A Better Future
Posts in this series
The Anti-Democracy Project Of John Roberts
The Allies Of The Billionaires
In the first two posts in this series I described the constant onslaught led by the filthy rich against our democracy, and identified groups of people who supported those attacks. In this post, I offer two thoughts about going forward.
We cannot go back
The guidepost of the Biden Administration and the Congressional Democrats was a return to normalcy. They were convinced that Trump was a blemish on the brilliance of the US, a blemish that would come off with some scouring; that it was a nightmare from which voters had awakened. They believed that the US could resume its position as Leader of the Free World, the greatest economy ever, the center of innovation and progress and a beacon of freedom.
They restored an economy devastated by the Covid shutdown and the millions it killed and damaged. They were fairly successful in restoring the faith of our allies in our stability and worthiness to lead.
They were wiped out in the 2022 mid-terms. Harris promised to continue the restoration project. The voters rejected her. The Democratic Party dream of restoring normalcy is dead.
1. We cannot go back because that is not what the majority of us want. Whatever Trump voters want, it isn’t restoration. Non-voters wouldn’t go to the polls to vote for restoration or to vote against Trumpian chaos and destruction. Harris voters were willing to accept restoration, but even among them a large number, perhaps a majority, wanted much more.
2. We cannot go back because Trump has wrecked the institutions and norms we need for restoration. He has gutted agencies devoted to accumulation of soft power around the world, especially USAID. In the process he is potentially responsible for millions of premature deaths. How do we recover from that?
He attacked our basic research institutions. He made it scary for foreign students to study and do research here. He handed our national health efforts to an ignorant buffoon. He turned the Department of Justice into a stable of third-rate lawyers loyal to himself. We aren’t going to recover from that for a long time.
3. We cannot go back because John Roberts and the Fasces won’t let us. They have wrecked the legal structure of the Administrative State, which sought to replace arbitrary decisions by the President with informed decision-making by independent boards for technical and scientific matters. They have blunted legislative power on purely political grounds. They have formed a protective barrier around the Presidency, so that Trump is effectively beyond the rule of law.
In the process, they have surrendered the the judicial power. Trump is free to do as he sees fit, throwing his tariff tantrums, his prosecutions, his lawsuits, his ICE thugs, and the US military around like a toddler angry at his toys. John Roberts and the Fash Five won’t let District Courts enforce the laws Trump is violating, meaning that the judicial branch is irrelevant.
When our young people think on this, why would they trust the government? How do we persuade them to follow the rules?
4. We cannot go back because no sane national leader would take us seriously. The period of US domination in world affairs is done. There is no going back.
5. We cannot go back because Trump has empowered the stinking worst of us to bully and torment us. They and their vile ideas sit like dead things in the dark poised to spread their deadly poisons.
6. We cannot go back because the filthy rich, the Theists, the Neoliberals, and the Grifters don’t like it and they will figure out how to hold on to as much of their power as they can. Too many weaklings sit in positions of authority, unwilling to protect the democracy that gave them their positions. They are easy prey for the anti-democracy ghouls.
But suppose a Democrat gets elected president, and Democrats take the House and Senate. It’s possible that she would try to rule like Trump, using the powers he asserts and those given him by John Roberts and the Reactionaries. That’s not far-fetched. See this at The Atlantic. Or maybe Roberts and the Revanchists will apply their double-standard to Democratic presidents, leaving the precedents for the next right-wing wannabe dictator.
Where should we go?
I don’t know.
But I do know we need to think about it starting immediately. The Democratic Party has run as the “We aren’t them” party for so long it’s in their DNA. Nothing changes unless we force change.
One possible starting place for a future is Franklin Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms. They make a great program, and as the pic on the front page shows, they come with Norman Rockwell images. FDR articulated these ideas in his 1941 State of the Union Address, and expanded on them in his 1944 address:
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.” People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the Nation;
The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
The right of every family to a decent home;
The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
The right to a good education.
These principles are the precise opposite of the program of Trump and the filthy rich.
Changing the future
If we don’t organize and act together, the forces that put us here will try to restore the social structures that benefit them and no one else. And as Hannah Arendt tells us, participation in the political sphere is one part of what it means to be a full human being. Certainly she participated, as this PBS documentary shows.
There are plenty of people willing to organize against Trump. We also need people to help us see and organize for a better future.
Go fast and fix things.
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Vastly expanding labor rights and union power would go a long way toward achieving these, while eroding billionaires power.
The Democratic Party has a lot of work to do if it wants to lead us to a better future.
First off, they need to articulate values and a vision for the future in a way that resonates with American voters. They seem to assume that enough Americans will be revulsed by Trump to put them back in power. Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign was no paragon of virtue and had plenty of disgusting moments – but somehow that didn’t work out for the Dems. And now the nation is suffering irreversible harms, as Ed has stated so well.
Article in yesterday’s WSJ, Democrats Get Lowest Rating From Voters in 35 Years, WSJ Poll Finds https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/democratic-party-poll-voter-confidence-july-2025-9db38021
“The Democratic Party’s image has eroded to its lowest point in more than three decades, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll, with voters seeing Republicans as better at handling most issues that decide elections. The new survey finds that 63% of voters hold an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party—the highest share in Journal polls dating to 1990 and 30 percentage points higher than the 33% who hold a favorable view.”
First the Democratic Party has to WANT to lead us to a better future. A future Schumer or Jeffries want for themselves just might not be objectively better for the generic prols. Schumer’s each blue-collar vote lost gets two in the burbs is horseshit, and he’s chosen as the Senate Dems’ leader? We need more quality, and that’s going to have to come from the Bernie/AOC direction because, where else?
Oh my dude. You have triggered me. You may want to take cover for while.
The four freedoms was also noteworthy. And the job thing, the ideal is AI doing it all and having leisure time, not having a hateful job in order to live. Covid proved people don’t in general love the work t hey need to do to survive. The problem is some cannot handle time on their own, and can develop substance problems or other Angst. To some, that is because of how the bulk of people are brought up, not inherent in the human psyche. General quality of internet content is a problem, but one capable of fixing. But freedom from work, if AI can deliver that, would be okay, by itself, without channeling of people into thrall. If it yields forty acres and a Tesla, god bless.
Thank you, Ed.
Look at all the farm jobs Trump has created by deporting immigrants! As Mike Johnson says, “Return the dignity of work to young men who need to be at work instead of playing video games all day.” Why isn’t Barron taking advantage of this great opportunity?
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/07/31/634442195/when-the-u-s-government-tried-to-replace-migrant-farmworkers-with-high-schoolers
What can we do?
I remember the day Dr. King was assassinated. I was about 5 years old in an immigrant family in Southwest Philadelphia. The streets of Southwest Philadelphia revolted. I saw military vehicles with men in military gear beating on people in the streets. I can still see it. I remember the feeling of utter helplessness. We have returned to the 1960s. That era was incredibly violent. Murder constant in Philadelphia. And, Nixon. I am watching the 60s all over again, just much older.
The wealthy citizens of our nation, if we can call them wealthy anymore, must always feel wealthy. Bigger numbers in their accounts, better coffee makers, slicker cars, whatever…
To say we lost freedom and dignity is not true. We never had it. The wealthy of the USA are not going to stop.
The USA’s dominance in the world ended when Dr. King was assassinated. We are no different than any other nation.
And then Frank Rizzo came in and restored law and order…ahem.
I still remember this fondly:
https://6abc.com/post/frank-rizzo-mural-painted-over-in-south-philadelphia/6235798/
Add to that list of rights: “the right to exist safely in the public sphere of this nation irrespective of one’s race, gender, identity, orientation, or national origin.”
In addition, any renewed Democratic program MUST include a program of “detrumpification” or “deMAGAfication,” by analogy with the denazification of postwar Germany . Trumpism/MAGAism should be declared “an ideology promoting authoritarianism, pedophilia, and the gross violation of human rights constituting crimes against humanity, and anathema and offensive to the United States and the civilized world.” Officials that have acted in their official capacity to advance the interests of Trumpism over the Constitution and laws of the United States must be impeached and removed from office. This includes Supreme Court justices. Where applicable, those that have committed crimes must be prosecuted and punished according to law.
Among the safeguards that should be added is a Constitutional amendment clarifying: “No person convicted of a felony crime may hold any office of trust or profit under the United States. No person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States shall be exempt from any of the laws thereof. Any holder of office convicted of a felony crime while in office shall forfeit said office, in addition to suffering the penalties of said crime as prescribed by law.”
If a Democratic government accomplished NOTHING over its four-year term other than this program of detrumpification, I would not fear the outcome.
I expect that this detrumpification process, like the denazification of Germany, will likely be imperfect, and I expect it to be criticized. But it’s still vitally necessary for America to go through it, to regain its self-respect as well as to begin to re-establish credibility in the eyes of the world.
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We might not have much time to think about what a healthy future looks like. Elon Musk may decide to submit his — or one of his supporter’s — resume for the role of Mini-Me for President. We don’t know what impact(s) Musk’s current mumblings about this could have.
But to your point, Ed, I think an important start is we must deeply, fully examine — even if we think we already know — how the current take-over was implemented, how the very rich gain their riches. Successful strategies depend on this. Hugely, we need to look at how previous/historic occurrences were ended and corrected.
I think we badly need to deeply examine political leadership and communications. For example, Harris had strengths, but from my observations she seemed to be talking to the crowd that was already supporting her. And she smiled, alot. I kept telling her via the tv to stop smiling and look like she takes the presidential race very seriously.
I also kept telling the tv she needed to regularly crack some smart, pointed, funny jokes about Trump — hooks that would work away at Trump’s ultra sensitive psyche. You’re supposed to focus on your opponent’s weaknesses. I don’t think the tv was listening to me, but I couldn’t help it. We need a leader who gets this.
The Republican Party seems quite aware the vast majority of Americans and voters don’t support their policies — not even closely. That’s why they seem to regularly obscure what they are doing, lie, and make it difficult for the general public to vote.
“For example, Harris had strengths, but from my observations she seemed to be talking to the crowd that was already supporting her. And she smiled, alot. I kept telling her via the tv to stop smiling and look like she takes the presidential race very seriously.”
This is telling — it’s about YOU and YOUR perceptions.
75 million people apparently didn’t find Harris’ approach off putting. The problem is white supremacy, which wouldn’t fucking care if she smiled/didn’t smile because she was a woman and Black-Asian. The problem is the resistance of white Americans to anything that threatens the status quo. When 53% of white women voted for Trump three goddamned elections in a row, it’s not about whether Harris smiled/didn’t smile, kissed ass the way YOU wanted her to kiss ass.
Until white women in particular snap the fuck out of their torpor and wake up to the leopard gnawing on their faces — ditto for white men — fascists like Trump will continue to win.
You make good points, Rayne. The thing is, I perceived this race to be an unusually-dangerous circumstance — the results of the race, that is. Harris had to win, in my eyes. But my comments about the smiling had nothing to do with race or gender.
Yes, many people voted for Harris, but not enough. Some wouldn’t support her because she isn’t “white.” However, Obama was elected.
I think gender is a/the major factor against her being elected. That’s why I believe she — and the Democratic Party!!! — needed to fight smarter, regardless of stupidity and prejudices.
I think skin color had a lot to do with it, and media coverage of the lies about her.
Don’t focus entirely on politics and politicians. Spend some time on mutual aid and grassroots organizing around practical issues and logistics. Start the parade toward a universal goal and watch the politicians happily jump to the head of the column to bring it home.
Democracy is do it yourself and less about laws and regulations than it is about the exercise of personal freedom to get things done.
PS: If memory serves, the speech which introduced the Four Freedoms was also the speech which announced the Lend Lease program for the UK and happened eleven months before Pearl Harbor.