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When the Center Cannot Hold: Rising from the Rubble of Power [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-06
We must be ready to win over independents and MAGA-lites as the economy falters. This is not the time to fixate on derivative injustices or engage in Fox-incited culture wars. We must focus—laser-like—on the fundamental power imbalances that have perpetuated those injustices for decades.
We must finally check and balance Party and Corporation by rescinding Citizens United, prohibiting the accumulation of billionaire-level wealth, and instituting public financing of elections. Along the path to that end, a democratic majority can undo the unconstitutional social policies enabled by this coup of techno- and Christo-fascists.
But first, we must get on the same page about a few foundational principles:
Parties and their agents should not control the mechanisms of elections or dominate the nomination of judges—or manipulate state elections through gerrymandering, suppression, bribery or coercion.
Corporations and their agents should not finance campaigns or appoint leadership in the very regulatory agencies meant to hold them accountable—or worse, dismantle those agencies entirely.
Let’s be clear: due to the historic reordering of global trade alliances, the ultra-wealthy will fight tooth and nail to preserve their fortunes at the expense of the middle and working class.
The total U.S. GDP will shrink by trillions for the foreseeable future. In times like these, economic equity and social justice are not luxuries—they’re necessities. There will be no “free market” trickle-down effect.
As unemployment rises—or worse, as corporations create a new class of underemployed wage slaves—we will see two dangers emerge:
Maskless mobs with too much time on their hands. Exhausted, overworked people too burdened by survival to engage in politics.
Even if Congress avoids the worst tariffs, the fascist energy will be emboldened as the economy limps along. They will hurl tired accusations at the “lazy citizen”—while ignoring that the damage has already been done. The world has judged the United States an unreliable trade and defense ally.
In response, local democratic-minded communities must band together to reinvigorate civic engagement:
Build social safety nets
Encourage local banking and regional food markets
Migrate to federated social media and DeepSeek AI-protected intranets that shield us from oligarchic propaganda
And most importantly: elect candidates who reject corporate sponsorship
One thing is certain: even if the Democratic Party wins a historic midterm election, the status quo of power imbalance will remain. And if the Party lacks the courage to confront that imbalance—by opening the political process to multi-party participation and inclusive, compromise-based governance—then we are merely kicking the can down the road to the next corporate fascist takeover.
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