Speaking with my US friends, I never detect any hint of fear for the current situation of the democratic system. There seem to be some kind of assurance that no matter how dysfunctional this country becomes, it could never backslide or change radically and become, let’s say, Putin’s Russia.
I am deeply worried that’s not the case, and that the constant dysfunction, our lack of attention to basic infrastructure, worker’s rights, human rights and respect for the will of the people (gerrymandering and secret money buying elections) are putting this country at a great danger, the greatest since the War of Independence.
Now worrisome things are happening, things George Washington warned us about:
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension…serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
What can we do to preserve the American democracy?
