General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"The American experiment is over..."
I'm not saying to give up or stop fighting. That's IMO not an option. But this is where we are ar at the moment.
Sadly, every word is true. The American experiment is over. Killed in the middle of Fifth Avenue and no one in power blinked an eye to stop it.
— Mark T. Sneed (@marktsneed.bsky.social) 2026-05-25T07:50:43.169Z
Irish_Dem
(82,480 posts)250 years is not a bad run.
But our democracy is over now.
Ironic on the 250th anniversary of our democracy.
Blues Heron
(9,050 posts)FoxNewsSucks
(11,944 posts)of all the pollyannas who think 'everything will just be fine, you'll see'.
Realistic points of view are often uncomfortable.
LymphocyteLover
(10,200 posts)Dems have no real power, so of course they seem impotent to people not paying attention.
FoxNewsSucks
(11,944 posts)here's an example. Blue slips. Dick Durbin honored that policy for republicon senators even after they refused to do the same for Democratic Senators.
Time and time again, we are "nice". That's why it's easy for the media to push that image.
And many see the contrast with times that republicons are in the minority yet manage to successfully obstruct and thwart Democrats anyway.
We need to fight the same way, or we will soon lose it all.
wnylib
(26,509 posts)Realism says things are bad, even very bad, but by facing up to each problem with open eyes, we can tackle the problem.
Defeatism says that things are so bad, that we should just give up and accept that they will never improve and we can't do anything about it.
Realism is good because it brings focus and definition to solving problems. Defeatism is giving in to hopelessness.
FoxNewsSucks
(11,944 posts)right here who seem to eagerly look for things they can call "defeatist" to silence critics.
wnylib
(26,509 posts)for believing that we can and should push back strongly and steadily against the destruction of democracy.
The struggle against authoritarian oligarchs currently taking over the country and trying to take over the world seems impossible to win sometimes. There are so many setbacks, so many insane things going on at once, so much money and power on the other side. But they are fallible human beings, not gods. They can be defeated.
It takes a united effort and determination to seize every opportunity, exploit every weakness that we detect in them, and keep on resisting.
MorbidButterflyTat
(4,775 posts)Who said, 'everything will just be fine, you'll see'?
"The American experiment is over" is realistic?
snowybirdie
(6,754 posts)Giving up and walking away with you tails between your legs. Shame on the defeatist and shame on not trying. As a nation, we've been down before and got back up! We all are better than this and this gets posted on Memorial Day! Double shame!
FoxNewsSucks
(11,944 posts)I read the opposite, the problem is those who have power but done nothing.
Easterncedar
(6,499 posts)Democracy died here already. But acknowledging that isn't being defeatist. It doesn't mean we should stop fighting against the fascist authoritarian regime. We have to build a better government and society. We have to keep fighting, together, with all we have in every way we can.
CousinIT
(12,782 posts)bucolic_frolic
(55,919 posts)The collapse of the financial and economic system loom. AI debt will level everything. We build anew from the ashes.
OMGWTF
(5,223 posts)CousinIT
(12,782 posts)...are not leaders or are "too emotional" to do so, or whatever. Not after Trump. Not before either, but Trump just put the cap on their invalid arguments.
Phoenix61
(18,897 posts)But it's been challenged in the past and we're still here. The Civil War, the Great Depression, the anti-war demonstrations during the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement and the atrocities that were committed during it. We will get through this the same way we got through those, determination and hard work because failure is not an option.
harumph
(3,426 posts)Anything else we do is just building a temporary dam. Article V. Maybe the only thing that will provide the motivation to fundamentally amend (more than just bandaid) the constitution will be when we hit rock bottom - and I mean rock bottom. One, private money needs to be banned
from elections. Two, bodily autonomy. Three, right to privacy - which means inter alia, no surveillance state. Four, right to basic healthcare. Five, right to a standardized world class education for all children K-12. Six, absolute separation of church and state. Seven, curtail presidential pardon power. Firewalls between the president and the DOJ. Create and fund virtually untouchable independent agencies charged with ferreting out accounting fraud and corruption. National secrecy cannot extend to more than 20 years before public disclosure ( accountability for those involved before they die). Representatives and senators must put their money in a blind trust. Penalties for defrauding the public include inability to run for election or to even serve in government - forever.
sinkingfeeling
(58,075 posts)leadership in science, education, medicine, engineering, and foreign relations is gone. The America I knew and loved died in November 2025.
struggle4progress
(126,710 posts)yellow dahlia
(6,542 posts)MorbidButterflyTat
(4,775 posts)And he publishes on the evil, dreaded Amazon!!
#blueskybannedbooks Check out my podcast about publishing, self-publishing, writing, or are interested in a different kind of movie review. Hosted by award winning author and #1 Amazon Afrofuturistic Science Fiction writer Mark Sneed. Click the link below. www.buzzsprout.com/2502980/epis...
— Mark T. Sneed (@marktsneed.bsky.social) 2026-05-25T21:36:56.268Z
FakeNoose
(42,505 posts)They all have their own opinions, but I don't have to waste my time reading them.