Crisis and Opportunity

The Chinese word for crisis is Wei Ji 危机 Wei means crisis while Ji means opportunity. In the ancient Chinese philosophy, opportunities often arise from crisis.

ln June, 2025 the United States in June 2025 stands at a precipice, its democratic ideals eroded by decades of systemic shifts toward corporatocracy and authoritarianism. The vision of the Founding Fathers—Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and later Abraham Lincoln—envisioned a republic where education, civic engagement, and equitable opportunity empowered citizens to govern themselves. Yet, a series of calculated policies, beginning in the late 20th century, has led to a society where corporate fascism threatens to extinguish that birthright. This account traces the chronological descent from the post-World War II era to the present crisis and offers a path for citizens to reclaim their democratic heritage.

In the mid-20th century, the United States embodied the principles of its founders. The 1944 GI Bill provided free college tuition and stipends to nearly 8 million veterans, including my father, yielding a $48.4 billion return on a $7 billion investment. This policy, rooted in Jefferson’s belief in education as a cornerstone of democracy and Lincoln’s Morrill Act of 1862, which established 76 low-tuition colleges, built a robust middle class. Edward Humes’ Over Here notes the GI Bill produced “14 Nobel Prize winners, three presidents, 238,000 teachers, and 450,000 engineers,” fueling innovation and economic vitality. Benjamin Franklin’s emphasis on civic virtue thrived in a society where educated citizens drove progress, from the transistor to the moon landing.

This era, often romanticized as the “golden” 1950s, was not eternal, as DarkBrandon observes, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBAX4Wi1iNM&t=7s but rather a “mirage before the hangover,” enabled by post-war economic dominance and exploitative capitalism. Yet, it demonstrated what was possible when the government invested in its people, aligning with Franklin’s call for a republic sustained by informed, virtuous citizens.

The seeds of decline were sown in the late 1960s under Ronald Reagan’s governorship of California. As Hartmann details, Reagan ended free tuition at the University of California in 1966 and cut state aid by 20%, targeting students he deemed “too liberal.” His 1970 rhetoric, calling anti-Vietnam War protesters “brats” and “cowardly fascists” and suggesting a “bloodbath” to quell dissent, foreshadowed a punitive approach to education and activism. The Kent State massacre days later, where National Guardsmen killed four students, underscored the state’s willingness to suppress dissent.

As president in 1981, Reagan nationalized this agenda. He slashed federal student aid by 25% between 1980 and 1985, shifting college costs from states (65%) and federal aid (15%) to students (80%). His Office of Management and Budget Director, David Stockman, dismissed government’s role in funding education, prioritizing tax cuts for the wealthy. This “Reaganomics,” as DarkBrandon notes, “lit the fuse” for economic inequality, dismantling the educational ladder that had built the middle class. The $2 trillion student debt crisis, burdening 44 million Americans by 2025, traces directly to these policies, stifling entrepreneurship and homeownership—antithetical to Jefferson’s vision of an educated, independent citizenry.

Reagan’s disdain for “intellectual curiosity” echoed a broader anti-intellectualism, weakening the civic discourse Franklin championed. By prioritizing corporate interests, Reagan set the stage for corporatocracy, where wealth is concentrated among elites, eroding democratic accountability. Since then, trade deals like NAFTA, championed by corporate interests, outsourced manufacturing jobs, leaving working-class communities hollowed out. DarkBrandon describes this as the American Dream being “packed up and moved offshore.” Media consolidation allowed corporations and oligarchs to shape narratives, while internet platforms controlled by algorithms, began suppressing dissent.

Militarism, another hallmark of corporate fascism, enriched the military-industrial complex through endless wars. The Honest Sorcerer cites Umberto Eco’s “Armageddon complex,” where leaders depict themselves as victims while aggressing globally. Interventions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and beyond prioritized corporate profits over national interests, alienating citizens and fueling distrust. This era marked a shift from democracy to a system where “the political system [made] ever more brutal oppression possible.” thehonestsorcerer.medium.com/what-if-the-ruling-class-finally-realized-that-this-civilization-is-over-825911b839de

By the 2010s, economic stagnation and cultural disillusionment primed the ground for authoritarianism. The election of Donald Trump in 2016 accelerated the slide. He tried to deploy the military during George Floyd protests of 2020, but was thwarted by Defense Secretary Mark Esper. By 2025, with loyalists replacing moderates, Trump’s allies openly advocate suspending elections, citing “emergencies” he defines, as did fascists in the 1920s-30s.

By early 2025, technology amplifies control. My March 15 post, “The A.I. of Sauron,” surmises that all the personal data collected by DOGE will be used to intimidate or blackmail people, including any and all vulnerable politicians. Jon Stewart’s April interview with Carole Cadwalladr on The Daily Show exposes broligarchs like Elon Musk, who wield AI to create a techno-authoritarian surveillance state. Social media algorithms suppress dissent, while billionaires plan “freedom cities”—fortressed enclaves free from regulation, as Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor describe in their April 13 article. These “high-tech private domains” mirror the Christian Rapture, where elites ascend to luxury while others face collapse.

Klein and Taylor’s “end times fascism” captures the billionaire class’s fatalism, accelerating scarcity through resource extraction and conflict. Our crises—peak shale oil, dedollarization, market instability—are unsolvable without another Earth-like planet that’s an hour’s flight from Earth. The elite exodus to bunkers in New Zealand or transhumanist fantasies underscores their abandonment of the common good.

Now the United States faces a “low-intensity, permanent civil war.” Economic, environmental, and social crises converge, threatening a Soviet-style collapse. Militarism persists, with neocons distracted by new conflicts rather than nuclear war, sustaining the military-industrial complex until the system “crushes under its own weight.” DarkBrandon’s analysis of men’s rage—misdirected at women and minorities instead of CEOs and lawmakers—reflects a fractured society, nostalgic for a 1950s fantasy that never was.

The Honest Sorcerer laments that the arc of history, from Mesopotamian kings to corporatocracy, reveals democracy as a “footnote.” Yet, as surplus wealth wanes, so does the ability to sustain despotism, offering a chance for renewal—if citizens act. The Founding Fathers envisioned a republic where education and civic engagement ensured liberty. Jefferson founded the University of Virginia tuition-free, prioritizing it above his presidency. Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack promoted civic virtue and self-improvement. Lincoln’s Morrill Act democratized education, building colleges for the common good. To reclaim this birthright, citizens must:

1. Restore Education as a Public Good: Eliminate student debt, as Hartmann urges, and reinstate free or low-cost college, emulating the GI Bill’s success. An educated populace, as Jefferson knew, is democracy’s bulwark.

2. Rebuild Civic Engagement: Hartmann’s call for “peaceful, defiant unity” echoes Franklin’s emphasis on collective action. Citizens must protest, vote, and organize locally, rejecting corporate narratives and AI censorship.

3. Redirect Rage Upward: “Name who really stole the future”—applies broadly. Citizens must hold corporations, billionaires, and complicit politicians accountable, not scapegoat minorities or dissenters.

4. Reject Feudalism: Equitable societies are not compatible with oligarchs’ “freedom cities” and militarized bunkers. Citizens must demand policies prioritizing people over profits, as Lincoln did.

5. Foster Community: DarkBrandon calls on Americans to “join a team, volunteer, be useful” and help rebuild the social fabric. Mentoring, as he suggests, and local mutual aid embody Franklin’s civic virtue, countering the chaos oligarchs exploit.

The path is not guaranteed. As Klein and Taylor warn, “end times fascism” thrives on apathy. Yet, history shows democracy’s resilience when citizens act. The American Revolution, the abolition movement, and the civil rights era—all rooted in the Founders’ ideals—prove change is possible. In 2025, citizens must show up to reclaim their republic before corporatocracy becomes the final chapter.

Bernie Sanders: Building grassroots political infrastructure, training thousands of people how to run for office. https://youtu.be/m5Z7c5Hu_kU?si=Y6oz6Kg0VBUYCvvR