Americans aren’t facing a democratic collapse. We’re living in its aftermath | US news

Just as the USSR collapsed, in part, due to many Soviet Citizens realizing that they were not living in true "Marxism-Leninism" and what they were being told, so too does the U.S appear to be collapsing internally due to many American Citizens realizing that they were, and have never been, living in "Democracy" or "Freedom." It was all a sham. I enjoy this part of the article: > [Anti-Trump Americans] will fight to restore a pre-Trump order that provided the fertile ground out of which far-right politics continues to grow. Fear of breakdown binds us to a past we cannot restore – because it never existed – and prevents us from building the future we need... >...Genuine democracy is built and sustained by the everyday public infrastructures that allow people to rely on one another: thriving public housing, childcare, schools and libraries, universal healthcare, unions, public media, real community safety, and public health as direct social care. Where these institutions wither, democratic imagination withers – and fascist fantasies thrive. Where they are valued and invested, democracy becomes a lived practice rather than an anxious memory... The article then continues that what is giving the author hope, is that Americans, in response to State-Backed Violence through ICE and Trump's other campaigns, are reacting in ways that protect their neighbors and due to the State Opposition (Democrats) are not doing anything about it, are taking matters into their own hands. >...if Americans insist that good government grows from the bottom up rather than the top down and refuse to let grassroots movements be co-opted for politicians’ careers that put party loyalties over care for people in need, then the possibility of a real democracy may yet live. Hot take I am sure, but even here in America, I agree, that it can be done. Americans are in the midst of extreme hypernormalization, absurdism, radicalization, AI Psychosis, confusion, nihilism, and a multitude of different realities being claimed to be true. While the USSR collapsing was based off of Ethnic Identities/Self-Determination, Economic Collapse, and a collapse of believe in the system, what intrigues me right now, is the absolute craziness that is America in 2026. It is so wild to witness. But I think it is only if the normality's and distractions of daily life are interrupted, as it was with ICE's siege of Minneapolis, that led to such occurrences of Direct Action and, dare I say, "Dual Power", happening. I think it will take increase in fuel costs to the point of lack of fuel (and everything becoming more expensive), food shortages, rolling blackouts, collapse in supply chains, streaming services being taken down, etc. Ironically, what makes many Americans so privileged, such as Grocery Stores always being full, Fast Food, reliable electricity, clean/instant water, entertainment, etc. is what will bring the demise of it as well, once it is even slightly interrupted. I predict that once there are genuine disruptions to all of the above, then we will see true craziness come out even more. Should the normal order of things collapse, and power vacuum's occur in pockets of the United States, it will result in not only what this article is discussing, but also the opposite, as it mentions, "Fascist Fantasies." Like, 'roving fascist militias committing pograms against Latino Americans" and "Christian in-fighting" and public executions, mixed in with Dual Power, Community Gardens, implementation of Universal Healthcare in some areas, all the while there is drought and crop failures, mixed in. At work, my coworker was gladly telling me about how Canada might be the 51st State and that they are killing babies or whatever up there, and that Californian's are going to be "liberated" soon from "wokeness." Meanwhile, I hear from another coworker about creating a community garden. Yeah.