Greetings to you my British cousins. This has been a very difficult article to compose concisely, as each day brings forth cascading events that are in total disregard for the US Constitution. Be it the challenging of birthright citizenship, deportations without due process of law, intimidating law firms, intimidating colleges, withholding funds from states that are not cooperating with the administration, mass firings of government employees, the bloody tariff farrago, and oh so much more.
I’ve seen this movie before; likely so have you. Regrettably, this is not a film. Living under the 2025 Trump administration feels like a mirror reflection of 1930s Germany, and beyond the pale.
The US, and by extension the world, has arrived at this place because over 70 million misinformed Americans decided Trump would “Make America Great Again”. The vagaries of that slogan escape me still.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 30,000 bald-faced lies were told by Trump in his first term as President, and this second term appears to be headed towards exceeding that number. Those 70+ million voters have eagerly consumed these lies, greedily likened to that of a heroin addict getting a fix. I truly believe the consumption of outlandish lies has become a narcotic to many Americans. An ongoing and never-ending adrenaline rush.
The foundation of American governance
The founding fathers of the United States feared the ‘tyranny of the majority‘ when they established this constitutional republic. They were doubtful that the average man (women, indigenous people, and slaves had no rights at the time) was wise enough, and well informed enough, to make the necessary decisions to make government policy. As a consequence, they chose to model the country after Ancient Rome’s Republic which used representation rather than direct participation of the people. Additionally, they embedded within the US constitutional system a series of checks and balances which would prevent the kind of tyranny experienced under George III.
What the founding fathers did not foresee was that a single political movement, led by a charismatic individual and armed with 21st century vehicles to spread misinformation (i.e. social media), would be elected to power; and with the intent to relentlessly challenge that constitution, would shred the very fabric of the Republic, ushering in a new age of tyranny. Checks and balances do not work if the individuals who are to be held in check are the ones doing the balancing.
To my way of thinking, the Achilles heel of the US Republic was entrusting representatives to make decisions on our behalf. Let me be candid in saying that truth and honor are rare qualities, undervalued in today’s American society. So, to find a representative of such character is no easy task. Better to take up the baton oneself.
Benjamin Franklin foresaw this inevitability. When asked if the US has a monarchy or a republic, he replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
Had the founding fathers instead chosen elements from the democracy of ancient Athens as a model for government, America’s Constitutional Republic might be better able to survive the onslaught of Trump’s tyranny. Or is this perhaps wishful thinking?
A lesson in ancient Greek democracy
Were I to have been one of the founding fathers, I’d have gone in the direction of Athenian democracy. They had no elected officials in their three main bodies, and as a result, there were neither professional politicians nor political parties.
The first of these government bodies, the Ekklesia, was open to all eligible adult men who attended when they wished to participate in voting for laws and foreign matters; women and slaves were excluded.
The second body, the Boule, was a council of 500 citizens. This council would debate and submit laws to be voted on by the Ekklesia. The 500 citizens would be chosen by lot each year. Selection involved the drawing of objects or pieces of paper. It was, and is, regarded as a method of decision-making where outcomes are determined without any personal preference, favoritism or influence peddling.
Third was the Dikasteria, the court system in Athens that would oversee or judge public and private court cases. Members were in the hundreds and also chosen by lot.
The only elected government body was the Strategoi, which consisted of 10 generals who were to carry out foreign war policy as directed by the Ekklesia.
Those governing bodies are not dissimilar to the US Republics’ in division and functions of government. The major, and in my view critical difference, is that the Athenian democracy was largely run by the general population chosen by lot, and not elected, as in the case of the US Republic officials.
Without professional politicians, the Athenian people retained direct power of running the government. It was considered an important responsibility of civic duty to participate in the government. There were no lobbyists to play patron with posh gifts of luncheons, dinners, holidays, or favors in exchange for other favors.
Criticism
There were famous critics of Athenian democracy, one being Plato. He felt the public body lacked the wisdom to be directly engaged in law-making and the running of a government – the same concern the founding fathers expressed when creating the government of the United States.
What Plato, Socrates, and the founding fathers failed to understand is that there is a tribal instinct for us to participate and create a working community, not perfect but a working one. Look at any football match crowd or small village or hamlet – people do not suffer scoundrels or fools.
So what happened to this desire to create a working community in the US population? I revisit the word ‘misinformation’. Our own brilliant advances in technology created social media, which became the vehicle for spreading misinformation like wildfire, thus aiding the undoing of our Constitutional Republic. Lies have distorted the general population’s perception of reality. It makes 1930s Germany’s propaganda look amateur, and we know the horrific consequences of that regime’s rise to power.
The lure of misinformation
The misinformed majority chose, albeit unwittingly, tyranny over a Constitutional Republic. No doubt they felt confident that the Trump administration and their elected representatives would not take away their precious guns, would create a utopia of better paying jobs, make their fears of a changing society disappear, and restore a patriarchal white society. Magically, making ‘others’ disappear and ensuring more white babies are brought into the world, is a compelling narrative until realization dawns that this may come with a disregard for the health or feelings of all pregnant women.
Perhaps all I have written is wishful thinking, and ultimately, these misinformed Trumpian supporters care not for the truth. They care more about what their neighbor is doing than freedom from tyranny.
Change will come
Were Republicans, Independents or Democrats ‘selected by lot’, then placed in a truly collaborative environment, like the ‘Ekklesia’, would cross party policies be debated seriously and collectively endorsed? Would then our ‘body politic’ come to embrace the concept that we are one community, one tribe? Would it have made a difference, or would it mean self-centered opinions still rule the day?
This I cannot answer, but I certainly hope that in my lifetime, perhaps I will witness a democratic change. The tyranny wrought by the misinformed majority will be seen for what it is. And out of its ashes will rise a government that reflects Athenian democracy.
I call to mind a line from Camus’ play, Caligula: “One cannot destroy everything without destroying oneself”; without question the America I live in is indeed destroying itself.
Having shared my musings, I now bid you adieu, my British cousins.
Time for tea and dark chocolate, my ambrosia.
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