Over the past several months, I have attended a few protests/rallies against the policies and edicts, most of which involve signing Executive Orders, of the current president. Usually, such protests/rallies (rallies were mentioned as a substitute for protests because they take a more positive approach) are not about a president but a single issue like the Vietnam War, civil rights, women’s vote, and large-scale societal problems.
On June 14th, a nationwide coordinated “No Kings” protest/rally was held, and a few million people participated to show their disapproval of the chaos, corruption, and destruction of basic democratic governance of the country by the current presidential administration. Our governing principle was founded on the idea that the people could self-govern. That is why the U.S. Constitution states government as being by, for and of the people. Our governance has evolved to be a more inclusive (women, minorities) form of self-governance than was the all-white male government originally established by the founding fathers.
I think many of those involved in the protests/rallies can’t believe how quickly our reasonably functioning democracy has been transitioned into something completely different. We have a political process and democracy that has been on life support for decades, has been decimated, and turned into some type of authoritarian oligarchy or kleptocracy. Once the flood gates were opened by the Supreme Court to allow those with the most money to have a disproportionate influence on our political process, the dye was cast. Ultimately, the morbidly rich would gradually assume more power and influence over who can get elected and restrict what they do as elected officials in a government by, for, and of the people was very difficult to maintain.
It appears that they are currently moving our form of government to some type of hybrid kleptocracy/oligarchy. A kleptocracy is defined as a system ruled by people who use their power to steal their country’s resources, something the current president is doing right in front of everyone, including those in Congress, unwilling by being cowards to fulfill their oath of office and uphold the constitution. An oligarchy is defined as a small group of people who have control of a country, organization, or institution. This combined hybrid government will prove very destructive to the country and most Americans and will only benefit a small group allowed to be in control.
Authoritarian governments like the one now evolving in the U.S. can’t thrive with the freedom to assemble to express your grievances against the government. The reality of a few million people across the country demonstrating against the policies and edicts of the current president, while wonderful for the country, was extremely troubling to the current authoritarian presidential administration. Continuing to see these demonstrations take place throughout the summer months will prove problematic to the agenda of the current administration involving cruelty, fear, chaos, and corruption. Good, honest, open, compromising, and inclusive government is what most American citizens want, which focuses on how they make their lives better and society more responsive to their needs, not focusing on the needs of the morbidly rich and major corporations.
There will potentially come a tipping point when the current administration grows weary of the ongoing protests/rallies. How they react will tell us a good deal about where the country is headed and if there is even a chance to salvage the government by, for, and of the people, or has the destruction, chaos, and corruption taken too much of a toll on the country. The current administration is counting on summertime complacency to reduce public involvement in regular protests/rallies, and the smaller number of those participating can be dealt with more easily. Dealing with millions of demonstrating citizens is much more problematic than dealing with tens of thousands. Ultimately, the strength in numbers makes those participating such a formidable foe that they can’t just be easily ignored.
When dealing with a lawless president, the likelihood of at some future date, unless the Supreme Court or a cowardly Republican controlled Congress acts as co-equal branches of government, we could see peaceful protestors arrested and jailed for simply exercising their First Amendment rights. Hopefully, we never get to the point like Chile did during their authoritarian period a few decades ago and fly political opponents over the ocean and toss them out of the helicopter.
