David: Well written essay indeed.

In my opinion, the ability to self-correct was lost in November 2021 when 30% of Virginians voted for the Republican candidate for governor. These voters prefer a one-party state to a democracy. The likelihood of USA somehow fixing itself became less. Americans should anticipate a future of a lot of civil unrest.

As you piece has suggested, the Republicans are no longer in a losing sitution. Either they legitamitaly win--stacked deck or not--or there was fraud. Voting is no longer enough.

The next question is: "What happens after the fighting is over?"

I can't recall if I have talked to you before. But I have an alternative democracy as my ulterior motive for being on Medium. There are no political parties or noisy election campaigns. People vote for their neighbors. The early builders must learn a higher level of decision-making skills. The TDG Essay is here:

https://medium.com/discourse/tiered-democratic-governance-3f36a8f45660

Shorty after the Virginia election, I wrote this piece:

https://medium.com/tiered-democratic-governance/the-republican-oligarchy-59082d34a59b

In summary, it explains how the USA builds this new democracy during its period of civil unrest.

I've been on Medium for 3 years. Before that I was on other political internet forums. I find it rather amazing that nearly many political commentators are putting their trust in some kind of self-correction or on some one else to fix the mess. The rest of commentators seem to predicting to total societal collapse.

The TDG puts the responsibility back on the citizens. They have to build this this new system. Not the political elite. Not the wealthy. Not the academics.