Regaining Balance

Reclaiming Democracy

Disruption

It has happened. Everything we once relied upon to keep our lives stable now seems uncertain. What will disappear? What will remain? Who will oversee these changes? And most importantly—what will all of this mean for me, for those I love, for our society as a whole?

The familiar anchors that helped us maintain our balance are now up for grabs. Will they still be there tomorrow? If not, what—if anything—will replace them? What do we do now?

It feels like the blitzkrieg at the start of World War II—an overwhelming, lightning-fast assault that leaves people in shock, realizing too late that the battle was lost before they even knew it had begun. In an instant, they are overrun, occupied by an enemy force, a foreign ideology. The basic structures of governance have changed hands almost overnight. Society itself has shifted under the control of unfamiliar and unforeseen forces.

It is shock and awe. Like an earthquake. A tsunami. We wake up in a world that feels entirely different from the one we knew. Our world becomes unrecognizable. The ground beneath our feet keeps shifting. The landmarks are gone, and the laws of gravity no longer hold. Naomi Klein, in The Shock Doctrine, described how such societal shocks leave people so traumatized and disoriented that, in their desperate attempt to regain some sense of equilibrium, they fail to notice the sweeping economic and political changes being imposed upon them. By the time they recover enough to take stock, the transformation is complete, and they find themselves living in an entirely new social and political reality.

This new reality has shifted the center of gravity to a new set of actors. The flywheel effect that once kept the system in motion is gone. The spinning top that was our governance now wobbles, out of balance, teetering on the edge of collapse. It is as if the very laws of nature—of governance, of power—have changed, leaving us scrambling to find stability in an unfamiliar and precarious system.

So, what has changed? The landmarks and guiding principles we once relied upon to navigate life seem to have vanished. The legal system, once a stabilizing force, is now in flux, its very purpose being rewritten. No longer can we count on it as a dependable counterweight. Our system of governance—our democracy—stands on uncertain ground. The careful balance between the judicial, legislative, and executive branches, which once kept each other in check, appears to be crumbling. The institutions that provided stability now face dissolution or restructuring into something barely recognizable.

The old leaders no longer hold power. Government is no longer available to help. The legal system is no longer dependable. The rules and norms that once guided society are gone. All facades have dropped away. What once seemed like a sturdy vessel, with a captain, compass, and gyroscope to guide it, is now drifting, rudderless, through uncharted waters. The true north of our moral compass as a nation has been the idealism of democracy, equality and humanitarianism, although in recent years the compass has been pulled from true north by the increasing magnetism of unfettered free-market capitalism and the economics of greed.

With this new, radical shift, all other parts of the government exist to carry out the will of the president. And apparently, everyone serves at the pleasure of the president, who is willing to get rid of anyone who displeases him in any way, without recourse.

It is like an alien ideology has taken over; a kind of hostile takeover, remaking the nation into a new corporation, USA, Incorporated, with different divisions of the corporation answerable to the CEO/President, with the sole purpose being to increase market share and profitability. Meanwhile the bones of the old institutions are laid bare to be plucked clean by the ravenous vulture capitalists, the largest being called trillionaires, raising a flock of young billionaires, and feathering the nests to produce fledgling millionaires, all to feed on the taxes and hard work of the citizenry.

Recovery

Where do we start?

· First, we must regain our sense of balance—to reset our internal gyroscope and steady ourselves in this new reality. We start with ourselves, looking inward to find our personal grounding. We have survived the initial shock, and despite the turmoil around us, we are still standing. Like someone who has taken a fall, we pause to assess whether we are intact, identifying any damage and its severity. If we find ourselves whole, we rise to our feet.

· Next, we take stock of our resources. We rediscover how to tap into our internal strength and personal empowerment, finding stability and a renewed sense of control. Nothing outside ourselves is dependable anymore, so we must build resilience from within.

· From there, we turn our attention to our families and significant others, then extend our focus to friends and communities. We realize that, despite external attempts to disorient us, we are not powerless.

· These events test what it means to be a citizen in a democracy.

· We then begin to build a coalition of the willing—those ready to take action to change the course set by those seeking to reshape this nation. This coalition remains open, growing exponentially as more join the movement.

· We assess the resources within this coalition and develop strategic ways to use them effectively. One realization becomes clear: we vastly outnumber them. We are the 90%. And we remember the political dictum: “boots on the ground trumps money in the bank”.

· Even as we acknowledge the realities before us, we understand that engaged and participatory citizenship will ultimately overwhelm their attempts at control.

· A word of caution: focusing too much on Donald Trump and Elon Musk as singular villains is misplaced. They are merely figures representing a long-standing ideology woven into the American fabric. The right-wing movement, as outlined in Project 2025, is much larger than any one person. Removing individual figures will not resolve the deeper structural issues, just as eliminating Jefferson Davis or Robert E. Lee would not have resolved the root causes of the Civil War.

· We begin to rediscover our power as citizens and feel a renewed sense of pride and courage.

· Our goal is not only to stop the rising voices of authoritarianism but also to repair the foundations of democracy so that it once again reflects the will of the people rather than the interests of the few.

· Part of this repair will involve curbing the unchecked power of wealth, politics, and technology. In terms of technology, we must remember that virtual reality is virtual, not real, and that artificial intelligence is artificial—it cannot replace human intelligence at its deepest humanitarian level. To preserve democracy, we must protect the essence of our humanity.

· We must restore our national balance, guided by a moral compass that values human life and the planet.

· This rebuilding will take time, but as we embark on the process, we will uncover better alternatives.

· We are already seeing the first signs of change—people taking to the streets in protest, making their voices heard.

· We see unions joining the coalition of the willing, adding strength to the resistance. If things continue on their current trajectory, this movement may evolve into a national strike.

The path forward is challenging, but democracy has always been a struggle. The power to reclaim it remains in our hands.

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