to uphold their oaths as we lose our democracy because they live in comfort without fear.

We should change that.

I’d lay most of the blame on Congress. So many of the destructive Impulses they are carrying out are usurping Congressional authority. They have standing, they may still have the power, they are the only ones that can really stop it. Yet they are majority Republican cult members chosen for loyalty over anything else.

I guess it’s a good example of lower level elections being critical. We lost our checks and balances because too many people also voted for evil or sycophant state “leadership”

You haven't said which government so I'll assume you mean the American one.

There are plenty of people with both means and influence. The problem is that they just got voted out, and there aren't enough Republicans that are moderate enough to start voting against Trump.

Yet.

And that's the key thing. As Trump gets more and more trumpy, the more moderate Republicans will start getting hacked off with it all and will start voting against their party, or at the very least abstaining. IIRC the Rep majority is 3, so there need to be 4 Rep abstentions to get a united Dem opposition over the line.

The problem is that doing so is likely to end their political career. So there needs to be some really good mileage in them voting with the Democrats.

As the Republicans hold a majority and all of them are currently with Trump, whatever Trump says goes. Even if all Dems say no, that isn't a majority no until they start getting some objections from the Reps.

So ultimately the power lies with the voters. If the Reps won't vote in the country's interests then the country needs to start voting in the country's interests. Trump said what he was going to do, and the whole point of Trump is that he isn't the usual lying politician that says whatever it takes to get into power then does whatever they want anyway. So "I didn't think he meant it" isn't going to fly when Trump does what Trump said he would. (Although obviously he didn't end putin's war on day 1, so the list of Trump's broken promises is already not empty.)

There were plenty of non-voting voters who could have made the Reps a tiny minority. But for some reason they couldn't bring themselves to vote for Harris, so they opted out. Personally I'm surprised she couldn't win simply on "I'm not Trump".

You're coming to grips with history. People with means and influence make it happen while the rest of us just watch and hang on.

Capitalism is rigged to promote a certain kind of individual. People who are willing to step on others. So while there are outliers most of the people to have climbed the ranks are quite happy with the status quo and will act within theyre class interest and push workers to act against theirs.

Anyone with any sort of means of influence has a way to profit off of the situation. Resistance needs to happen from the bottom up.

The people with means think they will avoid being victims of the surveillance state

You have more power than you realize, but not alone. Organize.

The younger generation has a problem with externalizing their issues to others without feeling responsible for these issues themselves.

There is always some other party with influence and power who is either antagonizing them or should take care of them like a parent and when they don't, everything is the fault of that "parent".

For example, it's the "DNCs fault" we're in the state we're in apparently even though a lot of people didn't vote and encouraged others not to vote. The democrat party is not some nebulous entity or corporation that exists to cater to your whims like you're some customer it must please to earn your vote. It's made up of people. People like you who got together with other people to try to enact their political ideals and vision for the country.

If you don't like that vision, you need to get with other people who share your vision, start from the ground up, win local elections and start changing the party bit by bit. But this is hard work and much more difficult than screaming that the octogenarian politicians are ruining your life when nobody your age is actually doing anything to replace them because you don't want to become career politicians.

Stop behaving and whining like perpetual petulant children and actually do the hard work to make the change you want to see instead of waiting for someone else to do it for you.

Technically speaking, you're looking at what most voters thought they wanted. Seems like the people with the most means and influence are in favor of what's happening too.

Are most voters easily conned? Sure. The NSDAP won its early seats freely until the other parties were outlawed.

You can at least take solace in that with the deconstruction of federal institutions, your state government and state institutions wield comparatively more power. Don't live in a poor and/or conservative state I guess?

Do you know the name of the member of your state's House of Representatives that represents your district? When was the last time you spoke to your federal representative? Do he/she not answer your calls because they have to many constituents? Talk to people in your neighborhood about the need for more representatives in the house.

All sovereign power comes from the people. Read: you are that guy.

There are people fighting. There are judges across the nation blocking the bullshit that they can. There are lawyers suing to stall and block what they can as well. That's feet on the ground legal action. There are also federal employees refusing to leave their jobs.

Politicians are in a tough spot. Republicans control every branch of the government. But we both know if the Dems had this much control they wouldn't be able to get anything passed, so i don't really know.

Dems should be screaming bloody murder and pitchforking DC nonstop. Other than a very few of them i haven't the foggiest what they're spending their days doing.

This might come across as dickish, but is intended sincerely: through what channels could they have an impact? Republicans now control literally every branch of government. The only things that I'd imagine MIGHT be effective enough:

1.) Military coup led by someone who could appeal to sense of duty and pull over a significant chunk of the military. Very unlikely, but theoretically effective.

2.) Very criminal actions that most people of means aren't likely to entertain as failure means losing their lives one way or another.

3.) Disruptive, mass protests akin to the Arab Spring or similar for an extended period. Which Americans have never really done and which realistically probably just equates to civil war in the current environment.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think there's an easy solution, even for those of means actively in government in this moment. You could be a literal judge or Congressman and it would mean jack shit right now. I think #3 is the most likely to maybe eventually happen, if any, but it'll take a loooooot to finally get enough of us there.

No one with any real power to make meaningful change cares, because they're benefiting personally.

Be the person you want to help you.

The people with the means to inact change have spent so long benefitting from the status quo that they had no desire to do so. Now that the fascist have taken power while they sat idly by they are incapable of preventing it. Now the people with power intend on changing things to benefit them more instead of just enjoying their comfortable position. You cannot vote fascism out of power and public officials aren't going to help us fight them, the ones who might will be purged. We cannot look to traditional authority for guidence here, we need mass actions specifically on class lines. This means joining or organizing a union and participating in mutual aid. This means developing connections in your community so resources can be managed when they get tight and learning skills that are materially useful. Later it may also mean sheltering and assisting those who are persecuted. Personally I am partial to PSL and would recommend them but work with whatever is available to you. We are weakest alone so do not let them divide us

They’re the ones silently benefiting?

I assume you are American and are referring to the American government.

What I will say will be unpopular. I understand if you think I'm naive. I understand if you get frustrated. I suspect the frustration comes from having clear images of how fascism has been born out of suffrage and supposedly democratic institutions. I suspect the frustration comes from assuming that my suggestion is to 'vote your way out of this situation'. I probably seem like a naive liberal, hugging trees and holding hands with Trump-supporters while watching the sunset. I can't change your beliefs, but I can at least ask whether you're really sure I'm that.

Here's what I believe: the future is democratic.

How can I possibly say that when Trump is in power, destroying democratic institutions, covering with his hand the mouths of Americans?

It is evident that Trump is an authoritarian populist.

And populist because he systematically disregards and discredits people who know what they're talking about (experts), and instead do things out of fear that their fragile ego will be hurt. It's ironic: populists claim to represent their citizens but they don't listen to the citizens who actually know what they're talking about. If the truth is inconvenient for the populists' ego, it's a good idea to cover the sun with their thumb. Nobody will notice how ridiculous it looks, right?

It is evident that America is currently experiencing a democratic backlash.

The story of this democratic backlash started a while ago. Over the past decades and even centuries, Americans have slowly come to not only value freedom but also be able to transform their political institutions to be more democratic. Women owning property. Black people gaining the right to drink from the same water-fountain as white people, the right to vote, the right to own property… An educational system that's incredibly flawed and ridiculously overpriced for what it actually delivers, but one that's envied by many nations on Earth that do not score nearly as high in tests of basic science, math, and reading comprehension. Americans were able to not only look at the goal, but also take steps towards it. These changes aimed to make every American more capable and therefore more free.

However, democratic institutions mean elites lose their capacity to extract privileges from their underlings. To elites, there is such a thing as too much freedom for people, too much freedom to choose who to be and what to do with their lives. Elites noticed people were questioning why elites extracted so many privileges and didn't contribute to people or invest in people. People were questioning why they have to slave away their lives paying college debt, medical debt, and mortgages while the ultra-rich are buying their third yacht or jet. The people who most extracted wealth from American people did not want to pay back or invest in its people.

American elites saw this as a great opportunity to finance swindlers. The current swindler, The Orange Swamp Man, sold Americans a beautiful knife. The knife itself wasn't the problem; it was quite capable in destroying capabilities and freedoms. The problem was that the instructions were hard to follow. Americans have found it difficult to hold the smile on their face while stabbing themselves and twisting. The Orange Swamp Man says Americans will have to suffer through tariffs, but that it's definitely not going to make them suffer more in the long term. The Orange Swamp Man correctly believes that destroying democratic institutions such as healthcare, education, and the basic guarantee of rights is necessary for American elites to extract as much money and power from American people.

It's important to note that not everyone bought the knife and stabbed themselves. Trump won by a slim margin and Trump is highly unpopular. Those of you who are still alive and well can do something about it. In fact, I'm willing to bet you will, because undemocratic governments do not survive massive organic protests.

How so? Imagine this scenario: Give a man a book and he may never pick it up. Teach a man to read and he'll silently look around, noticing a lack of development and freedom. Teach men, women, children—everyone to read and you'll have a bustling conversation: "Really? Is that fair?" "Why does the richest man on Earth not want to invest in the roads that his products use? Why does he not want to invest in the people that made him rich?" "My wife and I had bad accidents and we can't work. Is our society so selfish that it doesn't care about us?" This may seem cartoonish, but this is how people realize there's a mismatch between (1) the elite's way of extracting and hoarding privileges and (2) how everyday people see the situation.

Each critical thought, each enlightening conversation makes the pressure grow, like a balloon getting pregnant with air, ready to burst at any moment.

All of this language may seem allegorical, metaphorical, out of touch, and absurd. But it is based on decades of research on how democracies are formed and sustained. Check out this article and its cited literature if you're interested: https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/why-the-future-is-democratic/ Also, my story about how American elites relate to their people is essentialized, compressed, and probably missing details that authors like Acemoglu, Robinson, Welzel, Piketty, Shaikh, and Mazzucato can fill in.

As to what you can do, I'd recommend learning how to frame discussions. Not that I'm good at it, but people who know how to use can change how the world works. Social movements die or thrive depending on whether people can internalize what you're saying.

What do you think? Are you willing to keep on stepping forward in tried and true paths? https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/spc3.12501 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337861541_Moral_reframing_A_technique_for_effective_and_persuasive_communication_across_political_divides (sorry for the paywal; you can usually email academics and they'll send you the text, or you can find alternative texts or sources).