The Fall of the American Empire Isn’t a Surprise. It’s the Natural Result.

Christine Merser, June 20, 2025

People keep asking the question, how did we get here. I’ve been thinking about it for the last few months. And maybe the better question is, how did we not get here sooner?

We were always heading this way. Trump didn’t break us. He revealed us.

America was built on smoke and mirrors. We arrived on land that wasn’t ours and took it by force from Indigenous nations. Then we pushed into the Southwest and stole that too, this time from Mexico, by violent overthrow. And of course, there was slavery, our original sin. We tried to rise above it, but we never really did.

The South lost the war, but we never made them reckon with it. We allowed their false narratives to remain. We let their resentment shape laws. We let them rewrite the story. And then we looked away. And, many of them came to power in Washington. And, behind the scenes. They never let go of a lost war, or a hatred of their countrymen with darker skin than them.

Then came McCarthyism. And Jim Crow. And redlining. And forced sterilizations. (From the 1920’s to the 1980’s more than 8,000 black women had their uterus’s removed without their knowledge). And back-alley abortions. And Anita Hill. We passed some laws for justice, yes. And ignored many others already passed. Women’s rights rose, fell, rose again, but never quite made it home.

And while China was building their own country’s infrastructure these past decades, we were traveling the globe militarily showing our strength, ignoring our own starving children, health care horrors for most of our population, and working man’s benefits lost to Walgreen’s profits for the Walgreen family and shareholders.

We were never the place we claimed to be. I thought we were but it was only because I wasn’t really looking.

Then Trump took that gold-plated ride down the escalator and said aloud what a whole group of people had been waiting to hear. People who had lost much, white, middle class, slipping into poverty, full of rage. And while liberals like me worked to lift up those long oppressed, those same angry voices grew louder and more bitter. And Trump gave them a place to roar.

The lawmakers have always been corrupt. Both sides. And now, show me ten who could pass a lie detector test on love of country. Altruism has left the building.

So what do we have?

A heap.

The downfall of the American empire, which ruled the globe on a false narrative that people in Africa, and so many others, always saw for what it really was. We just didn’t. And no one told us the truth because we were too powerful for them to challenge.

And even if Trump disappears, we’re still in the heap.

But here’s the thing. All is not lost.

You know what we have? We (most of us), are good humans. We care. We were just not paying attention, and now we are. And we can fix it. One good American at a time.

I’ve been in my garden this year. Pulling weeds. Laying down that dark fabric. Spreading mulch. Nurturing new growth. Letting some plants go, planting others with care. Pulling weeds. Hugging trees. Literally hugging trees. That’s the metaphor that keeps me going.

Because there is still richness in this country. Soil still fertile. Sky still blue. Potential still real if we fight for it.

But it starts inside. Inside ourselves.

What do I believe. What is my moral fiber. What will I do, and what am I willing to give up. What will I pay for. What will I go without. What does community mean to me now. How much does money matter. How much is my comfort the driving force for my beliefs? How much does the collective good matter to me.

Am I willing to wait in line, just like everyone else?

Am I willing to stop pulling strings to get my kid something someone else’s kid deserved more?

The list is long, friends.

This is the rebuild.

One human being at a time.

One ZIP code at a time.

One election. One action. One vote. One conversation. One dinner. One purchase. One investment. One hour of showing up.

And let’s tell the truth while we’re at it.

We were never the greatest country in the world. We did amazing things. Yes, World War Two is right near the top. But it doesn’t undo the harm we’ve done. Not during. Not after. Not before.

We turned away Jews fleeing the Holocaust. We refused to bomb the railroad lines to Auschwitz. We put Japanese Americans in camps, and never apologized or returned what was torn from them. And we’ve got something to atone for in every decade, trust me, I’ve been making a list and shaking my head at how I could possibly have looked away.

Now is the time.

Clean the slate. Sweep out the filth at the top. And start planning a life not just for our own families, but for the global family counting on us to stop poisoning their skies, their soil, their future.

So yes, I’m trading in my BMW SUV. And no, I’m not getting another one.

No more private jets.

No more chemical-soaked, performative lawn for me.

The list is long. But this is what it means to be a responsible citizen of Earth, and a productive member of this country we still hope can be something better.

So here’s what I propose.

Make two lists.

One, what you want to stand for.

Two, what you need to give up to actually stand for it.

Let’s finish those lists by July 4th.

And then let’s live them.