How to Reclaim America: A Plan to Defeat MAGA and Build a Better Future

I often daydream about building the perfect union. What would it have, and how would the people be represented? Our system is definitely flawed, but for the most part, it was starting to move in the right direction—until the oligarchs teamed up with the GOP first, and then MAGA.

The GOP, MAGA, and the ultra-right Evangelicals sure know what kind of country they want. They want a country that prioritizes capital and property over individual rights. They want a country hyper-fixated on Christian white males, and above all, they want anyone who doesn’t fit into their ever-narrowing worldview tossed out.

That’s what they want in a nutshell, and they’ve been scheming in the dark for decades. They’ve been plotting to overturn Roe v. Wade for 40 years, knowing they couldn’t ban it outright, so they hatched a plan to do it in steps.

Mitch McConnell was one of those schemers. For decades, he thwarted Congress to install ultra-right-wing judges and pack the Supreme Court with them. The overturning of Roe v. Wade falls squarely on his shoulders while the Democratic Party focused on decorum and process.

We didn’t see it because we were celebrating all the progress we’d made. We didn’t see the danger lurking in the dark corners or the evil stare of a serial killer named Putin, watching and waiting to strike.

We didn’t realize we were in a Machiavellian fight for our lives until Trump figured it out and used our complacency to propel himself to power and take it all away from us.

Yes, foreign and domestic evil was lurking, planning, scheming for years before springing the trap.

Yes, we’re caught in a trap—a very dangerous one. So we have to ask ourselves: How do we get out?

While we were celebrating our wins in building a more perfect union, domestic and foreign forces built an alternative system of entrapment. Now we’re stuck in it, and getting out won’t be easy. But it can be done—though it’s going to cost us.

The Cost We Must Pay

It’s going to be hard to get Trump and MAGA out of office now that they’ve taken control of the House, Senate, and Presidency. Putin will continue to pour poison into Trump’s ear, and we’ll likely see the U.S. pull out of NATO.

We’ve alienated some of our best allies, and God forbid we invade Canada or Mexico. We will become a pariah on the world stage, and everything we once stood for—freedom, honor, refuge, and decency—will be tossed out the window.

Upending the world order, where we’ve been the foundation for decades, will cost us dearly. The price to rebuild that foundation will be exorbitant. We won’t be able to pay it unless we fix our problems first. And the only way we can do that is by organizing and fighting with our wallets.

While dark philosophers like Curtis Yarvin, who advocate for monarchy-style government, whisper in the ears of the tech bros, they overlook their biggest weakness: a pissed-off, organized mob of people.

It wasn’t the army that started the French Revolution—they joined later. It was the suppressed populace. And we all know how that ended for the monarchy.

Trump and his ilk are already trying to get ahead of the curve by threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act. But they can’t force us to buy from Amazon, or Target, or Tesla. They can’t make us shop at places that support their twisted ideals.

Voting with your wallet is effective. Just ask Target how bad their sales plummeted after they gutted their DEI program. Or look at Tesla’s stock after Musk did his Nazi salute.

We still have the ultimate power: the power of the purse.

Of course, it’s not that simple. Voting with our wallets is just one part of the greater strategy. We must vote—while we still can—for Progressive candidates. I’m frustrated that the Democratic Party is just standing on the sidelines, holding little signs in Congress, when they should be out marching with their constituents.

The current Democratic Party is too far right to be effective. We need more AOCs and Bernies to help us rebuild America into the better union it was always meant to be. And we need to throw out the evil.

We need to destroy the GOP and MAGA from the inside. We need to show their supporters just how badly they’ve been duped. I’ll forgive those who are honest and sincere, but I’ll never forget their betrayal.

We should have never let the Tea Party turn into MAGA. We should have never let these little bullies become the big bullies. That’s on us. But we can fix it.

When the Social Security checks stop flowing and your Trump-voting neighbor complains about not having enough food, tell them to pull themselves up by the bootstraps and head to the local food pantry.

Yes, it will feel good to throw it in their face. They need to feel the sting of their mistakes. Pain is the best teacher.

But then, we must show them a better way.

Sun Tzu said you must leave an escape path—one of your making—for a fleeing army. They must be forced to choose the path you want them to take as their “only way out.”

And that choice? A more perfect union.

What does that look like to me? For starters:

1. Free and fair elections
2. Universal healthcare, including full reproductive care for women
3. A fair progressive tax system—the more you make, the more you pay
4. Overturning Citizens United
5. Gender pay and workplace equality
6. Free public and higher education
7. A modern infrastructure focused on renewable energy and technology
8. A fair immigration process, with immediate citizenship for Dreamers
9. Taxation of all churches and religious institutions
10. A clear separation of church and state

These are just the top 10 off the top of my head.

We have to do this. Not because it’s a good thing to do—but because it’s the right thing to do.

A nefarious trap was sprung on us, but we can cut our way out—one strand at a time.

Let’s help each other organize and fight. Start with your wallet. Then organize with like-minded people. Vote for Progressives. Gather disaffected Trump voters to our side.

Only then can we reclaim what made America great in the first place—the overthrow of a monarchy.

Except this time, it’s a new monarchy on our own soil.