21 May 2025
The End of American History
The Democratic Party is dead. The good news? So is the GOP. Both were dying long before anyone truly noticed – or cared.
The death of the American democratic duopoly didn’t come about because of Citizens United, nor the Patriot Act or anything related to the numerous abuses of power and privileges allotted to members of the body of politic. No – American bipartisanship died long before any of this took place, and I firmly assign blame to the actions of Richard Milhous Nixon.
You’re probably wondering why Nixon is a culprit in all this, and while a teeny tiny bit convoluted, here’s a brief history of persons, things, and events, that are central to him:
The United States House of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee, and by extension McCarthyism.
FBI director J. Edgar Hoover who expanded surveillance against Americans under the auspices of thwarting communism.
Senator Barry Goldwater, a key supporter of Nixon, one-time presidential candidate, whose right-wing extremism accelerated America’s dysfunction.
Nixon’s Secretary of State and National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, whose realpolitik legacy included policies widely condemned as morally bankrupt and, in some cases, arguably criminal.
President Ronald Wilson Reagan. Nixon crawled, so Reagan could run… rampant with his national fearmongering against the ever-growing threat of communism.
The conservative political operative, Roger Stone. Enough said.
The expansion of the Vietnam War for political and financial motives
Nixon’s visit to China which would directly lead to the off shoring of US jobs to exploit cheap labor and increase corporate revenue. Also, creating the current political ambiguity that holds the United States at odds with China over Taiwan.
The Watergate scandal, which should have truly ended the Republican Party, but somehow it didn’t.
The list goes on…
Now, I’m not here to suggest that good ol’ Tricky Dick is the sole reason for this country’s problems – After all, I’m not a history professor. No, Nixon didn’t destroy America alone. However, I will assert that he’s in the Top 10 of America’s most notorious who have had their involvement in the shadier side of American governance that is fueled by disdain for the American public and filled by indignation in their particular quest to homogenize political power.
What Nixon did was initiate a slow, deliberate erosion of institutional trust—trading democratic principles for political expediency, and policy for profit. Now, I can spend all day discussing the errant ways of Nixon and how it directly contributed to the abandonment of democratic principles as we know them, but I’m not here to discuss history nor is this why I’m here to rant.
The United States on its current trajectory has long been headed toward failure. The likelihood of its implosion under the weight of its hubris and hypocrisy has been successfully starved off by great statesmen and women who shielded the American public from the true wolves at the door seeking to exploit the citizenry and land for everything it has ever had to offer. The American empire has been metaphorically bandaged for far too long and the people have been fooled by a thin veil of propaganda that has convinced them that this country is and remains truly “great” based upon the ideals of a few founding fathers who once demanded a more perfect union.
All it took for the United States to collapse was a single man willing to challenge the system. Akin to forsaking the delicate touch needed for Jenga, certain people said “fuck all that” and took a proverbial sledgehammer to the game because the consequences, no matter how catastrophic for everyone else, meant they could further enrich themselves as they watched it all come crashing down, free of any and all blame. The men who destroyed the country didn’t do so because of prejudice nor hatred, they did so out of vengeance, self-aggrandizement, and greed. Make no mistake, Trump and his ilk didn’t create the fascist movement America is now facing –it was already there and had been for a long, long time, nor is Trump acting irrationally – he simply is a product of an America that rewards those who trample upon others and is a symbol of the disease that has infested this nation. Donald Trump emboldened the worst of Americans to believe in the false version of themselves that they have been brainwashed into manifesting as reality.
Democrats and Republicans are functionally the same. Detractors would argue that Democrats aren’t the ones actively working to reduce civil rights and access to the commodities and protections that we have worked so hard to secure, but conversely, these same political representatives aren’t working to prevent it, either. I know people don’t like hearing that ugly truth, but this is the reality we need to accept: the political class is protected, wealthy, and indifferent to the people it claims to represent. Both parties stand atop the crumbling tower, admiring the view. They are inherently corrupted by the time they’ve spent as part of America’s elite replete with comfort, enrichment, and privilege at the mere expense of everyone else.
The problem isn’t just public apathy—it’s institutional apathy. The American public has been distracted by the bread and circus of pop culture and professional sports, incensed by carefully curated outrage, and numbed by the dopamine drip of instant gratification. But this apathy is mirrored by those we’ve elected to represent us—those entrusted with protecting our rights and advancing social, civil, and economic progress. The Democratic Party, in particular, has confused being the named opposition with actual leadership, treating resistance as performance and grift as governance.
“The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first, the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”
Back to my original point, the failure of the Democratic Party is not because Donald Trump won a second term. No - the failure of the Democratic Party is because they let Kamala Harris squander her shot at her potential first. Jenga is a collaborative effort of risky vertical progress built atop rising horizontal instability. And the party’s survival depends on the continued rise of the very tower they now fear might fall. However, establishment Democrats who were entrusted with reinforcing the base instead chose to admire its height. Again and again, establishment leaders congratulated themselves for advocacy while ignoring the growing inevitability of its collapse. Kamala Harris could have been that turning point. Instead, the party handed her an unwinnable mandate and pretended it was progress. Even worse, Democrats have now become complicit as they acquiesce to the perceived threats to their own power and status, enabling the atrocities against their constituents in a last-ditch effort of self-preservation. If anything is clear, it’s that the Democratic Party must confront its irrelevance.
The future of governance in America needs not to focus on reforming the current political parties, but instead should embrace an outright rejection of them. “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.” While not in the exact original context of Benjamin Franklin’s words, the sentiment remains true. We as Americans, cannot accept the shitty hand we’re dealt because it allows an uneasy semblance of peace to exist among us. Every day we’re manipulated into being more aggressive with one another, more mistrustful, more sick, more indebted, more anxious, and more fearful so the system may exploit us to increase their profit-seeking and imperialism. We’re told we have democracy, that this country embodies the spirit of freedom when that is far from the truth. “Freedom” is no longer an ideal, it is just a tagline for a political campaign. True freedom is not granted by your masters, it is demanded from the supreme authority from which it is derived.
Now, I am not advocating for the use of violence until absolutely necessary, but I recognize the overwhelming utility in unified displays of force. Force is not just the projection, or perceived threat, of violence, although the power of such can never be understated. In this scenario, force is the sheer will of the people to reject the restraints of the system as it is currently presented.
While calls for a third-party candidate were prevalent during the most recent presidential elections, the idea of a third political option has been strategically reduced over time as the influence of money edged out the desires of the American people. Some have suggested the resurrection of defunct political parties, such as the Bull Moose Party, that once propelled the great Theodore Roosevelt to the presidency of the United States. While there is usefulness in understanding our past, Americans need to forge their own future, diverged from the norms of contemporary and historical tradition. There needs to be the establishment of a new political party in the United States.
It's time for America to rebuild the tower. The new party needs to be endorsed by the common man and not beholden to the influence of the affluent, special interests, nor foreign entity. The party would have to organize in a manner that would address the needs of American citizens and non-citizens alike, adhering to vigorous equal enforcement of and protection under the rule of law, while also guaranteeing unilateral application of civil liberties without bias to an individual’s race, religion, or creed. The party would have to coalesce around the belief that the American people reject the ideas of individualism and personal wealth at the expense of the collective good and safeguarding of one’s community. The new party would have to focus on the ideals that redefine American exceptionalism; a country founded on the beliefs that universal suffrage, healthcare, education, and welfare programs are not seen as divisive, but rather as fundamental rights of the people. That every person has the right to live their life unburdened by spurious barriers – impediments brought by a corrupt government that seeks to capitalize upon their very existence.
Now, it may sound a bit socialist to demand the federal government regulate society to safeguard the protections of the land. However, progressive ideas have almost always been universally met with positive reception. It was around this time in the previous century when two of America’s most beloved presidents, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, urged this country to embrace the tenets of New Nationalism and a New Deal. Now more than anytime in American history, the need for progressive politics is a matter of necessity. As America wades into this next millennium, it once again finds itself at an oddly familiar juncture – and with a choice to be made.
Ending on a positive note. Despite my doomer outlook, I do believe the United States will survive. Although America is facing seemingly unprecedented times, these are far from her darkest days. This country has survived far worse and because of her citizens who truly love America and what she stands for, we will always find the strength to survive. Whether accurate or not, I think about the quote rumored to be attributed to Winston Churchill; “Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted.” If history has shown an ironic preference in repeating itself, then such a political renaissance in America isn’t a faraway fantasy, but a more than likely natural next-step. My hope is that we don’t wait until every other possibility is exhausted. The right thing is still within reach, but we must have the courage to act. America will endure. But endurance alone isn’t enough. We must choose better — before better is no longer a choice we’re free to make.
“We are all Americans; what we have in common far outweighs what divides us.” – Theodore Roosevelt
- Major DAD, out.