We have the same problem as in the 1860s – ignorant, racist white folk
OutZoned on
This is a really great article, but quoting from the end in particular (which is poking at the “textualism” SCOTUS is wielding to carry out Trump’s oppression):
“What’s a red-blooded American to do when their government becomes destructive to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? The Declaration of Independence has some notes about “the Right of the People to alter or to abolish” its existing government “and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
But that was another time, right? Surely nobody wants to take the Founding Fathers’ original words literally. Their original meaning and original intent can’t just be superimposed on American life today, not when American values are very different from the values of 1776. In Trump’s America, the national ethos is simply a boot on your neck, forever.
Happy Independence Day!”
paolog on
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
[deleted] on
[deleted]
APraxisPanda on
Sounds like we need to turn it off and on again.
imadork1970 on
Maybe, 35 % more people should have voted.
PrimaryExtra on
was never a democracy, and the constitution is too old, to much has canhged from the 18th century
MittenCollyBulbasaur on
A Republic, if you can keep it. We failed long before this to get us to this point.
AaronfromKY on
Time for a reboot.
NickOulet on
Perhaps, but we had a great run!
fatbunyip on
Classic American media.
„American democracy is crashing!“
Also please ignore the last 10 years of complicity in that crashing because we needed clicks.
100% in the midterms these se outlets are gonna be like “ why it’s not such a bad idea to keep trump’s majority“
Molteninferno on
Maybe having 535 members of congress for 340,000,000 people is part of the problem. If they spoke to every person they represent, each person would get about 2 seconds. More people also makes it harder to just buy them.
Sure_Quality5354 on
It ended when trump was reelected. Thats the moment i lost all hope in this country. Any country that would choose this fucking loser dictator again after doing such a shitty job is one that has no interest in being a respectable democracy.
JCPLee on
It has not. The system is working, people elect their representatives, the representatives carry out their constitutional duties. One may argue that the system is imperfect, but it is working within the rules as have been established for the last 249 years. Everything that has happened in the last decade or so, the Supreme Court, the extremists in Congress, a convicted rapist as president, has happened as a result of elections. This is the will of the people, this is democracy.
switch8000 on
I remember when The Verge was just a tech blog. Now it’s a subscription charging political service.
Jesuismieux412 on
Congresspeople are celebrating a bill that the majority of Americans despise…this is an oligarchy. Not a democracy.
bigjimbay on
What do you expect when you’re constantly running a 1.5 party system
Capitalism can not have a broad spectrum democracy. Eventually, one will kill the other.
We have a system where a lot of power is in the hands of a very few wealthy individuals. Elections dont work if every candidate available will not support the people.
oooranooo on
Crashed? It’s a full-send Plutocracy with no action plan.
JustMyNipples on
Always remember, the government and politicians that represent you hate you and want you live in pain and misery.
Remember-Me-1 on
The problem isn’t really Trump.
It’s republicans.
sprauncey_dildoes on
It crashed a while ago. Billionaires and corporations pre-vet the candidates before voters get to choose between them and have done for a while.
PlumpHughJazz on
You can blame the 1/3 who didn’t vote.
Careless_Platform449 on
Sandy Hook was **13 years ago** and we are further away from stopping school shootings than we were then.
What is a system of government that cannot stop the slaughter of our children in schools? Why keep it alive? Why insist on its ossified traditions and outdated concepts that rely on shame and honor to enforce its most vulnerable ideas?
We spent centuries venerating a broken down jalopy of a government and its slaveholder class, exclusive male founders, and now the party that’s supposed to save us is „playing dead“ so they can come back into power and do nothing and fail to stop the next Sandy Hook or Climate Change or this downward spiral into Fascism. How can this country solve the existential crises of the future when it can’t even get over its morally repugnant old-timey white supremacist bullshit?
ll11111ll on
Never had one to begin with.
Feeling_Cost_8160 on
You need to understand what a democracy is and how it works.
I_Want_to_Film_This on
If you were to remove all propaganda and the giant cult and think about an individual supporting Trump on his own terms… it’s hilarious to think about. At its core, our problem was not our people, it was our information environment melting everyone’s brains. Now it’s really hard to imagine the scenario we could reboot America and start over, because the brains are already rotten, and Republican politicians can’t get off the dictator’s treadmill and just admit oops, it was all a big con sorry. There’s a momentum that can’t be conquered with persuasion—we basically have to wait until it ruins us completely, then stamp out the rotten ideology by force. There’s no clean straight line back to true representative democracy, because anyone who supports this regime can’t be included in this process. We’re talking about Republican majorities needing to be treated like the confederates, but while they have a stranglehold over power. I don’t know what the path forward is, but I do think it starts by recognizing this mutated force as an enemy to be conquered, not reasoned with. The era of performative bipartisanism needs to die. Democrats need to stop describing Republicans as colleagues, and instead label them as a hostile occupying force and illegitimate government and party.
Trog-City8372 on
My favorite line was the one about „flacid cowards.“ Brought to mind the stern letters Chuck Schumer threatens.
immortaldes on
Its a republic
StronglyHeldOpinions on
Have we tried turning it off and on again?
MissyMooMoo02 on
Yeah that happened a while ago
Sea_Confection_652 on
People are stupid to believe there will be some major response to Trumps politics caused by people. Most likely it will be like Russia. Where are the protestors? Dead or in prison….
Leave A Reply
Du musst angemeldet sein, um einen Kommentar abzugeben.
35 Kommentare
We have the same problem as in the 1860s – ignorant, racist white folk
This is a really great article, but quoting from the end in particular (which is poking at the “textualism” SCOTUS is wielding to carry out Trump’s oppression):
“What’s a red-blooded American to do when their government becomes destructive to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? The Declaration of Independence has some notes about “the Right of the People to alter or to abolish” its existing government “and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
But that was another time, right? Surely nobody wants to take the Founding Fathers’ original words literally. Their original meaning and original intent can’t just be superimposed on American life today, not when American values are very different from the values of 1776. In Trump’s America, the national ethos is simply a boot on your neck, forever.
Happy Independence Day!”
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
[deleted]
Sounds like we need to turn it off and on again.
Maybe, 35 % more people should have voted.
was never a democracy, and the constitution is too old, to much has canhged from the 18th century
A Republic, if you can keep it. We failed long before this to get us to this point.
Time for a reboot.
Perhaps, but we had a great run!
Classic American media.
„American democracy is crashing!“
Also please ignore the last 10 years of complicity in that crashing because we needed clicks.
100% in the midterms these se outlets are gonna be like “ why it’s not such a bad idea to keep trump’s majority“
Maybe having 535 members of congress for 340,000,000 people is part of the problem. If they spoke to every person they represent, each person would get about 2 seconds. More people also makes it harder to just buy them.
It ended when trump was reelected. Thats the moment i lost all hope in this country. Any country that would choose this fucking loser dictator again after doing such a shitty job is one that has no interest in being a respectable democracy.
It has not. The system is working, people elect their representatives, the representatives carry out their constitutional duties. One may argue that the system is imperfect, but it is working within the rules as have been established for the last 249 years. Everything that has happened in the last decade or so, the Supreme Court, the extremists in Congress, a convicted rapist as president, has happened as a result of elections. This is the will of the people, this is democracy.
I remember when The Verge was just a tech blog. Now it’s a subscription charging political service.
Congresspeople are celebrating a bill that the majority of Americans despise…this is an oligarchy. Not a democracy.
What do you expect when you’re constantly running a 1.5 party system
Seems like a good day for a revolt.
Did you try unplugging it and restarting it?
[Archive link](https://archive.is/2025.07.04-130304/https://www.theverge.com/policy/697301/trump-supreme-court-founding-fathers-july-4)
Capitalism can not have a broad spectrum democracy. Eventually, one will kill the other.
We have a system where a lot of power is in the hands of a very few wealthy individuals. Elections dont work if every candidate available will not support the people.
Crashed? It’s a full-send Plutocracy with no action plan.
Always remember, the government and politicians that represent you hate you and want you live in pain and misery.
The problem isn’t really Trump.
It’s republicans.
It crashed a while ago. Billionaires and corporations pre-vet the candidates before voters get to choose between them and have done for a while.
You can blame the 1/3 who didn’t vote.
Sandy Hook was **13 years ago** and we are further away from stopping school shootings than we were then.
What is a system of government that cannot stop the slaughter of our children in schools? Why keep it alive? Why insist on its ossified traditions and outdated concepts that rely on shame and honor to enforce its most vulnerable ideas?
We spent centuries venerating a broken down jalopy of a government and its slaveholder class, exclusive male founders, and now the party that’s supposed to save us is „playing dead“ so they can come back into power and do nothing and fail to stop the next Sandy Hook or Climate Change or this downward spiral into Fascism. How can this country solve the existential crises of the future when it can’t even get over its morally repugnant old-timey white supremacist bullshit?
Never had one to begin with.
You need to understand what a democracy is and how it works.
If you were to remove all propaganda and the giant cult and think about an individual supporting Trump on his own terms… it’s hilarious to think about. At its core, our problem was not our people, it was our information environment melting everyone’s brains. Now it’s really hard to imagine the scenario we could reboot America and start over, because the brains are already rotten, and Republican politicians can’t get off the dictator’s treadmill and just admit oops, it was all a big con sorry. There’s a momentum that can’t be conquered with persuasion—we basically have to wait until it ruins us completely, then stamp out the rotten ideology by force. There’s no clean straight line back to true representative democracy, because anyone who supports this regime can’t be included in this process. We’re talking about Republican majorities needing to be treated like the confederates, but while they have a stranglehold over power. I don’t know what the path forward is, but I do think it starts by recognizing this mutated force as an enemy to be conquered, not reasoned with. The era of performative bipartisanism needs to die. Democrats need to stop describing Republicans as colleagues, and instead label them as a hostile occupying force and illegitimate government and party.
My favorite line was the one about „flacid cowards.“ Brought to mind the stern letters Chuck Schumer threatens.
Its a republic
Have we tried turning it off and on again?
Yeah that happened a while ago
People are stupid to believe there will be some major response to Trumps politics caused by people. Most likely it will be like Russia. Where are the protestors? Dead or in prison….