Is American democracy in the midst of a long defeat?

[YPestis25]

I've been rereading a lot of Tolkien lately, and the "long defeat" is a recurring theme for him, especially as it relates to the elves. It also really encapsulates a feeling I've had for a while regarding the health of American democracy; that is, since 1994, American democracy has been on an inexorable path towards collapse. So effectively despite the small victories which those who believe in liberal democracy can and do win, the final result is ultimately unchanged. This belief suggests that even fighting then can be taken as a victory, which I think we can take solace in, but I'm curious what anyone else has to say on this.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

No, we've had much worse episodes in our past, and the dooming about democracy is getting annoying. Yes, the U.S. is no longer the unchallenged superpower in the world and our society is becoming more polarized and unstable, but we are nowhere near how bad things were in the 19th Century.

We can have a regression in social cohesion and our political stability without necessarily declining. If anything, this increase in short- and medium-term tensions could result in a healthier society in the long-run.

[Del Tachi]

We can have a regression in social cohesion and our political stability without necessarily declining. If anything, this increase in short- and medium-term tensions could result in a healthier society in the long-run.

Exactly, decline is marked by stasis not dynamism.  Over Trump's presidency we've seen a huge upswing in political/civic participation coupled with a pretty fundamental issue realignment.  These might be uncomfortable growing pains, but its much preferable to being stuck in a permanent "end of history" ethos that persisted from Poppy Bush to Obama

[Cassius]

Liberal democracy has always been heavily slanted towards the ‘liberal’ aspect of it, but at this point even that looks a little bit wobbly. America’s never been much of a democracy though, so we may as well define the ‘long defeat’ as going all the way back to the 18th century.

[Samof94]

No, we've had much worse episodes in our past, and the dooming about democracy is getting annoying. Yes, the U.S. is no longer the unchallenged superpower in the world and our society is becoming more polarized and unstable, but we are nowhere near how bad things were in the 19th Century.

We can have a regression in social cohesion and our political stability without necessarily declining. If anything, this increase in short- and medium-term tensions could result in a healthier society in the long-run.

Imagine if this board had existed in the 1850’s.