Disruption
It has happened. Everything we once relied upon to keep our lives stable now seems uncertain. What will disappear? What will remain? Who will oversee these changes? And most importantly-- what will all of this mean for me, for those I love, for our society as a whole?
The familiar anchors that helped us maintain our balance are now up for grabs. Will they still be there tomorrow? If not, what-- if anything-- will replace them? What do we do now?
It feels like the blitzkrieg at the start of World War II-- an overwhelming, lightning-fast assault that leaves people in shock, realizing too late that the battle was lost before they even knew it had begun. In an instant, they are overrun, occupied by an enemy force, a foreign ideology. The basic structures of governance have changed hands almost overnight. Society itself has shifted under the control of unfamiliar and unforeseen forces.
It is shock and awe. Like an earthquake. A tsunami. We wake up in a world that feels entirely different from the one we knew. Our world becomes unrecognizable. The ground beneath our feet keeps shifting. The landmarks are gone, and the laws of gravity no longer hold. Naomi Klein, in The Shock Doctrine, described how such societal shocks leave people so traumatized and disoriented that, in their desperate attempt to regain some sense of equilibrium, they fail to notice the sweeping economic and political changes being imposed upon them. By the time they recover enough to take stock, the transformation is complete, and they find themselves living in an entirely new social and political reality.
This new reality has shifted the center of gravity to a new set of actors. The flywheel effect that once kept the system in motion is gone. The spinning top that was our governance now wobbles, out of balance, teetering on the edge of collapse. It is as if the very laws of nature-- of governance, of power-- have changed, leaving us scrambling to find stability in an unfamiliar and precarious system.
So, what has changed? The landmarks and guiding principles we once relied upon to navigate life seem to have vanished. The legal system, once a stabilizing force, is now in flux, its very purpose being rewritten. No longer can we count on it as a dependable counterweight. Our system of governance-- our democracy-- stands on uncertain ground. The careful balance among the judicial, legislative, and executive branches, which once kept each other in check, appears to be crumbling. The institutions that provided stability now face dissolution or restructuring into something barely recognizable.
The old leaders no longer hold power. Government is no longer available to help. The legal system is no longer dependable. The rules and norms that once guided society are gone. All facades have dropped away. What once seemed like a sturdy vessel, with a captain, compass, and gyroscope to guide it, is now drifting, rudderless, through uncharted waters. The true north of our moral compass as a nation has been the idealism of democracy, equality and humanitarianism, although in recent years the compass has been pulled from true north by the increasing magnetism of unfettered free-market capitalism and the economics of greed.
With this new, radical shift, all other parts of the government exist to carry out the will of the president. And apparently, everyone serves at the pleasure of the president, who is willing to get rid of anyone who displeases him in any way, without recourse.
It is like an alien ideology has taken over; a kind of hostile takeover, remaking the nation into a new corporation, USA, Incorporated, with different divisions of the corporation answerable to the CEO/President, with the sole purpose being to increase market share and profitability. Meanwhile the bones of the old institutions are laid bare to be plucked clean by the ravenous vulture capitalists, the largest being called trillionaires, raising a flock of young billionaires, and feathering the nests to produce fledgling millionaires, all to feed on the taxes and hard work of the citizenry.
Recovery
Where do we start?
First, we must regain our sense of balance-- to reset our internal gyroscope and steady ourselves in this new reality. We start with ourselves, looking inward to find our personal grounding. We have survived the initial shock, and despite the turmoil around us, we are still standing. Like someone who has taken a fall, we pause to assess whether we are intact, identifying any damage and its severity. If we find ourselves whole, we rise to our feet.
Next, we take stock of our resources. We rediscover how to tap into our internal strength and personal empowerment, finding stability and a renewed sense of control. Nothing outside ourselves is dependable anymore, so we must build resilience from within.
From there, we turn our attention to our families and significant others, then extend our focus to friends and communities. We realize that, despite external attempts to disorient us, we are not powerless.
These events test what it means to be a citizen in a democracy.
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