For decades, many Americans believed our democracy was unshakable — immune to the kind of authoritarian power grabs that have toppled other nations. But recent years have delivered a stark reality check.
Our population has been shocked and awed into submission, just as intended by those seeking to consolidate wealth and power. And yet — we are waking up. We’re starting to fight back.
I remember a prediction my economics professor made in 1962, at New York’s New School. He told us, “Someday the wealthiest people, deprived of their ability to extract super-profits from developing countries, will turn their attention inward and gobble up the working and middle classes right here in the United States.”
At 22, I couldn’t believe it. America was in a postwar boom. Picket fences were rising across suburbs. Jobs came with paid vacations and pensions. Segregation was falling, women were joining traditionally male-dominated professions, and unions were powerful. We believed democracy only moved forward.
But now, every sector of public life is under siege. The privatization of once-public systems — education, healthcare, the postal service — is no longer theory. It’s active, coordinated plunder. Our Post Office, one of the oldest public institutions in the nation, is a prime target.
My professor’s words echo louder than ever: “The independence movements in Africa, India, and across the world will eventually force the American elite to seek their predatory profits at home, and they’ll pauperize the U.S. middle class.”
At the time, I still clung to the belief that our constitutional protections, however imperfect, would prevent this. Even after the shocking rise of Barry Goldwater in 1964 and the Reagan administration’s war on labor in the 1980s, we held the line. We believed we’d never fully tumble.
But today, people are being deported without due process. Social programs are stripped while tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy pass with ease. Public education has been gutted, replaced by for-profit charters. Medicare has been forced to compete with private insurance plans for 28 years, with predictable results: private plans profit by denying care. I learned that firsthand when my cardiologist told me, “Good — you have traditional Medicare. I can get you in the hospital immediately. With an Advantage plan, it takes weeks.”
The promise of equal rights and protections is being narrowed too. Reproductive rights have been decimated. Voting rights curtailed. The conservative movement, supercharged under Trump, seeks to claw back every 20th-century gain.
And yet — there is hope. The public is stirring.
On April 5, 5.2 million Americans joined Hands Off protests nationwide. Hundreds of grassroots groups, built quietly in communities over years, are now stepping forward. University leaders like Harvard’s Dr. Alan Garber have drawn lines in the sand, refusing federal demands for ideological oversight. “The university will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” Garber wrote. Dozens of universities quickly rallied to support him, forming mutual defense pacts.
Meanwhile, progressive leaders like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders are packing stadiums on their Fighting Oligarchy tour, including a staggering 30,000 people in conservative Folsom, California, lining up for miles to rally against corruption.
Brave judges, journalists, lawyers, educators, government whistleblowers, and everyday people are standing up. Holding the line. Speaking truth in a season of lies.
The tide is turning. The Big Steal isn’t inevitable — not if we act.
