Rise Up

It Takes a Village to Save a Village

It feels like the world is spiraling out of control — politically, economically, and socially. Democracies are being tested, dictators are gaining power, economic uncertainty is rising, and social trust is deteriorating. With violent insurrections, crackdowns on dissent, aggressive military campaigns, and sweeping tariffs that have devastated the economic security of millions — we are witnessing a global wave of authoritarianism.

At home, public trust in our politicians and political institutions is eroding. Corporate entities and special interest groups lobby our politicians to rig the laws to serve their interests at the expense of the American public. Career political insiders suppress dissenting opinions and speech from within their own parties to maintain control over the agenda and the narrative. The cable news media and social media algorithms amplify lies and outrage. And the authoritarian consolidation of power in the government chips away at the foundation of our democracy. On the whole, the message is clear — the people aren't meant to be in control.

But that's exactly what they want us to believe.

The authoritarians win by convincing you that you are powerless through a relentless deluge of fear, uncertainty, doubt, and outrage. But there is no authoritarian power in the entire world that can control what you do or say, especially if you live in America. Once we stop thinking about what they are doing and instead focus on what we can do, we can begin to flip the power dynamic and regain control of our democracy.

Even in the bleakest moments, we must always remember that we can rise above oppression. Just as the abolitionists ended slavery, the suffragists secured voting rights for women, and the civil rights activists ended segregation, we, too, must meet the moment — to rise above the creeping authoritarianism that weaponizes fear and frustration to erode our democratic institutions.

The Best Way to Restore Faith in Our Society is to Restore Faith in Oneself

While I lean liberal, I fully believe that it is possible to learn something from just about anyone. And for the longest time, I never understood this video from Jocko Willink, a leadership expert and former Navy SEAL who's often associated with conservative values.

But now, this video is core to my belief on how we can best defeat authoritarianism in America. It takes each and every one of us, on an individual level, to believe in our own capabilities and do what we can to be a part of the solution. We are not experts, but we are also not helpless. Once we start realizing how much agency we have in our own minds and bodies, it becomes abundantly clear that even the most fearsome authoritarian forces on Earth are nowhere near as powerful as they want you to believe. While we can't control what those nefarious dark forces are doing to try to control the narrative and pull the strings behind the scenes, we must reject the victim mentality, and be the change we want to see in the world. So let's channel our anger towards productive and constructive organizing, not cynicism, extremism, violence, or despair.

Extremism, Conspiracies, and Vigilantism Are Symptoms of a Broader Problem

Shortly after the 2024 election, a lone wolf vigilante murdered the CEO of a private health insurance company in broad daylight on the streets of New York City, which I strongly condemn, especially when there exist perfectly peaceful and legal ways to reform the health insurance industry. But this reflects a broader phenomenon: if government and proper authorities fail to act, then there is a risk for vigilantes to come out of the woodwork and pursue their own version of so-called "justice." In this way, I view vigilantism as more than just aberrant criminal behavior — it's a policy failure.

Looking more broadly, this behavior fits into a troubling pattern. Even those who are firmly within the American mainstream can drift toward third-party ideologies, conspiracy theories, or even violence when they no longer believe the system is capable of delivering justice.

While America's third parties differ widely in platform and tone, the people drawn to them often share a common trait: the complete loss of faith in our major political parties and our institutions to address a systemic injustice. Anarchists have lost faith in the government, ecosocialists have lost faith in the economy, and populists have lost faith in the establishment. And while third-party policies tend towards the extreme, regressive, or unrealistic, they are at least grounded in a real criticism of the system and are constructive in nature, as they attempt to enact positive change through our existing political and legal democratic process. And it helps that they can commiserate together instead of retreating into total isolation from the broader public. But it is still a stinging indictment of the duopoly and a symptom of gross incompetence and negligence for some people to be searching outside the mainstream for something to fix the problem.

During the pandemic, there was a huge spike in conspiratorial thinking. I think it has to do with this overwhelming and unbearable feeling of fear and helplessness. Everything shut down, and people were dying by the thousands, and the Trump Administration was so thoroughly bungling its response to the pandemic, that even some of Trump's most ardent supporters were calling it a "plandemic," as if it were so assured that Trump would fail to respond competently that someone could have planned COVID-19 to sink his re-election campaign. In fact, my own mental health took a dire turn at the time, and I started to look outside the mainstream for solutions to defuse our toxic and contentious political culture. And for a few months, my mental health was at an all-time low, and I became a big believer in voluntary taxation. Luckily for me, four years of care from Crozer Psychiatry and therapy across several mental health providers allowed my mental health to make a full recovery. (And as for the voluntary taxation, some things never change.)

I think that people look to conspiracies, because they would rather believe that someone is in control than to believe that everyone is helpless — that there must be a network of shadowy, nefarious figures that have corrupted the government and pull the strings behind the scenes to oppress the masses, preventing even the most good-hearted and powerful politicians from addressing systemic injustices. For a widow who was supposed to retire in a few years and travel the world with her husband, but instead lost him to COVID-19, it's only natural for her to be desperately searching for a reason, for someone to be behind all this.

On the whole, this can form a negative feedback loop, as the extreme third-party policies and bizarre conspiracy theories can be so off-putting to the general public, that it can result in chronic isolation, delusion, and despair. There are some who stew for long enough in a place of unbearable desperation, that they eventually feel the need to lash out through violent individual action, either directed outwardly (mass shootings, murders, acts of terror) or inwardly (addiction, self harm, suicide, deaths of despair) — the tragic and natural outcome of a complete loss of faith in any institution, system, or legal means to achieve justice. This is my assessment for how someone who was previously a happy and productive member of society could end up murdering a health insurance CEO on the streets of New York City.

In summary, I view extremism, despair, cynicism, isolation, and vigilante violence as symptoms of existential and systemic societal rot, which paves the way for oppressive "strong-man" authoritarianism to fill the void where everyone else has failed. This is why I believe that the widespread loss of faith in our society is the biggest policy failure of our times.

The best way I can think of to combat this trend is to inspire people, on an individual level, to realize their capabilities to make a positive change through peaceful and legal means. When people believe they have the power to shape the system, they don't try to burn it down or base their entire worldview around how "they" have all the power. And while it is definitely not easy, it is possible to leverage existing power structures and legal procedures to be the change we want to see.

Not any one of us can save our society alone, but together, we can be unstoppable. Together, we can rise up against the fear, uncertainty, doubt, and outrage. Together, we can defeat the suppressive learned helplessness from the fascist corporate elites and foreign authoritarian forces who are trying to hold us down. We can fight to save our democracy, powered by the optimism we have in our own capabilities and desires for a better future. We can write and become the narrative that rises above the oppression to realize our capacity to become a nation of free will — that shining democracy on a hill — and make it through even the darkest times to brighter and better days ahead.