Assuming you are American and are referring to the American government, here’s what I think:

What I will say may be polemical. Brace yourself. I understand if you accuse me of being naive, a puppet of the Illuminati, or blind. Here’s what I believe: the future is democratic.

How can I possibly say that when Trump is in power, destroying democratic institutions like a bull in a cybertruck store? Image

(you know cybertruck, the car that breaks easily and cooks its passengers)

It is evident that Trump is an authoritarian populist. <details> <summary> Here’s what I mean by that. </summary> Authoritarian because he disregards democratic processes. His supporters don’t care that he may shackle them and put his hand on their mouths to never speak again. They are fine with that, as long as he builds The Swamp of America, a land where people are obsessed with their own bellybuttons, where everyone works like robots that never question the dogma shoved into their throats, and where corporations can bulldoze and burn the planet and still receive a pat in the back from The Orange Swamp Man because ape see number go up.

And populist because Trump is an Olympic athlete in the highly-unpopular sport of Never Picking Up A Book. Sorry if you already know the rules, but I personally didn’t know them until gramps revealed them to me when he was practicing his TedX Talk, How to Burn Books Without Picking Them Up. The sport itself (Never Picking Up A Book) involves playing golf, watching Fox News, and doom-scrolling on Facebook. Those are the traditional rules, but the lack of viewership lead the international committee to update the rules in the mid 2010s. Under the new rules, extra points are awarded to athletes who insult anyone who knows what they’re talking about. As you can see, populism here means systematically disregarding and discrediting expert opinions. </details>

And it is evident that America is currently experiencing a democratic backlash. There was too much freedom for people, too much freedom to choose who to be and what to do with their lives. People were questioning why things are the way they are. People were questioning why they have to slave away their lives paying college debt, medical debt, and mortgages. People were questioning why drunk Bezos, Musk, and Epstein tightly held the rail of their yacht while vomiting gold-infused vodka into The Swamp of America. The people who most extracted wealth from American people did not want to pay back or invest in its people.

Americans were ripped off by a swindler who sold them a beautiful knife. The knife itself wasn’t the problem. The problem was that the instructions were hard to follow. Americans have found it difficult to hold the smile on their face while stabbing themselves and twisting.

It’s important to note that not everyone bought the knife and stabbed themselves. Trump won by a slim margin and Trump is highly unpopular. Those of you who are still alive and well can do something about it. In fact, I’m willing to bet you will, because undemocratic governments do not survive democratic electorates.

How so? Imagine this scenario: Give a man a book and he may never pick it up. Teach a man to read and he’ll silently look around, noticing a lack of development and freedom. Teach men, women, children—everyone to read and you’ll have a bustling conversation. “Really? Is that fair?” “Why does the richest man on Earth not want to invest in the roads that his products use? Why does he not want to invest in the people that made him rich?” “My wife and I had bad accidents and we can’t work. Is our society so selfish that it doesn’t care about us?” This may seem cartoonish, but this is how people realize there’s a mismatch between the elite’s way of extracting and hoarding privileges and how everyday people see the situation.

Each critical thought, each enlightening conversation makes the pressure grow, like a balloon getting pregnant with air, ready to burst at any moment.

All of this language may seem allegorical, metaphorical, out of touch, and absurd. But it is based on decades of research on how democracies are formed and sustained. Check out this article and its cited literature if you’re interested: journalofdemocracy.org/…/why-the-future-is-democr…

As to what you can do, I’d recommend learning how to frame discussions. I am learning how to do it. It enables me to have conversations with people in such a way that they understand me, truly understand me, even if they were previously unable to because of Trump brainwashing. And it works compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/…/spc3.12501 researchgate.net/…/337861541_Moral_reframing_A_te… (sorry for the paywal; you can usually email academics and they’ll send you the text, or you can find alternative texts or sources).