Probably for at least another hundred years there will still be much of the same infrastructure here, and monuments, like the white house, capitol, etc, and the US will still be operating under the same name, but it’s already a good way toward transforming into something beside what it was meant to be.
The Romans had a Senate, which on it’s surface was what we think of as a representative democracy, but it didn’t have what we call checks-and-balances, and also the Senators came only from the upper classes, and they were usually sponsored by powerful people and groups. Oh wait, that sounds rather familiar. Doesn’t it?
Well, our power elites have the ability to stuff the judiciary with like minded activists, so most of our “checks and balances” don’t really create much balance. The scales tip.
The interesting thing about all that was how the Senators promoted and protected the class system at the expense of the masses, it appears at first glance in history that the emperors and ceasars were tyrants who destroyed ‘democracy’ but at least the first few (Julius and August Ceasar for example) were populists who gave a lot more to the masses than the senate ever did. So it’s all a lot more complex than it appears.
The difference is that we have several power (elites) classes, including the huge bureaucracy. In some ways, it’s a stabilizing force, somewhat resistant to political pendulum swings, but in other ways, it crystalizes the power and wealth disparities in our system.
We wont have a coup, by the elites anyway. That’s why we have a silent coup, or a slow transition away from the constitutional protections of the people. The symbols and illusions of constitutional institutions will all remain in place, but they will not function to protect the rights of the people as intended.
“That’s why we have a silent coup, or a slow transition away from the constitutional protections of the people.”
Yep. We’re watching this unfold in real time. And it brings tears to my eyes.
They had overthrown the ruling kings and established the Republic, and they were determined never to be ruled by a king again.
So when the word king--or rex--was avoided and called something else, they accepted it and accepted rule by a tyrant with absolute power.
Is there something familiar about this euphemism?
How about: "Liberalism"? "Progressive"? "War is Peace." "Freedom is slavery." "Love is hate." We hear these Orwellian paradoxes constantly every day. "the Democrat Party is the party of freedom, looking out for the 'little man.'" We're talking about the Party of slavery, lynching, infanticide, totalitarianism, racism, Jim Crow laws--the selling of America to the highest bidder--and government corruption!
So what have we got to lose? EVERYTHING! Remember:
The second Roman Emperor was the monster Tiberius. The third Caligula. The fifth Nero. This is what we're asking for when we accept decadence!
And remember their recent counterparts: Stalin, Mao, Hitler!
This is what's at stake.