How America Lost the Plot

The United States was founded by imperfect men.

Many were sexist. Many were racist.

But they had one thing in common: a revolutionary commitment to liberty, reason, and self-governance.

Back then, liberal wasn’t partisan. It meant liberty. It meant individual rights, freedom of thought, and consent of the governed.

These weren’t just pretty words. They were survival strategies against the British Crown.

The founders studied, argued, and compromised to form “a more perfect union.”

That union was never perfect. It was never great for everyone. It was an idea, a goal meant to expand as our understanding of justice grew. Greatness was only possible when liberty reached every person in this country.

Somewhere along the way, liberty got twisted. That shift wasn’t an accident. It was engineered.

Industrialization deepened class divides. Political machines took over.

The Cold War turned politics into a false war between conservatives defending tradition and liberals supposedly destroying it.

The very word that built America became a weapon against itself.

Then came the most dangerous turn, intentional anti-intellectualism. Leaders stopped wanting an informed public. Smart, forward-thinking candidates were branded elitists.

Complex issues were turned into slogans.

History was rewritten to fit nostalgia. And voters were told to choose personalities, not principles.

Now, we spin the political carousel: too old, too young, too liberal, too radical, too establishment.

Labels replace substance. And we wonder why capable leaders get sidelined.

We need something different: leaders who know that democracy is never done. Leaders who admit the country has improved but still hasn’t reached the dream. Leaders who move forward, not backward.

The founders agreed on one thing: intention matters.

They built a system to adapt, grow, and improve.

The real question is whether we still have the courage and the will to keep building, or whether we will let fear and propaganda kill the dream for good.