The most dangerous threat to democracy in the United States of America is the mistaken belief that they actually practice one... because democracy is not a noun, it's a verb. "Demos" means "the people", and "kratia" means "rule", so the word democracy means "the people rule." We have the trappings of democracy... you just get to go and pull a lever every 2-4 years only for candidates that have been pre-approved and pre-selected by the ruling elite.

But when it comes to actually participating in a meaningful way in how the society is organized, how much pay you might get, whether or not you get healthcare, whether the country goes to war or not, whether we should address the climate crisis... in those kinds of questions the people never have an opportunity to participate.

For example, if in the debate around the healthcare had there not been elected officials with a commitment to pharmaceutical companies and insurance companies, if the priority wasn't making sure that there were profits for people that make drugs and sell drugs, and people who provide medical care as insurers, if they weren't the priority but the ordinary people don't you think that would've been different?

The prison system along with the education system and the healthcare system are three things among many others that should never have a profit motive attached. The democratic self-government experiment started in the United States over 200 years ago and has gotten completely corrupted. The real people are not been listen to.

When considering the still unfolding history of the United States the words of journalist Molly Ivins ring true: "It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America." In other words who, according to the laws and cultures, gets to be considered a person?