We are in the middle of a revolution, and it is not going well. The Trump administration is attempting to fundamentally change America in accordance with the beliefs of a small minority of conservative revolutionaries, their manifesto being Project 2025.
The problem is, revolutions are a messy business. There is always violence, whether it be economic violence, political violence, legal violence, social violence, and in many cases, physical violence. Innocent people get hurt during revolutions – the poor, the young, and the old in particular.
A revolution can be romanticized as a noble endeavor that benefits everyone, but more often than not, revolutions are more about a small group of people seizing power and control from those who once had it, and then enjoying the fruits of their victory. Sharing the fruits with the masses may or may not be part of the revolutionary outcome.
An increasing number of Americans are becoming disillusioned with the Project 2025/Trump revolution. So many changes have been made for ideological reasons, so much violence perpetrated on people and private organizations to force compliance and eliminate dissent, but nothing has improved.
The Project 2025/Trump revolution has not made life better for the typical American, and this was probably not the intent of this revolution at all. We see the wealthy – including our president and his family – and the well-connected benefiting, but the people – not so much.
“Viva la revolution” was, in effect, the rallying cry at all of those MAGA events. Now that the revolution is upon us, and the reality of this revolution becomes more clear, fewer and fewer MAGA revolutionaries are remaining true believers.
A revolution is not a replacement for good governance, and a revolution that does not enjoy the support of the people is doomed to fail. This is why the Project 2025/Trump revolution is doomed to fail – incompetent governance, and less and less support for the government by the governed.
Every new administration blames the previous administration for as much as they can for as long as they can. That’s politics. But each new administration has kept in place the basic structure and workings of the government, providing continuity from one administration to the next.
Until now.
It seems that every day brings with it a new directive from this administration that drastically changes or eliminates some aspect of our government. There never seems to be a clear need for these changes, and there never seems to be any plan as to what will happen once the new directive takes effect. This has lead to chaos and uncertainty, and a paralysis of intelligent thinking.
Probably more than most, this administration is a reflection of the president and his state of mind. A great arch! Buy Greenland! Venezuelan oil! Deportation! A free 747! Retribution! Trump accounts! Domestic terrorists! Roseless garden! Eliminate NATO! Bomb Iran! Close the Lincoln Center! Crypto Trump! Vaccines kill! Inject beef tallow! Pardon the unrepentant! Suspend the constitution! A great banquet hall! Battleship! Lawsuits! 2 a.m. texting! Don’t call it football! America needs no one! Tariffs for all! Big Macs! Bathroom tile! Stolen election! Delusion! Paranoia! Seething rumination!
What else can this possibly be than the product of a chaotic mind? A mind that has created an alternate reality, a Bizarro world where violence is peace, intimidation is compassion, destruction is creation, and ugliness is beauty.
The alternative to chaos is continuity. The serious study of issues and goals and what is in the common good, with thoughtful changes being made to laws and regulations and policies in a bi-partisan manner – that is continuity. In this way there can be slow, but consistent, improvement that continues from administration to administration.
Again, good governance is not a revolution but instead is evolution. It is hoped that good governance will always lead to improvements in the common good, but in reality this does not always happen. Sometimes there will be laws and regulations and policies that prove not to be in the common good. Continuity means that these failings will be carefully studied before being addressed in ways that are, once again, intended to achieve the common good.
The Machiavellian, antidemocratic, reactionary, and rigid nature of the Project 2025 manifesto, which most of the policies of the Trump administration appear to be based upon, has served neither the American people nor the administration well. The wholesale elimination and/or replacement of laws and regulations and policies on ideological grounds, which is an apt description of the actions taken by the current Trump administration, has lead to chaos.
But, lest we forget, the Biden administration was very much ideologically based as well. Due to the inability of President Biden to be a strong leader, indecision and paralysis of action characterized much of his administration – a different manifestation of chaos, but chaos nevertheless.
It is hoped that continuity of governance will characterize the newly elected Congress in 2027, and the newly elected President and Congress in 2029. If the Democratic Party regains sufficient power in these elections, much of the excesses of the Trump administration can be mitigated with expediency.
However, great care should be taken during this period of power transition to ensure continuity of governance and to avoid creating additional chaos by letting ideology be the basis of actions taken. Careful thought and deliberation must prevail.
This will have been a long time coming.
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