The Millennial Democracy

At the core of every modern democratic republic rests the idea that the government of any nation exists for the protection and preservation of its people and their interests. More to the point, government exists as an extension of our collective will. The citizens of America do not exist to serve a monarch as loyal subjects, for example, nor are we content to live under the whims of an authoritarian dictator. Instead, the US government and its authority is derived from the collective consent of the governed, the American People. While this idea remains a powerful concept and a goal we should continue to strive towards, the reality of the modern United States does not fully match this high-minded rhetoric. Much of the reason for the current disconnect between Americans and their government is due to the prevailing and growing influence of so-called 'big money' on our political system. Until we reverse the disturbing trend of the wealthy and connected funding the majority of our ...

Something rather unprecedented in American history has occurred since the Presidential election of 2020. While the majority of Americans readily accepted the reality of President Joe Biden's electoral victory over former President Donald Trump, a sizable and consistent percentage of the population has fully bought into the so-called "Big Lie" which states Trump was the true winner and the election was stolen from him. This has resulted in one of the most stilted public reactions to an exchange of power from one President to another both in modern memory and all of American history. Due to this infamous and disturbing lie, and many other falsehoods which surround it (such as the claim Donald Trump is secretly still leading the country from his home in Mar-a-Lago), there has been a momentous and terrible attack on voting rights in many Republican-leaning states around the nation. The impact of many of these blatant attacks on democracy will begin to be felt starting with th...

Ever since May 2nd of this year, when Politico published a leaked draft of the Supreme Court's  Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, which functionally overturned the Roe v. Wade decision from 1973 that provided limited protections for abortion procedures throughout the US, a renewed focus has been placed on reproductive rights and wider personal freedoms here at home. In part due to Justice Clarence Thomas' statements that rulings on the legalization of same-sex marriage, access to contraception and even homosexual sex itself should all be re-reviewed and given potentially different rulings (though conveniently interracial marriage, which Justice Thomas is involved in himself, was not recommended for re-review), a revived conversation and coalition advocating for expanded personal rights has emerged. Though such a freedom-focused coalition may have emerged in force too late to prevent further rights from being rolled back in the short-term, it's ...

Since the results of the 2020 presidential election were announced, declaring Joe Biden the winner of the contest, there has been a considerable and concerning percentage of the American population willing to believe that our nation and many of its institutions are irreparably damaged. Many right-leaning Americans now buy into various conspiracy theories, ones often decades old, alongside claims our national elections are so lax one party can control the results. The open discussion of secession, civil war, threats of political violence and other destabilizing topics once reserved for the far margins of society are now commonplace, even if almost exclusively peddled by partisan hacks in the right-wing media sphere. Fascist-leaning ideas and the lies used to fuel them are growing rapidly in popularity in the US, and this trend is unlikely to end anytime soon. This authoritarian-primed society is our new reality, and we more rational Americans need to attack it head-on if we intend t...