The Erasure of America: Democracy Died And You Did Nothing

As America Slept, Democracy vanished, for He Hath Not Favored Our Undertaking.

Disclaimer: This is a work of speculative fiction and reasoned analysis. It is not a prediction nor an endorsement of any actions described. It explores how democratic institutions can erode when authoritarianism takes hold. The content may be disturbing for some readers. Although it describes some events that have occurred in some ways and extrapolates such events, the intent is to provoke thought and reason, not violence.

It’s 2029, and America is unrecognizable.

Not because of war.

Not because of some external catastrophe or economic collapse.

But because everything that once made the greatest experiment in democracy function—its principles, laws, institutions, checks and balances, civic duty, and national service—has been hollowed out, corrupted, dismantled, or outright destroyed.

The Statue of Liberty still stands, her torch lit, but she welcomes no one.

Ellis Island has been repurposed—no longer a gateway for immigrants but reopened as a holding facility for deportations.

The most ambitious, the most talented, the descendants of the ones who built, innovated and led the growth of America in the last century—have mostly fled. It was called the Great American Exodus. Some with passports. Some with only desperation. But all with the sinking feeling that America was no longer home and some vowing never to return.

The Liberty Bell still hangs, but freedom no longer rings.

The National Parks Service—what’s left of it—has turned Independence Hall into the museum of “American Strength.” The crack in the bell, once a symbol of resilience, is now a metaphor whispered among those who still dare to resist and attempt to proclaim liberty in what remains of a broken land.

The Pledge of Allegiance has changed.

Congress, packed with obsequious loyalists, restored the Bellamy Salute, a relic of the past—right arm extended, palm down. Students are required to perform it each morning. Those who hesitate are marked. The new pledge includes a vow of loyalty—not to the Constitution, but to the “new restored nation” and its leader.

Mount Rushmore still stands, but it has been expanded.

Another face has been added—not in marble, but in gleaming steel, looming over the originals.  Its visage is unmistakable. It is a monument of the “New Era.”

Man kann entweder Amboss oder Hammer sein! All hail our glorious President!

The White House stands, but it is a fortress.

The President no longer leaves—not since the uprising that occurred during what became known as the “The American Betrayal” of 2028. It sparked clashes in cities across the United States, and federal troops and National Guards of states like New York, Minnesota, and California, fighting and dying, defending their state populations, until ultimately being subdued. The resolution being referred to as “The Final Awakening.”

All of the violence was condemned, of course. The networks debated it endlessly, though only in a differential way. The FBI led the charge to root out the “disloyal,” a campaign that began in the bureaucracy and spread outward. Journalists. Civil servants. Civic leaders. Professors. Veterans. Generals. Anyone who had once sworn an oath but refused to swear it again—to him.

Some think that was the day America died. It wasn’t. That might have been the day all Americans had finally awoken from their slumber, but America’s democracy had long since perished.

The shift wasn’t immediate.

It wasn’t a single event.

It happened in waves—executive orders, firings, court rulings, legislative maneuvers. Each one chipped away at accountability, oversight, and law until nothing was left but the illusion of democracy.

The DOJ became an extension of the President’s will, prosecuting political opponents, ignoring friendly corruption, and weaponizing laws that once stood for justice. Congress still met, but only in form. The Supreme Court—restructured, reshaped, bent to executive power—rubber-stamped every move.

The FBI and DHS became enforcement arms of the regime, answering not to law but to loyalty. The National Guard deployed ever more frequently, over the objections of their Governors at times. Predictably, certain cities—certain states—became “problem areas.”

The Judiciary was no longer an arbiter but an instrument. Some fought valiantly for the rule of law, but their efforts were vainglorious against the tide of History’s march.

Elections still happened.

The banners still waved.

People still cheered. Parades still happened.

Parents still went to children’s school recitals and soccer games.

PTA meetings weren’t that common anymore. School boards weren’t all that common anymore either, now that you mention it.

Ballots were cast. But they no longer meant anything.

The opposition was chosen—either a controlled loser or a useful scapegoat. The real candidates never made it that far. Investigations saw to that. Disqualifications. Charges. Just enough of a scandal to keep them out, to keep it looking legitimate.

Some fought back. Quietly, at first. The underground networks grew—secure chats, VPNs, and books smuggled into the country. Eventually, protests emerged, but they were quickly put down—“acts of terrorism” committed by “domestic extremists.” At first, they were those whom the people could easily despise, but towards the end, the violence was aimed at nearly anyone.

The corporations adapted. The banks adapted. They always do. Compliant CEOs found ways to profit. The stock market surged, even as the real economy collapsed. The wealthiest became wealthier beyond measure, while the average person fell away.

The rest of the world watched. Some with horror. Some with quiet relief, realizing that America’s decline meant their ascent. Russia and China no longer needed to contain the U.S.—America had contained itself.

And still, the Statue of Liberty stands.

The Liberty Bell hangs.

The pledge is recited each morning.

But the country they once symbolized no longer exists.

That America is gone. Gone forever, like sands of a sandcastle swept away by the ocean.

This is 2029. It is the third term of the Trump Presidency. How you ask?

Let’s turn the page and continue this story.

We’ll start with the first casualty, the Rule of Law.

The Courts: No Longer a Check on Power

By 2027, the judicial system is no longer an independent branch of government—it is an instrument of control wielded by the regime to legitimize power, silence opposition, and punish dissent.

The Supreme Court, once seen as the last check on executive overreach, has been completely neutralized. It no longer interprets the Constitution—it interprets the will of the President. Any legal challenge to the administration is swiftly dismissed, often with a brief ruling that cites “deference to executive authority” or “the need for national stability.”

Lower courts are worse. Federal judgeships, once lifetime appointments meant to ensure independence, are now party loyalty tests. The judiciary is packed with Trump-aligned operatives—not judges, not scholars, but cronies and enforcers in robes. Many lack legal experience, but that doesn’t matter. Their job isn’t to uphold the law—it’s to uphold the regime.

Laws don’t mean what they say anymore. They mean whatever Trump’s inner circle needs them to mean.

• The First Amendment? It still exists—for the right people. Approved media outlets can say whatever they want, while journalists who report the truth face defamation suits, financial ruin, or jail under “anti-disinformation” laws.

• The Second Amendment? A sacred right—but only for loyalists. Those suspected of disloyalty find their gun rights quietly revoked, their weapons confiscated under “national security” provisions.

• Due process? A formality. The regime detains political opponents under emergency orders, indefinitely holding them without trial under new “domestic terror” laws.

Even state courts aren’t safe. Governors who resist the regime face lawsuits, injunctions, or outright removal by state legislatures that have been gerrymandered into permanent Trumpist control.

And the American Bar Association? It resisted for a while, but it stopped being independent years ago when the Justice Department took a crowbar to it and “investigated” it after its “letter” in 2025. Lawyers who challenge the system lose their licenses, firms that fight back find themselves investigated. Judges who refuse to comply are quietly pushed out or worse—found guilty of “ethics violations” by newly created oversight boards stacked with political operatives.

By 2027, the courts still exist. The Supreme Court still meets. Judges still wear their robes.

But justice?

Fiat justitia ruat caelum has become…

Justitia periit, nam caelum cecidit.

Justice is dead.

But no worries, JD fixed “the price of those eggs” for some people.

The Economy: A Kleptocracy in Full Swing

The American economy is no longer a free market—it’s a political patronage system, a Kleptocracy masquerading as Capitalism.

Success no longer comes from competition or innovation but from proximity to power. Government contracts, tax breaks, and deregulation flow exclusively to Trump loyalists, oligarchs, and major donors. The administration rewards compliance, punishes dissent, and controls the economic engine with coercion and favoritism.

Corporations in a Fascist Economy: Profit Through Submission

Corporations no longer serve consumers—they serve the state. CEOs have learned that the path to survival and prosperity isn’t through market forces but through alignment with the regime.

• The biggest companies—energy, defense, finance, agriculture—become arms of the state, operating under the pretense of private enterprise but following political directives.

• Tech companies toe the line, quietly enforcing government narratives while purging “disloyal” accounts and voices under vague national security concerns.

• The media is effectively corporatized and, through proxies, state-controlled in all but name. Networks that remain are owned by allies or operate with strict editorial oversight. Journalism still exists, but only as a tool of state propaganda.

Companies that resist are targeted—through antitrust lawsuits, regulatory strangulation, or outright nationalization. The IRS comes knocking. DEA comes knocking. The FBI comes knocking. You suddenly have problems with customs. You suddenly have problems with your bank accounts being seized. It’s challenging to conduct business in America when the Courts are corrupt, the Department of Justice is the President’s arm of enforcement, and the FBI the President’s police force.

The labor market shifts in response.

The most talented are sovereign citizens—they’ve left. The rest? Workers are expected to display loyalty to the regime through public pledges, ideological screenings, or participation in state-sponsored initiatives. 

Some resisted. There were riots. There were militias. There were organized resistance. You watched them get murdered on television. It was all necessary you see, to restore order. The Insurrection Act was invoked. You heard the President’s lawyers explain how it was justified. The National Guard is deployed in cities where violence breaks out. It doesn’t break out everywhere, so the military can contain it. The biggest concern for most people isn’t freedom anymore, it’s food. They’re not worried about the price of eggs; they’re worried about getting anything to eat, period. Work isn’t about careers anymore; it’s about survival.

Unions are outlawed or co-opted, transformed into tools for enforcing workplace discipline rather than advocating for workers' rights.

Dissent in the workplace is dangerous. Employees with the wrong social media posts find themselves blacklisted. Firing for political reasons isn’t just common—it’s expected.

Income Inequality in Overdrive

Inequality was already a problem before—but under full authoritarian rule, it becomes a defining feature of the system.

• The ultra-rich become untouchable. A billionaire class of oligarchs, deeply intertwined with the regime, enjoys limitless wealth, no taxation, and absolute influence over policy.

• The middle class evaporates. Professionals, small business owners, and skilled workers are squeezed out—either absorbed into the system, crushed, or they fled.

• The working class becomes servile. Wages stagnate, workers lose rights, and entire industries become dependent on government contracts—meaning your job isn’t about performance but loyalty.

The stock market booms on paper—driven by insider deals, financial engineering, and manipulated confidence. However, for the average person, the cost of living skyrockets, wages stay frozen, and economic mobility disappears entirely.

Stock Market Entrenchment: The Illusion of Prosperity

Under authoritarianism, the stock market isn’t a measure of economic health—it’s a propaganda tool.

• Major indices stay artificially high through government intervention, rigged policies, and financial manipulation.

• A handful of megacorporations dominate, their share prices buoyed by endless government subsidies and preferential treatment.

• Retail investors are locked out, and real wealth-building opportunities disappear, except those with direct access to the ruling class.

• A shadow economy emerges. With traditional investments manipulated or inaccessible, alternative assets—gold, foreign accounts, crypto, and black markets—become the only true stores of value.

For the ultra-wealthy, the system is perfect. Their wealth is protected, insulated, and constantly growing. It’s a permanent economic squeeze for everyone else—just enough money to survive, never enough to challenge the system.

Global Trade: A Rigged and Hostile System

Trade under authoritarianism shifts dramatically. Once a key player in global markets, America becomes a rogue economic actor, weaponizing its dominance.

• Tariffs and protectionism escalate. Trade partners comply or face retaliation, leading to fractured global supply chains.

• Allies become vassals. Countries that depend on American markets must play by the regime’s rules, adopting compliant policies or risking economic sanctions.

• Enemies become bargaining chips. Trade with hostile nations becomes an elite privilege, where connected insiders profit off sanctioned goods.

Multinational corporations no longer operate with independence—they function at the state's pleasure. Their access to international markets depends on political loyalty, forcing CEOs into public displays of support to keep their businesses open.

Foreign companies, once eager to invest in America, flee—either to avoid the risk of arbitrary nationalization or because doing business in the U.S. now means direct collaboration with a corrupt, hostile regime.

The Economy of the Future: Stagnation and Survival

By 2027, the U.S. economy is a strange, hybrid beast:

• A booming market for the connected elite.

• A bleak, survivalist grind for the average citizen.

• A country that claims prosperity while bleeding innovation, investment, and real economic power.

America still claims to be strong and growing, but it is rotting from the inside.

This is what happens when capitalism is replaced by kleptocracy, when an oligarchy replaces democracy, and when the economy becomes just another tool of control.

Made in America bitches. But what about elections, you say?

Yes, indeed, Democracy surely would have saved us? Yes?

Elections: Just for Show

Elections still happen—but only as a performance art. The ballots still exist, the debates are still broadcast, slogans echo, and candidates campaign across the country. But by 2029, voting is nothing more than a ritual, a necessary performance to maintain the illusion of choice.

The erosion didn’t happen overnight.

It wasn’t a coup—it was a heist. A slow-motion racket, like knocking over a storefront piece by piece.

It happened in stages. Each step built on the last, each rollback of rights framed as “election security,” each power grab justified as a “return to law and order.”

Finally, the weight of coercion, fear, and control smothered what little democratic choice remained.

How Elections Became a Sham

First, the groundwork was laid:

• State legislatures fell under total Trump loyalist control. It was over once the Supreme Court affirmed the Independent State Legislature Theory. State houses could throw out any election results they didn’t like—and they did.

• Gerrymandering was perfected. Voting districts were carved into bizarre, indefensible shapes, ensuring a permanent MAGA majority no matter how people voted.

• Voter rolls were purged. “Election integrity” laws became mass disenfranchisement tools. Millions were stripped from the rolls overnight, often without recourse, warning, or explanation.

Then, they turned to the opposition:

• Opposition candidates were targeted. Some were investigated, their campaigns drained by legal battles. Others were disqualified on technicalities, conveniently violating obscure rules that no Republican seemed to run afoul of.

• Some disappeared from ballots. A candidate would file, qualify, and campaign—only for their name to vanish from electronic voting machines on Election Day, attributed to a "glitch."

• Voting itself became an obstacle course. In red states, polling places in urban areas were shut down, forcing lines that stretched for miles. Ballots were "lost" in the mail.

• Digital voting machines were hacked—legally. The new "Secure Elections Act" allowed the DOJ to “review and correct irregularities”—meaning any unfavorable results could be flipped before certification.

By the 2026 election, “the fix was in,” and most of America didn’t even realize it. To even suggest it made you sound like a nutjob.

How Congress Shit the Bed

If Congress had ever been a firewall against authoritarianism, it wasn’t by 2026. The Democrats had no real plan or long-term strategy—just outrage, hearings, and strongly worded social media posts. They held town halls that did nothing. They went on MSNBC, talked about “emergency task forces,” and put members in charge of leading the cause. They believed the institutions would hold—right up until the moment they didn’t.

The midterms? They didn’t do anything. The blue wave never came because voting rights were already gone. Any district that might’ve flipped had been gerrymandered into submission. Even where Democrats won, their victories were nullified legally.

And the ones who made it through? They gave speeches. Attempted to investigate. They sat in marble chambers and pleaded for civility while some of their colleagues were dragged out of committee rooms for “sedition.”

They never understood what they were up against. They thought this was still politics. Dumb fuckin bastards. It wasn’t as if some who worked for Trump 1.0 didn’t try and warn them. It wasn’t as if they didn’t interview over a thousand witnesses, review over a million documents, and have a month of hearings in Congress during the January 6th hearings, culminating in an 814-page report about the President’s misconduct and his disdain for the rule of law and his contempt for Congress?

The Two-Party System Died—Or Maybe It Never Existed

By 2028, the idea of Republicans vs. Democrats was a joke. The GOP wasn’t a party anymore; it was an extension of a single man’s will. It became an organized crime.

And the Democrats? They were a controlled opposition at best, allowed to exist because they posed no threat. They still ran candidates, they still debated on TV, they still acted like the game was real. They were the only poor dumb bastards that didn’t know it.

But everyone knew the truth: it was a one-party system.

Protests Did Nothing. “Leaning In” Did Less.

People tried. They protested, they marched, they voted harder. They leaned in. They resisted. They called their representatives and begged for action.

It didn’t matter.

• Protest laws were rewritten. What used to be protected speech became domestic terrorism.

• Cops had complete immunity. Crackdowns on protests were vicious. Baton charges, mass arrests, federal terrorism charges for carrying a sign. Did you get shot? Oh well, it sucked to be you. Cops moved on. You got buried.

• Activists disappeared. Black-bagged in the middle of the night by federal agents with no badges, no names, no accountability.

• Media coverage was sanitized. News outlets were forced to frame protests as "riots," even when they weren’t. Anyone reporting otherwise was shut down.

By 2027, the streets were empty—not because people stopped caring, but because they learned it only got them killed.

The Violence Came—And People Stood There Like Ducks in Thunder

Then came the real test.

By 2028, there were riots—real ones. When the 22nd Amendment was violated, cities burned, state capitals were stormed, governors activated their national guards, and there were clashes with federal troops. It appeared that the country might be on the brink of civil war. The President went so far as to use the military to quell an “insurrection” in Atlanta. The Air Force dropped bombs, and the Army marched into the city, quelling a riot. Not since Sherman defeated Hood had the battle been so vicious. The Union won again, only this time, it was not shouting the battle cry of freedom.

And still, most people did nothing.

And by 2028, no one would help the resisters from the outside. It was too dangerous. Trump was too unpredictable. The United States had come to military blows with its former allies in NATO in skirmishes in the Atlantic and with Japan and Australia in the Pacific. France, Germany, and Canada weren’t going to risk sending arms, troops, or support to militias inside the United States. America is still a massive economy. Thanks to its repressive domestic strategy, it has developed an unmatched military capability allowing it to face the entire world as adversaries. No country sees any advantage to “helping the rebels,” as much as they may want to.

And that’s when shit started to get really fuckin’ ugly.

When the Texas National Guard gunned down protesters in Austin, people watched from their windows.

When the Florida National Guard lined up prisoners on a beach in Miami and executed them for sedition, people shook their heads, but they didn’t fight back.

When civilians in Portland were tear-gassed and machine-gunned by DHS tactical teams, they filmed it on their phones, but they didn’t rise up.

The myth had always been that Americans would never tolerate dictatorship. That they would fight. That they would rise up?

But when it came, most people just watched.

They stood there like ducks in thunder—stunned, helpless, uncomprehending as their country slipped away.

I guess you couldn’t fault them. Most people aren’t equipped to deal with that, watching a guy’s head get exploded by a 50 caliber round when a machine gun tears through a crowd? How do you deal with that? For nearly everyone’s entire life, what we saw of “war,” was what we saw on CNN. Any illusion of safety that Americans had was shattered overnight.

And the ones who did fight? The ones who tried? They were crushed.

They died screaming in the streets while their neighbors locked their doors and prayed they wouldn’t be next.

America had liberated people around the world. It had been what Richard Hass had coined “The Reluctant Sheriff” for almost a century. Now, the entire world stood and watched as America brutalized its people with a combination of horror and amazement.

Law Enforcement: The President’s Private Police

By 2029, law enforcement is no longer about public safety—it’s about regime enforcement. The FBI, DHS, and nearly all state police forces have been transformed into instruments of political control, ensuring that loyalty to the state—not the law—is the highest priority. Trump uber alles.

The purge began early. The FBI, once a federal investigative body, was gutted of career officials—anyone who had shown resistance to Trump’s return was removed. What replaced them wasn’t just a new leadership team—it was an entirely new agency, one rebranded and restructured to serve the executive branch directly.

Federal agents no longer investigate crimes; they investigate enemies. Opponents of the regime—activists, journalists, political challengers, even private citizens suspected of disloyalty—are surveilled, harassed, detained, and in some cases, simply disappear.

• The Department of Justice operates like a mafia arm. The Attorney General is no longer an independent official—they are an enforcer. The DOJ manufactures legal justifications to target political opponents while shielding Trump’s inner circle from any consequences.

• The DHS and ICE have expanded dramatically. Initially tasked with immigration enforcement, they now police the streets under the guise of fighting “domestic terrorism.” Their targets? Protesters, community organizers, opposition voters.

• The Secret Service has been militarized and operates as quasi-secret police. What was once a protective detail has become a Praetorian Guard, fiercely loyal and willing to neutralize perceived threats, foreign or domestic, without oversight.

The National Guard: Shock Troops of the Regime

The National Guard is no longer deployed for natural disasters or foreign conflicts—it is a full-time job that is deployed against the American people.

• Governors who resist see their National Guard units federalized and used against them. Trumpist state leaders have no problem deploying troops in their cities to crush dissent, enforce curfews, and conduct mass arrests under “emergency powers.”

• In “problem” cities and states, foreign National Guard units patrol the streets as an occupying force. Cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles have become military zones, with checkpoints, armored vehicles, and nightly patrols in areas deemed “hotbeds of insurrection.”

• Initially, it wasn’t possible to do this, but Congress authorized the largest military build-up in America’s history. America now has a standing garrison in the millions. Men willingly joined because the economy is terrible; it’s one of the few ways to ensure being clothed, fed, and having money to give to your family. Service has perks in the new regime. Service demonstrates your loyalty to the new regime. It’s one of the few ways to attempt to protect yourself from being targeted by the regime. If you can’t beat them, join them.

• During election seasons, the Guard is present at polling stations—not to protect voters, but to intimidate them.

Local Police: From Protectors to Enforcers

Police departments across the country have eagerly adapted to the new regime. Given expanded immunity, funding, and federal support, they have become paramilitary units, cracking down on dissent with impunity.

• No-Knock Raids Become Routine. Under the pretense of fighting “domestic extremism,” police break down doors, confiscate property, and arrest people without warrants.

• “Antifa” and “BLM” are classified as terrorist organizations. Anyone who participated in protests against Trump’s return has a permanent record in the national database.

• Unionized police forces act as political militias. In red states, they actively campaign for Trumpist politicians, enforce loyalty oaths, and openly brutalize protesters. In blue states, they serve as sleeper agents, ensuring that real opposition never emerges.

And if a police officer refuses to comply? If they try to uphold real law and order? They are quietly replaced—or worse.

The Consequences: A Nation of Fear

By 2029, law enforcement is no longer bound by the Constitution—only by the orders from the White House. The entire structure of policing has shifted from protecting citizens to policing loyalty.

• Dissenters are not arrested—they are disappeared. Families wake up to find their loved ones missing, their homes ransacked, their records wiped clean.

• Protests do not happen anymore. They are crushed before they even begin.

• Crime still exists—but only for the powerless. Trump’s allies can embezzle, traffic, murder, and assault without consequences. The legal system does not apply to them.

The only rule that matters now is staying in line or becoming a target.

Media & Internet: Censorship and Propaganda

By 2029, the free press would no longer exist as you knew it. The last remnants of independent journalism have been crushed, co-opted, or driven underground. A state-controlled media empire remains, a mix of obedient networks and sanitized content designed to keep the illusion of choice alive—while ensuring only one narrative prevails.

State-Aligned Media: The Only Voice That Matters

• Fox News is tame compared to the new networks. The old conservative stalwart has been absorbed into the new state media machine, but it isn’t even the most aggressive anymore. TrumpTV, America First Network (AFN), and MAGA Media dominate the airwaves, serving as direct propaganda arms of the regime. They also ensure that the President cashes in in marketing products and shows to the public.

• All major broadcasters have been brought to heel. After a series of FCC crackdowns on “anti-American” content, CNN, MSNBC, and even mainstream print outlets like The New York Times have either collapsed or been forced into compliance—those who remain self-censor out of fear.

• Public broadcasting has been dismantled. NPR, PBS, and other nonprofit media institutions no longer exist. Their federal funding was cut, their executives harassed, and their operations gutted. In their place, a new “public” network was launched—an outright propaganda channel disguised as a national service.

For the average American, turning on the news means hearing only one version of reality—one where Trump is a visionary leader, where dissent is treason, and where everything is always getting better, even when it’s visibly worse.

Journalism No Longer Exists—Only Messaging

• Journalists who resist are intimidated, arrested, or exiled.
  Investigative reporters are blacklisted, bankrupted, or outright jailed under newly expanded espionage laws. Some flee the country—those who don’t vanish.

• Whistleblowers don’t come forward anymore. The precedent was set years ago—speak out, and you are labeled a traitor, doxxed, arrested, or even charged with “economic terrorism” for harming America’s image.

• Local news is gone. The slow corporate takeover of local media was completed by 2028. Pro-regime media conglomerates absorb every small-town paper and independent radio station. The result? A seamless narrative down to the local level. No dissenting voices. There are no alternative perspectives.

The Internet: A Prison, Not a Platform

By 2029, the internet is no longer free—it’s a surveillance tool designed to monitor, manipulate, and suppress opposition.

• Major tech platforms enforce government speech mandates.
  Facebook, X, Google, Amazon, and others comply fully with state directives.

  • Dissenting voices are shadowbanned, demonetized, or outright banned. Places like Substack? Gone. They either sold out, went under, complied with the propaganda, or got shot in the head. Take your pick as to which outcome makes you the happiest. (My money is on sellout.)

  • State propaganda is algorithmically promoted.

  • Search results are sanitized, ensuring only regime-approved narratives appear.

• New “disinformation” laws give the government total control over online speech.

  • Expressing “false claims” about the government can result in fines or jail time.

  • Discussing banned topics—like election fraud, state violence, or corruption—triggers automatic content removal. AI makes it more than possible. It’s as simple as flicking a switch.

  • Anonymous accounts are outlawed. To access the internet, real-name verification is required. Perhaps it goes so far as to require biometric access to limit the potential for hacking and fraud.

• Encrypted messaging is banned. Apps like Signal and ProtonMail have been shut down. The government cites “national security” concerns, forcing all digital communication onto monitored platforms.

• Internet providers block unauthorized content. Access to foreign news? Blocked. VPNs? Illegal. Even personal websites can be blacklisted without warning.

The Consequences: The Death of Truth

By 2028, America will have a fully controlled media ecosystem.

• People don’t trust the news—they fear it. Watching the wrong channel, reading the wrong article, or even liking the wrong post could lead to an investigation.

• The truth is impossible to find. There’s no way to verify what’s real and what’s propaganda because the state controls every version of reality.

• The “resistance” exists—but only in whispers. A small underground network of independent journalists and activists fight to spread real information—but they live on borrowed time.

The internet was once the last frontier of free speech.

By 2028, it’s just another weapon of the regime.

Everyday Life: Living in Fear or Compliance

For the average person, life depends on how politically useful or silent you are. If you toe the line, things seem normal—at first. But one wrong step, one critical tweet, one protest, and you’re flagged as a “threat.” Employers fire you to stay on the regime’s good side. Banks refuse service. The social pressure to comply is constant—not because people believe, but because the cost of dissent is too high.

Starting in 2026, what becomes known as The Great American Exodus unfolds, as those who can afford it flee to Canada, Europe, and anywhere that will take them.

These countries are more than happy to take them, separating Americans from “America” and its obnoxious leaders. American refugees come to their new, strange lands with heavy hearts, eyes full of tears, and pocketbooks and bank accounts ready to set up shop in their newly adopted lands.

They decided not to spend the rest of their lives facing the inevitable. Reminded of Billy Wilder’s observation of those who fled the Nazis, “The optimists died in the gas chambers, and the pessimists have pools in Beverly Hills.” These pessimists watch from afar as the America they knew and loved transforms into a grotesque and unrecognizable shadow of its former self.

Others stay, hoping to ride out the storm. Their fate is the world I’ve already described to you. They live in a hellscape of fear, poverty, and repression disguised as capital and democracy.

If you’re one of the lucky, you live in a crony-capitalist fantasy that could be shattered with a single wrong move if you break party ranks. If you’re one of the elite, perhaps you might have a shot at true wealth and power.

And Trump himself? He’s still there, beyond elections, beyond term limits, beyond accountability. The next successor is already being groomed. The transition will be seamless.

America, as it was once known, is gone. Freedom’s flame flickers in other countries, but it is always at risk, and it never burns as brightly as it did when America was the world’s “reluctant sheriff.”

The institutions remain in name only.

What’s left is a country ruled by one man and those willing to serve him.

The worst part? It all happened legally.

Slowly at first, then all at once.

With just enough plausible deniability for people to tell themselves that democracy still existed—until it didn’t.

They said it couldn’t happen here. It did.

CODA (but hopefully not the end)

If it made you sick, good.

I had to stop several times while writing it because it made me sick.

If it made you upset, good.

I had to stop writing it several times because it made me upset.

It is all too possible. This isn’t hyperbole. It’s a path already in motion.

When we watch a dystopian movie, we like to tell ourselves that we’ll know when evil comes. That we’d resist it. That it couldn’t happen here.

But the evil is here. It is upon us. Right now.

When Sinclair Lewis wrote It Can’t Happen Here in 1935, he drew on European fascism and American populism to warn about how Buzz Windrip could rise to power. He believed America’s institutions would serve as a safeguard.

My lesson to you is this: The evil is here. Now. Unlike Lewis, I didn’t write about the warning signs—I dropped you straight into the aftermath. What I have described is fiction, but it is not science fiction.

In It Can’t Happen Here, there was still a chance for resistance. Even as the dictatorship tightened, some characters held onto hope.

I present you no such illusions.

The resistance has been crushed. The system has adapted. The world has moved on. All of that is entirely possible on the trajectory we are presently traveling.

The question is: How much further do we let this go?

And if we wait too long—how will we even know when it’s too late?

Our future is not yet written, but its direction is already etched in history.

If this piece made you cry, good.

If it made you upset, good.

It means you still care. And as long as people still care, there is hope for the Republic.

As long as people still care—even if America slips beneath the waves—its ideas may still carry on to distant shores. If we continue down this path, the Great American Exodus I describe will not be fiction. It will happen.

And like a dandelion scattering its seeds to the wind, freedom will spread to what remains of the industrialized world. There, our traditions would undoubtedly sprout and grow again. It would never be as glorious as it was, and our progeny will curse us for denying them their birthright, but freedom’s flame will likely go on as long as passionate people are willing to defend it.

But that would be a distant second-place prize to preserving what was the greatest achievement in human history—a government of ordered liberty.

As Franklin reminds us:

“A republic, if you can keep it.”

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