I think Americans are realizing that democracy is a participation sport, and the the government is ours if we want it to be. I feel like we got complacent and hoped some other third party would do the work for us. Seems like we have to learn that lesson every generation.
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Complacent indeed. We did our citizens & country a real disservice by not teaching civics all through compulsory education
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I agree and welll said
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I think a lot of Americans have known this. We heard Nancy Pelosi quoting Benjamin Franklin: "A republic, if we can keep it." We heard Hillary tell us we are "stronger together." And we heard Kamala say "When we fight, we win."
Now can you realize sexism so we can finally elect a woman?
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Lately, we have to learn every 8 years.
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So, Get Out And VOTE! -
ICE could kidnap, deport and disappear Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston, and over 100 Million Americans still wouldn't vote in the mid-terms.
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In the mid-terms, 70+M Americans will still vote GOP, and 120+M Americans will still be #TooLazyToVote. Participation requires action.
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Absolutely.. thatโs a really insightful observation. Democracy only works when people actively participate, not just rely on others to make decisions for them. Complacency can be tempting, but every generation seems to have to relearn that responsibility...
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Yes. Itโs a shame Americans donโt participate in our democracy like they do our football.
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Patriots participate
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People think we're immune to tyranny, that it can't happen here.
I do think more are waking up.
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White folk especially men have to stop voting for assholes. So sad that what LBJ said about white men is still true.
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Watching the first two episodes of The American Revolution has made me even more furious at these treasonous Republican bastards for trying to destroy our Democracy.
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Every generation with a Trump in it.
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I want my tax dollars going to help PEOPLE not CORPORATIONS!!
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I hope we make it out of this current nose dive position we find ourselves in.
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Democracy is just an idea fed to the masses to lure them into ignorant complacency but it's not a practical fact anywhere in the world.
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It's never too late to learn a valuable lesson.
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Think there should be more focus on education in America so people can realize the difference between democracy and dictatorship.
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We have a LONG WAY to go. 90 million people did not vote. And looking at voting bloc percentages a 'good' election has only close to 62 to 64% voting. That's pathetic. And more so that people will not vote for someone 'not perfect' and just not vote. Then we get the worst always.
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I also feel like this might finally push the orange stain over the edge. In which case, good luck to the rest of the cult. There will be consequences for those participating in terrorizing their fellow citizens. Real consequences, like the gulag in El Salvador.
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Yesโฆone must participate! NOT like the 90 million eligible voted who did NOT participate in 2024 elections!
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Basically yes. History can repeat if forgotten. Letโs try to not forget, although it seems every generation (70-90yrs), some form or another attempt happens, etc etcโฆ. Stay in school folks, itโs your friend, not your enemy.
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We could teach it in schools - if wealthy people werenโt trying to defund education and dumb us all down in order to take better advantage of the masses.
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THIS was published in March 2025. Trump has made the US less democratic since then. bsky.app/profile/umai...
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Third parties can only do the work if they actually get a seat at the table.
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I can tell you Iโm in the game like never before. And I go back to Nixon, et al. There are massive opportunities to fight and make a difference.
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Democracy is a verb, and action word.
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I get what youโre trying to say but letโs have some perspective- the idea of modern Democracy is less than 300 years old and even more importantly, the education needed to understand how to participate has only been around for about 150 years. Thatโs at most 6 generations of people who have been 1/3
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Idk, I keep hearing the same tired old shit from people and refusing to think or try looking for something better. Same shit candidates are probably going to compete for Dem primaries and then it's just hoping the Republicans collapse from in-fighting.
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Every generation?! How about every two years matching US election cycles?
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The above post does nail the one major mistake the Democrats participated in for some decades now. Democrats focused too much on national political races and left the traditional political paths wide open to abuse by far-right, populist Republicans. Namely: local school boards, neighborhood... 1/2
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Yes! Iโm starting to feel proud about my country again!
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Participating in our Democracy is like receiving healthcare today. We must be our own advocates. Read, study, learn. It's up to US.
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Ken Burnโs โAmerican Revolutionโ has come to us at a remarkable time. All you have to do is see the first episode to witness heroic rebellion against a tyrannical government. Proud to say that the towns I grew up near and worked in Massachusetts are featured. New Englanders kicked butt.
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The Republic for which it stands. The great democracy experiment has failed miserably. Itโs just that no one has come up with a better solution for governance. If we do a survey of democratic nations, (US included) corruption is supreme, prejudice is a musk, oppression is rampant, ignorance is bliss
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One generation learns it the hard way, grows old, the next generation is told by big bro corporations that everything's fiiine, leave it just as it is, we got this. Once the corporations get too greedy, the cycle repeats.
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Voting should be mandatory.
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Itโs literally a symptom of authoritarian takeovers that the previous opposition parties had become passive and overly reliant on traditions and the false belief that institutions would hold because they always had up to that point. No structure lasts all by itself. It requires continual upkeep.
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We need to go back to the semblance of normalcy that we had with Biden/Harris. Those were the good old days.
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I 100% guarantee we will fuck it up again.
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Maybe it's time we demand a real change so two parties aren't able to keep us complacent anymore. Good democracies have more than two parties.
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Weโve learned that? We blew it with Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, the two Bushes and now this. Every time they gain power, they destroy a bit more of America. They make it harder for any kind of recovery of our whole society because theyโre quietly terraforming it
open.substack.com/pub/demodirg...
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NOW MORE THAN EVER
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Sure, but the problem is, when good people try to participate in democracy by becoming a politician, they get punished for doing so (especially if they speak honestly). They have no chance of ever winning the election.
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Perhaps that's because all our "two party" system does is perpetuate a tug-o-war. Nothing remains stable. It's allowed the wealthy to completely gut the middle class in the last 50 years. Those parties are entrenched in the system. They are both toxic and out of touch with the common U.S. citizen.
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Democracy has been built by outsiders. The founders wanted it for themselves as property owners. Voting rights were next claimed by non-propertied males, by free black males, then by women, then by indigenous people, then by younger adults.
Then Republicans decided only they should voteโฆ
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Perhaps Americans donโt know what they vote for? Perhaps they donโt see the connection between legalizing terror & corruption will lead to their own destruction?
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Still not doing shit to save themselves. Itโs far past the point of this resolving non violently. It will have to go to the extreme dark side with unimaginable horrors before this turns around.
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I've been saying we need to hollow out the Dems and fill it with actual progressives for almost 20 years now. Everyone looked at me like I said we should kick everyone's puppies. No one takes an 18 year old seriously when he says shit like, "it's really a corporate oligarchy." ๐
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Yes. But we need to get aggressive about demanding better media too. Or having a free press I should say.
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You can't just DoorDash a functioning government that actually kinda supports you. You have to go out and get it.
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As someone who has been engaged since age 15 (I'm 70yo), l've seen how easily voters are manipulated. Dems have done it too, pretending to do good while stealing from poor. GOP does worse. But mostly voters didn't apply critical thinking. 55 years disappointment on many issues I care about.
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Agreed. It also seems like every year that goes by Americans need to work more hours per week than they did the year previously. So bottom line is: theyโre tired.
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Maxwell can file new appeals challenging her conviction & sentencing. SCOTUS denied her appeal based on the non-prosecution agreement, but she can file a new petition based on other legal challenges. This can take a decade or more.
Obviously they're also trying for an immediate pardon/commutation.
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Complacency started while ago, democracy got sidelined and GOP took advantage.
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Too many keyboard warriors- not enough poll worker and door knockers.
Way past time to get off our asses and BECOME the change.
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omg, well said.
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This time is different in that the rest of the world democracies no longer trust America. It will take decades, if ever, to regain that broken trust & America will have to work hard to earn it.
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Maybe so, but American arrogance, entitlement and exceptionalism have gone a long way to determine we didnโt need any guardrails against fascism like many social democracies have. Iโm tired of the same patterns over and over and over.
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I think it's more they trusted the system to regulate itself. Once malicious actors realised the vulnerabilities, they set the press up to recruit the disenfranchised and insinuated themselves into all three branches of government.
This is why George Washington wanted to ban political parties.
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Iโve been saying this for several years now.
Any election generating a less than 50% participation by the electorate is not a viable democracy. Eventually you end up where we are right now.
The candidates might not be perfect, but you canโt just stay home. A Trump will come along and rob you blind
https://them.you
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Watch Ken Burns THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION on PBS television.
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1972 this great group of artists did this show encouraging people to get involved and register to vote. Great line up. youtu.be/itkwPhZFAHQ
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Are they learning it? Hmmm...
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One must also desist on voting only for the "perfect" candidate. Everyone has flaws. In a democratic society, one must sometimes be willing to give a little somewhere to gain elsewhere. Too many want all or nothing, and nothing is what they get.
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There were a lot of votes in 2024, obviously less than 2020 because of national mail in ballot efforts, but still it was a high turn out election.
I think a bunch of swing voters just bought into a lie Trump would be economically focused because of their anti-Biden sentiment.
But they regret that.
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Agreed.
Also, guilty. ๐ฃ
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Yes, Australian here ๐๐ป It's a good lesson for us watching on from other free countries to be vigilant to the dangers. Decently funded public school education is a must !
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Hope we have learned.
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I would disagree. Yes every generation needs to learn to participate. However, this situation we got here is off the f**king hook, outta Twilight Zone. The only one who prepared me for this sitch, was Rod Serling.
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Every damn time
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The young people seem highly active everywhere in the world EXCEPT here. Whatโs wrong with them?
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A lot of people forget that the other side uses better strategy than we do. They seem more likely to fall in line after primaries.
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You need the proper hardware.
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A third party would be nice, but we already have several. Problem is, they get no media coverage and the establishment parties won't allow them on the debate stage. Without that, they remain in the shadows ignored because so few know of them.
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I really hope you're right!
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happy thought
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Once in a generation is about right - George Wallace in the 1970s - George W Bush in 2000 - Trump in 2016/2024. Let's hope the country can recover from Bush & Trump
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We already have a third party "we the people" and were failing that unless we say enough !
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We have to keep doing it over and over because there is always someone trying to grab more than their fair share.
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Exactly. Elections arenโt sporting events. They have real consequences and affect peopleโs lives.
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Every generation. We're all in this together โ๐ค Teach Your Childrenโจ Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQOa...
Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Teach Your Children (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by RHINO
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I like to say that when we donโt tend the garden, the weeds take over and choke out the beautiful flowersโฆwe need to ALWAYS tend the garden in order to grow beautiful things together.
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More like every 4 years.
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Annoying that people are so disengaged.
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It doesn't help, that some of the poorer areas in our country will lose what little access to news that they have. Jon Oliver talks about it here youtu.be/yknMJOgy2pA?...
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I agree, we did. I also believe that they rely on that trend to push their agenda. But youโre right, politics is NOT a spectator sport.
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To simplify:
America and Japan went to war in an over sized turf war.
Growing up in New York, Trump understands turf wars and is happy to sacrifice his foot soldiers in their pursuit.
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The โDonroe Doctrineโ: Trumpโs Bid to Control the Western Hemisphere
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I was never interested in politics, aside from voting in every election, because I felt like everything was running smooth enough I didnโt need to be involved. Now I have a much better understanding of how our government works, and who is doing things right and wrong, and Iโm much more involved.
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Yes, it is so sad that every generation has to try to reinvent the wheel.
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It's a continued fight and always will be.
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We have some work to do once we get cleared of this mess
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I thought we had learned our lesson with the debacle of the Nixon administrations, and it seemed like we had for a while, but history is not only repeating itself, it is now making the Nixon admins look like they werenโt so bad. So now, we have to learn all over again, and retain our democracy.
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Maybe every other generation. Grandparents to grandchildren.
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You are one of our leaders...you know that right? There are about 20-30 social media accounts leading the way for us to include @marcelias.bsky.social @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social @logicallyjc.bsky.social @meidastouch.com @therealjackhopkins.bsky.social to just name a few
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We had a great candidate in kamala Harris and Tim walz along with much misperception about VP Harris etc are we the people in different states really ready for a female president??? Or are many voters espc some men possibley offended or just can't accept a woman as our president no.matter how etc???
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United we stand divided we fall. Very simple. You have to maintain a democracy by participating
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Taking things for granted is the American way of life. Itโs what we do.
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I guess when you have an immigrant/refugee Mom & a Navy Dad, & they're both intelligent, it kinda goes without saying. Oh & if this scene๐was a regular activity in your childhood.๐
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Politics is something we do. Its our fault for not fixing.
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Every other a day is a good opportunity for a review. Kill off the billionaires' Press club is a good start. You do that by selling your shares in them. You're complicit for your own sh*t.x
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Over the past few years, my very apolitical now 31 y/o daughter has become very politicalโฆ 2020 and 2024 were the first two times she voted and is very much looking forward to voting in 2026โฆ
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Franklin knew
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I heard a privileged white guy say that what he most resents about Trump is that heโs forced him to care about politics. Itโs perhaps the gift, if Americans realize politics impacts their wellbeing and participation rises.
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Agreed.๐ We have the power and we have to realize it.
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Sadly propaganda and undereducation/miseducation has done a number on literacy and critical thinking. Weโre going to need a nationalized curriculum and focus to turn it around. Itโs doable, but the โstates rightsโ ppl will need to accept federal minimums, states can improve from that floor.
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No, you canโt blame the voters for this. When you do, youโre doing the billionaires job for them. They have set us up to be disengaged. We donโt get civic education. We donโt get a day off to vote. We have two corrupt parties that lots of people donโt feel like even voting for. Donโt oversimplify.
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โฆalso that democracy is more fragile than we thought too!!
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Itโs a government for the people, by the people and of the people. We start by researching our candidates and making the very best decision based on our research. We must remember that the person we choose not only represents us but the entire countryโs best interests!
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Maybe we should have a government without such powers that allow them to fuck us up the ass when we never asked them to
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Iโve always voted, the rest FAFO I guess
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You defended Garland for four years citing that he was too busy with Ticketmaster and upholding DOJ independence.
The fact that you can even post and get likes is a testament to the confirmation seeking nature of social media.
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The government will never be ours until we remove every penny from elections. We have two parties willing to kill kiddies for lobbyist and donors.
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there are generational lessons that you aren't learning. going to brunch isn't participation handing this fucked up broken exploitable wreckage over to some dnc preselected managers after trump goes away isn't participation either.
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That ship sailed in 1989 for me. As a activist what I noticed was women helped orgs far more than demboys. Kats bruised butt is not a new phenomenon.
wwwhy is that keyboard warrior influencers in your owwwn mind demboys?
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well said lfg
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Apathy & lack of meaning education about civics.
If this year hasnโt convinced everyone that voting is important and who you vote for has a consequence, I donโt know what will.
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Is civics even taught anymore? Is it any wonder?
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When I became legal age to vote I was so excited. I never discourage anyone to vote. I wanted everyone to know that this was their right and responsibility. I so wished more would get out and vote. People said they were to busy. I told them to ask for an absentee ballot. That way their vote counts.
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Plato said it best.
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Another third party did; Heritage Foundation. But, I definitely agree with your sentiment.
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Thank you for this post today
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Watch PBS Ken Burns The American Revolution it shows history repeating its self โฆ
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The 92% and 78% Dem base knew what was at stake! Weโve been fighting for democracy in this country for decades and I wish people would have listened to us๐ฉ
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Have enough of us really learned that though? I'm not convinced yet.
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Yes, well said.
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You want power? How bout this? WE stop working for THEM. We keep us, they keep their money
They take from the needy to give to the greedy. No one sells them food, clothes, housing, ANYTHING But WE take care of US
Their money stinks of blood and pain and suffering. Let money take care of them
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Good, this is progress, you're getting there. And you know that sports can be hard, and sometimes people get injured?
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Question. Isnโt that the American way, benefit all you can off the less fortunate with no consideration of the repercussions until you are the one exploited? Asking for a friend.
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Seems like Dem voters have to learn that lesson every other Presidential election
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I hate that humanity always has to learn lessons the hard way.
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I haven't been complacent, a lot of people haven't, this country was just founded by and for rich white slave owners. It's only the concept of slavery that changed
To even stand a chance at winning you have to have MILLIONS of dollars. That automatically disqualifies most people. It's capitalism
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At leastโฆ.
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HATE elected Trump in 2016 & 2024
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Why do you feel like that? Who got complacent? You are talking about the liberal Democrats who attack progressives right?
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Science is my love but service is my duty. (Said by Thomas Jefferson I thinkโฆ.)
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Wait, you mean I have to do more than Netflix and Twinkies??
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Whose weโฆ and I still have to disagree. 40% of the country would happily vote for him again and if we run a black person or a woman is questionable if he wonโt win in 2028
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The UK discovered the cost of the protest vote with Brexit
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This is what I will say about your โcomplacencyโ. Just face it: bsky.app/profile/hamm...
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Call me a cynic, but I'll believe it when I see us take back the House and Senate, launch formal impeachment proceedings against #DirtyDonald
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Yeah
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This lesson is painful. Like very. :(
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Agreed. Reluctant to make it a us vs situation but we do better economically when Dems are at the helm and it makes us relaxed and happy, the OPPOSITE of today's "governing."
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I am going to be honest, I'm a 50 year old Black man, and I have never seen the amount of outraged White people, that are outraged by the same things that I am outraged about. To me, that's a good sign. We can work together to get whatever the fuck MAGA is out of our country.
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Not a coincidence fascism rises as the last of those who fought against it a mere 80yrs ago are no longer with us.
I noticed not a single uncle, aunt, parent or grand uncle, aunt, parent ... who participated in WWII were alive in 2024 ...
then the wealthiest right wing donor does this:
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Someone wrote a song about it,
You got to fight for your right to party..
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How did people forget that the government is US?
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My 88 year old father has been saying for a while that the only solution for this is for the people to go out and take back their power.
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I will never take our democracy for granted ever again. #VOTE #CANVAS
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I hope that they have realized something because we are dangerously close to losing it. We have a little over 1 year before the first true test begins.
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Not only that, we let corporations, more or less, become people, which made each of our voices matter less. Citizens United went a long way to corrupting politicians through eliminating limits on donations.
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Years ago everyone was concerned with the politics. Families discussed the developments. People met together in person. These digital platforms destroy our connectivity. It permits anger to growin us without the possibility to be calmed. Try to meet with others. We canโt succeed in isolation.
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No, take a look. A REAL GOOD ONE PEOPLE I HAVE ALWAYS COME WITH TRUTH AND FACTS NEVER BEEN WRONG YOU MAY MOT LIKE THE UN OPOLOGELIC WAY BUT IM NO NONSENSE GET IT DONE. POINT PPL MOST FICKLE AND WAIT TESTING WATER WHILE IF YOU KNOW YOU KONW RESEARCH WE WANT ACTION LIVELYHOOD ( NO PARTY) WE GOT FRAUD.
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I think that's true! It started a long time back. I'm 74, and I recall the attitudes of people toward politics when I was a child. Many women "left those things to the men," and when they (finally) got the right to vote, they voted as their husband or father told them to... (See next post)
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I've said for years that the US is a lazy democracy. People can't even be bothered to vote.
Now we see the consequences.
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Dan Dow, President of CA District Attorneys Association (CDAA) & DA for San Luis Obispo County shared TWO posts comparing 9/11 hijackers to Mamdami with pics of planes crashing into Twin Towers. Contact CDAA & demand his removal: general@cdaa.org
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No they aren't. A tiny, itsy bitsy bit of the country is starting to get vocal. There's over 340 million people. We have maybe 8 million actively protesting in the big protests otherwise they go to work and try to live life.
People expect the midterms to save them. And they might get their wish
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Exactly! We were supposed to be a nation governed by its citizens, not by factions, not by parties, not by political machines and AIPAC serving the interests of foreign powers. Yet today, parties decide who is allowed to run,and how their members should vote. Line-line obedience now trumps
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DHS, ICE, BCP - they have shown themselves to be corrupt and should be shut down. EVERY agent should be investigated. Homan and Bovino can rot in prison after their convictions.
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My GOD I hope you're right. I feel like I'm screaming at the wind because no one is calling for mandatory voting like Australia has used successfully for a century. Without it you can't know what the country really wants. 50% refuse to vote on a normal year. That is atrocious for a democracy.
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I think white Americans have taken democracy for granted, but now should be able to understand, relate & take a lesson from the struggles & tenacity of black Americans in their fight for freedom & democracy b/c no one gave them anything, they earned it. We're all in THAT same boat now!
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You know who isnโt complacent? The people who were fleeing totalitarian regimes who are now getting deported to who knows where
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How Very American.
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Nope, it's structural.
Moron framers were naรฏve aristocrats who thought backroom negotiation/gentlemanly compromise mattered more than creating a system with real, institutionalized opposition.
Now POTUS acts like a monarch; Congress is ineffective; SCOTUS is political; corruption isnt an anomaly.
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This is part of the problem...
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I think you are exactly right, Allison.
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Musk, given a big voice in telling us how to run government and our lives. Congratulations to rich folks for being rich, but leave some of the good things in life for the rest of us. Scientific advances, healthcare, public parks and land and other elements contributing to the quality of our lives.
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Unfortunately now itโs too late. The entire country FAFO. Now thereโs a full on dictator in office for whom elections, nor boycotting, nor protesting will remove. This participation thing needed to happen on 11/5/24 ๐
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More than half the country is too preoccupied to even notice.
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There are so many voters out there with their head in the sand, that donโt wanna know whatโs going on, I know many, and I donโt understand it, we have to vote like our life depends on it, because for some it does
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Who was the last generation who was this quiescent?
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"A republic ma'am, if you can keep it". It's been known for nearly 240 years.
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@thomhartmann.bsky.social always says โ Democracy is not a spectator sportโ and itโs so true.
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Itโs the 80 year cycle. Something terrible happens and after the generation dies off we forget. Until it happens again we learn and the new generation and cycle begins
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Not sure Iโm complacent. Iโll be 78 in a few months. Iโm just tired.
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It seems like you have to learn it every four years. How he ever got in a second time is a very sad reflection on the U.S.
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All true but too few have taken action.
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We never actually learned how to be citizens in civics class. We donโt learn civic participation in school aside from voting. We donโt understand governance. We only generically understand the structure of government. We have been taught to be passive participants rather than active contributors.
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The folks of the ERA movement didn't even follow through though. They got to 30-ish states signing onto the Amendment and that was that.
In the US, your politics demand lifelong vigilance.
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So true!
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There is a lot of truth here. Everyday life just happens for most people. They are unfazed until it truly hits their pocketbook.
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A certain party spending decades telling American citizens that their vote doesn't count led to them not voting. The only party that benefited from your vote doesn't count is the party in power now.
