The Destruction of American Democracy—the Failure of a System, not a Party

So many folks continue to perceive the current political breakdown in America as a Republican Party failure. They blame the Republicans for this fascist movement while holding Democrats on a pedestal. They admonish anyone who asserts that both sides are to blame. But the reality is that we would not have landed here had the entire system not failed.

When I assert that we are experiencing a system failure, not a party failure, I am speaking from a position of someone who intentionally sought a legal education solely to attain inside knowledge of the system that has failed.

Most people do not recognize the legal system and political system as one and the same. They are. Lawyers built this country. They created the game, continuously write and interpret the rules, and maintain the structure that the rest of us must exist within.

The legal system is not dichotomous. It is fluid. Some actors lean certain ways, but they are all playing the same game.

Politicians are much the same. Most of them are lawyers. If they are not, they are still operating within the “legal” system. After all, they are the ones drafting our laws which legal actors then engage with.

Trump did not magically appear in 2016 and destroy our democracy. Trump appeared in 2016 because the system had already failed enough people that Trump seemed to be their only chance for change. Failing to recognize the role Democrats played in that breakdown only serves to inhibit true progress.

Yes, the GOP is committing heinous acts causing real harm to real human beings. Yes, the GOP is an active threat to human lives in a way the Democrats are not. This should not be ignored.

But the Democrats are not innocent bystanders in the decimation of our democracy. No, they did not do everything in their power to prevent this. They, too, have corporate interests that drove decades of policy decisions leading to the splintering of the American people.

They paid no mind to the destruction of rural America during the recession then wrote this demographic off as unnecessary to their success. They ignored the populist movement that could have propelled them to success in 2016 and then cried victim of the rising fascism that occurred as a result. They did nothing to effectively counter the fascist propaganda fueling the culture wars. They continued with their “good faith” efforts while the GOP pulled out all the stops.

They voted to FUND this regime and keep government running while convincing you it was for the betterment of the people. Let’s be real… it was to secure their paychecks.

Until we recognize this as a WHOLE system failure, we will continue to face the same problems.

Democrats ARE the system just as much as Republicans. They benefit from the system operating whether it is fascist in nature or not.

The sides we must choose from now are not Republican or Democrat. They are fascist or anti-fascist. And we MUST be willing to call them ALL out for their roles in the suffering of our people… ALL of our people.

Dressing in blue cannot be a shield from accountability.

Period.