This Needs Fixin'

It has been quite a year already, and it’s only March.

We’ve got even more quite-a-year ahead of us.

But these problems aren’t limited to the U.S.; most of the globe is seeing similar autocratic movements and uprisings these days. Maybe we can learn something useful looking at how other peoples are dealing with their problems.

Each country is different, of course, and comes with it’s own historical baggage. But we’re all similar enough that the problems and solutions of one country can still be meaningful lessons for the rest of us.

So let’s all look outside our borders and learn something:

• South Korea: When their homegrown Trumpist tried to sideline the legislature, the legislature bypassed corrupt army deployments and blocked it, with support from members of the attempted coup’s own party. When it came to impeachment, that party dropped its support but the courts and police have continued to pursue the case and even extracted the coup leader from the Presidential residence. The legal case grinds on, because it’s not just American courts that are slooooow, but it shows what the U.S. could have done back in 2020 to avoid the fiasco of 2025 and what the U.S. could be doing now to limit the damage.
• Turkey: Erdogan, of course, pre-dates Turmp so calling him “Trumpist” would probably be incorrect; he is more what Trump aspires to become. But when he had the main opposition leader arrested just before an election, the country broke out in serious protests. It’s much more dangerous to take to the streets there than it is here, so if they can get a mass public response going then so could we.
• Ukraine: Their problems come from an outside maniac, rather than from having elected one themselves. But the effectiveness of their resistance is impressive. The governors in non-Trumpist states should be watching Ukraine’s government for ideas, because Trump will definitely be reaching for the military if states don’t fall in line. Newsom (for example) could be in that position very soon; we can only hope he deals with it half as well as Zelensky has.

That’s really only a sampler.

There are many more: Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and even Hungary offer some lessons and inspiration.

(And I have no doubt that Africa and South America could provide examples too, but I’m limited to the English-language media that I regularly encounter so the fact that they’re not represented here is probably more on me and my media habits than on them.)

That the rest of the world has similar problems doesn’t change the fact that the U.S. government is currently controlled by a gang of incompetent fascist maniacs that the populace actually elected, but maybe seeing successes elsewhere can help us deal with it more effectively here.

Or at least learn how to build a nation that can do better next time.

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