The Millennial Democracy

The American Constitution; by extension the structure of our government and much of our economic and social policy, is broken and deeply flawed. The grand experiment that is the United States of America has never been perfect, it has always been imperfect to one degree or another, and it will likely always have its flaws. That said, America's story is one of constantly trying to be better, to become more free and inclusive, of being more fair and just, of acknowledging the faults in our past and striving to correct them in our future. America is a beautiful mess, and we find ourselves at another inflection point in the history of our nation, one which will determine the direction we travel in for the next several generations to come. Since 1789, when the Constitution of the US took effect, it's been amended twenty-seven times. At the time of its ratification, the now nearly-sacred document denied women, ethnic minorities and even a large swath of adult white males the ability ...

In the midst of America's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, our nation struggled with disruptions and bottlenecks in various supply chains to a degree not seen in most of our lifetimes. Construction materials, computer chips, automotive parts, a variety of foodstuffs and more all were either in short supply, having difficulty getting where they needed to go or both. Cargo ships sat waiting for weeks before docking and unloading in ports such as Long Beach and Los Angeles, a long-problematic short-supply of truck drivers left a lag time in goods being moved and distributed, a general labor-shortage resulted in long restock times and difficulties fulfilling goods and services ordered, and all of this was taking place while demand within the American economy was near all-time highs. As a result, the cost of shipping, trucking, labor and goods in general began to see unusually rapid increases. Shipping costs from Asia to North America increased by nearly 10 times, the cost ...

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...

News of President Biden's Student Loan Forgiveness Program, in the amount of $10,000-$20,000 per borrower, is a welcome fulfillment of one of the President's most well known and oft-cited campaign promises. With over $1.7 trillion dollars collectively owed in student loan debt across the nation, our higher education system has produced an unstable debt bubble slowly eating away at the economic progress and upward mobility of the American people. From holding off on having children to being unable to afford mortgages on their first home, student loan debt is saddling entire generations with a burden that's only getting worse. While the positive personal and economic effects of this debt forgiveness program will likely be felt for years to come, the program's very existence reveals a much deeper and wider problem with how higher education is structured in the modern United States. Back in the early 1960's, one could attend a community college full-time for an average ...