America Has Fallen

America is a Failed Democratic State

Why the US Is a Failed Democratic State

The self-governing republic works only if it expresses the will of the majority. But one party is now committed to minoritarian rule by any means. The Executive Office has grown mad with executive power. The Coup of 1913 and 1963 have led to a national security state which maintains a current state of world war to ensure profits for the military industrial complex and the drug trade which intelligence agencies oversee. The Corporate state has seized control of the political process so that We the People no longer have access to truthful information and are subject to a corrupt economy. The failed leadership of the Supreme Court led to the landmark case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010 that legalized unlimited political spending by special interests prevents any real change. All of this has transformed America into a banana republic. There is no better example than the current Biden Administration which uses government resources to prosecute its political opponents.

America has fallen. Will the people rise up?

Our democracy no longer represents us. America’s democracy is in crisis. Along many dimensions, a single flaw—unrepresentativeness—has detached our government from the people. The only saving grace is that reform is possible.

Yes, our leadership today is wholly corrupt. Yes, most of them should be tried for treason and face capital crimes for their actions. But the blame does not only lie with “them”—Washington’s politicians and power brokers. The problem is also “us.”

“We the people” are increasingly uninformed about the issues, while ubiquitous political polling exacerbates the problem, reflecting and normalizing our ignorance and feeding it back into the system as representative of our will.

What we need is a series of reforms, from governmental institutions to the public itself, including:

• A move immediately to public campaign funding, leading to more representative candidates.

• A reformed Electoral College, that gives the President a reason to represent America as a whole.

• A federal standard to end partisan gerrymandering in the states.

• A radically reformed Senate.

• A federal penalty on states that don’t secure to their people an equal freedom to vote.

• Institutions that empower the people to speak in an informed and deliberative way.

• A soul-searching and incisive examination of our failing political culture.

This is a nonpartisan call to arms that speaks to every citizen, offering a far-reaching platform for reform that could save our democracy and make it work for all of us. I am not sure this can happen without the support of the US military. I don't know if there are enough patriots left to make this happen. But I can pray. I pray that God will make a way.

Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig makes the case that our democracy has become corrupt with money, leading to inequality that means only 0.02% of the United States population actually determines who's in power. Lessig says that this fundamental breakdown of the democratic system must be fixed before we will ever be able to address major challenges like climate change, social security, and student debt. This is not the most important problem, it's just the first problem.