The GOOD In U.S.

You don’t need me to write about what happened yesterday or today in this world gone crazy. Many are doing that, thankfully, and I don’t know that I have anything in the form of news that would help. So what I want to address today is where we are headed, and the choice we all have to affect what direction that heading is.

We will not be going back. The American people, other than the very wealthy, have been under attack for some time. Our country wasn’t perfect, and never has been. But it was somewhat stable, small gains in some ways, losses in others, but major earthquakes or global shocks were not felt much by the average American. Upheaval did happen of course, in many places around our globe, but Americans as a group are not well versed in anything that doesn’t affect them directly. We are indifferent. I know this doesn’t apply to everyone, and probably not to many of my readers, but it was pretty true in general, until recently.

That slow erosion of our civil rights suddenly turned into a landslide. Over the past year we have seen a continuous stream of attacks on our country. DOGE, ICE, DOJ, FBI. A literal alphabet soup of federal agencies all being turned against the American people. And our State Department and military being turned against the world. And as our elected representatives either cheer this on, or stand around wringing their hands and saying “what do you want me to do”, it is obvious that no one is coming to the rescue.

And to make things even worse, the “Trickle Up” effect on our wealth that has been going on for over 50 years has accelerated. Our economy, which will not be able to withstand what is coming, will suffer a great deal and cause hardship for many Americans. I think this is unavoidable at this point. Our government has done immense damage to our country, and the world. We are now a rogue state, and will be treated as such. It does not matter to the world that more than two thirds of us did not vote for this. We failed as a nation, and continue to fail today.

When I said above that “We will not be going back” I mean that we will not be able to put ourselves back together as we were before the last election, or the one before that, or even the one before that. The rest of the world will not allow it, and I don’t think we want that either. Too many people are still stuck on “If we can just get to the mid terms, we can put an end to this madness”. Yes, elections matter and are part of the solution. But even under the best of possible outcomes, the damage done still exists. Repair will take many years if not decades.

But that repair can start now, with every one of us. I believe that even though this is the end of an era for the United States, it can also be the beginning of an even greater era. We are after all a nation of immense diversity, ability, and strength. As we watch and join in with the response in our communities to these attacks on our people, it becomes obvious that we are not going to back down. We will resist this tyranny. We will remove this traitorous regime. And we will rebuild this nation. And as we do that, we have the chance to create a society that is fair and just for everyone as our Founding Fathers declared it must be almost 250 years ago.

The world is watching, and right now is appalled at what we have let happen to our country. We claim to be the “Land of the free”, and even though we have never fully deserved that title, we have made progress in that direction. We have acted imperialistic and with hubris many times over our history, way too many times to list here. But we have also continued to oversee a democracy that over time brought more inclusion and freedom for many. We were a work in progress, as any society should be. And now we have stumbled in a major way, and are in danger of falling.

When future generations look back on this time, I don’t believe they will judge us for being attacked from within as we have been, but by our response to that attack. We will either be judged as a lost and immoral society, incapable of empathy or courage, and willing to be ruled by an insane tyrant. Or, we will be seen as a people who understood what had happened, stood up in the face of oppression and violence, and once again corrected course to steer our country toward the future envisioned in our founding documents. When “We The People” stand up and raise our voices together, we will once again be on a course toward a future where the rule of law prevails, and everyone is entitled to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

No one is coming to save us. It is up to US, the American people. Let’s show the world and future generations The GOOD in US. I hear and see it all the time, “This is not who we are.” It’s time to prove it.

Source: Substack

Author: Todd Warren
About the author: Todd Warren is a lead organizer with Indivisible QC, helping plan local actions, support coalition work, and connect new volunteers to meaningful ways to participate. He writes about organizing, democracy, economic fairness, and how communities build power through sustained, nonviolent action.