What's Coming Next
Are we a nation in denial about a future rupture?
There’s a moment—quiet and sickening—when you realize something isn’t just broken. It’s not going back. Not with time. Not with effort. Not with votes. That’s where we are in America. You can feel it in your gut. And the worst part is how much we’ve been trained to deny it.
We’re told we’re just polarized. That if we could just talk it out, we’d find common ground. But what if the only thing we agree on is that we’re headed toward rupture? That’s the question I’m wrestling with today. Let’s consider it.
Ask someone on the left. They’ll tell you democracy is being dismantled, that the courts are captured, that bodily autonomy is under assault, that political violence is brewing, and the right has abandoned the rule of law. They’ll say the MAGA movement isn’t just a party—it’s a cult. One that lies, cheats, punishes the vulnerable, and demands absolute loyalty.
Ask someone on the right. They’ll say the left wants to erase their culture, silence their speech, control their children, and rig elections through mail-in ballots and activist judges. They’ll say the government has been hijacked by communists, the media lies, and the only way to preserve America is to take it back by any means necessary.
Both sides feel attacked. Both sides feel unheard. Both sides believe the other is not just wrong—but illegitimate. And when both sides stop recognizing the other as countrymen, the rupture isn’t speculative. It’s here.
I know this because I’ve lived it. My own family has become a microcosm of the national fracture. People I love see me as a threat—not because I’m dangerous, but because I won’t conform to their worldview. When I speak, they hear propaganda. When I show compassion, they see manipulation. And I know they feel the same way about me. It’s not misunderstanding. It’s mutual refusal. And it sure feels permanent.
Look at the system. Right-wing states are openly defying federal law. Left-wing cities are preparing for political violence. The courts have been weaponized. Billionaires are buying judges. The media is filtered, splintered, and distrusted by half the population. Elections are no longer moments of transfer—they’re moments of crisis because contempt has set in. The storylines may differ, but the feeling is shared: something has broken, and it does not appear that anyone is going to fix it.
So maybe the question no longer is, “Can this be fixed?” That question assumes we still live in a shared nation. That there’s still a middle to return to.
Maybe the real questions—the ones that neither side wants to face, but both are circling—are these:
What do we do when coexistence is no longer viable?
What does survival mean in a country where power is being centralized through cruelty?
When the rupture becomes undeniable, what side of it do you want to be on?
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If we take the line of questioning further, where did this division come from? What is the cause of such fear and hate?
The answer is 10 years of post-truth propaganda. The american people have been divided purposefully. Fascist politics includes rhetoric that encourages fear and anger as a means to foment ethnic and religious division. Hate and division is purposefully generated to serve the ultra rich. As long as MAGA is fighting WOKE, people are fighting a false war. The real enemy is the ultra rich, and they benefit from us fighting each other.
We have been duped.
I believe in democracy, but have very recently realized that there are many on the R side who no longer believe in democracy. I recommend the Washington Post article today on Curtis Yarvin the ideological mentor of project 2025 who openly states that he believes not in democracy, but in dictatorship by one person and run by billionaire tech Bros (naturally. )Do you remember a few short years ago when was such a controversy over whether the Washington Post or other media main streamers could refer to Trump's lies as such, as LIES ,whether we could several years later, refer to him as a wannabe dictator or Autocrat . How tragically naïve we were. As a child of Holocaust survivors I spent much of my academic younger years, trying to answer the question for myself why did the Democratic German people support the genocide by the dictator, why did so many jews not believe it was going to happen? He was actually going to murder all the Jews that he could get his murderous hands on. The answer I came up with was that such cruelty such unspeakable sadism was unprecedented in their lives, they had a failure of imagination and isn't it obvious that that is what has happened to us . The msm has been so slow to catch on, but they still are in denial about the fact that the WH and their whole administration and congressional sycophant no longer want democracy they don't want any future elections ever ,so let us learn from our mistakes and take this american fuhrer literally and seriously, and never for a second make a mistake again .
as for what we do about it. the starting point must be no more denial, facing the unthinkable reality that we do not have two parties anymore. We have a Democratic party we have a party that largely does not believe in democracy any longer that openly openly expresses their preference for dictatorship. I think the answer is that every day we do what we can, and what we must in every way, we fight with full engagement of our intelligence and resources and energy on every level possible in every small way, speaking up in our small towns, writing letters, calling our representatives local state federal, getting out on the street with neighbors,with signs. This is working of course -the courts so far are holding up, more solidarity like Harvard set the example for ,by organizing other universities to stand firm ,like those quisling law firms did not do initially but many others in their wake,did ,and it's still not too late for those law firms to stand together. Yes, this means sacrifice ,look what we are in for though! Theft of our freedom, our democracy, our services , and our bank accounts ! people -it's coming -don't fail to imagine the empty shelves and the empty floor under the Christmas tree or around the menorah. This is coming unless of course, a miracle happens, and Donnie, two -dolls reverses his delusional, completely unhinged and universally debunked tariff catastrophe. I wrote Amazon ( he wont read it but thousands writing might get read!)that I'm not buying another thing unless they stand up to Trump and do what is right for their customers which is to print ,to publicize the tariff surcharges as they were going to do before Trump loudly threatened them not to dare. I have already seen the items I buy from Whole Foods -selected items that they know wealthier people can pay for like organic items - not imported, like Milk, skyrocket in price. I'm talking 10% which at this early stage of the economic nightmare we're in for, is a lot so speak up folks, protest /complain boycott get out on the streets. We can do this people. This is an extinction moment for all our small businesses who cant wait much longer, and eventually for ALL we hold dear, think on it, on all the sadistic destruction so far!!We MUST do this , every day in any and every way we can!we have no choice do we??