America is vanishing

By Elizabeth Dangerfield

America is not becoming great again under President Trump, it is vanishing! Along with everything that made America great including the ideals of protecting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. How can you be great at the same time as denying these inalienable rights to so many Americans?

President Trump’s Administration is engaged in a witch hunt to ensure that anyone whocomes from a ‘diverse background’ and anyone who feels that all Americans should be equal becomes invisible. The concerted campaign to control others, to make them insignificant and voiceless is nothing short of an attempt to annihilate freedom, reason, truth and ethics from American society.  

Freedom

America is no longer the land of the free. In America, individuals and organisations can no longer express their views, knowledge and values freely and safely. Instead they are bullied into kowtowing to the ideology and actions of the Trump Administration or face serious retributions. Without any due process, they can lose their jobs, federal funding, careers and reputation or be threatened with legal action. They can be deported at whim and held in detention without recourse.

Even America’s most distinguished military leaders are not immune from such treatment nor are the majority of the American population. In the first term of President Trump, and in the first three months of his second term, American women and girls have been stripped of their reproductive rights, their employment options threatened, and their capabilities and achievements demeaned. It seems that the only one free to do whatever he likes in America is the President.

The rule of law

There were only 25 full democracies in the world in 2024. At rank 28, America was classified as a flawed democracy. Now, under President Trump, America is moving towards becoming an autocracy because the rule of law is being bypassed.

The American Constitution was set up to ensure that no one person or entity could take over the running of the country. The intent was to have a clear separation between the legislature, the judiciary and the executive. However, President Trump is undermining and downplayingthe role of the legislature and judiciary in his extravagant use of his executive powers. By April 9, 2025 of his second term President Trump had signed 123 executive orders, 33 proclamations, and 31 memoranda covering a wide range of policy issues.

The President appears to be governing with little reference to Congress and regardless of whether his actions are considered legal or not. For example, he signed an executive order to force states to change the way they conduct elections which is considered unconstitutional and which could disenfranchise legitimate voters. Some of the actions of President Trump and his administration are in opposition to United States Bill of Rights set out in the first ten amendments to the American Constitution.

Social justice

Over 250 words, many associated with social justice, have been removed from the lexicon of the Trump Administration presumably because there is no social injustice in America. It seems all you have to do to obtain the American Dream is to work hard, have talent and take advantage of the myriad of opportunities that come your way! Women, Native Americans, Black Americans, people from other races, working class Americans, and disabled Americans do not have to overcome systemic racism or sexism, historical disadvantage, prejudice and discrimination, poverty, or disability! They do not struggle to overcome the hurdles that constantly restrict them because these things do not exist! If you no longer report on what doesn’t exist then no one will know the crushing effects of inequality.

In some sort of perverse delusion Americans are being told that diversity, equity, and inclusion programs are the reason for everything that is wrong in America including the state of the economy and the feeling of disenchantment of people who feel entitled to a greatershare of the nation’s power and long for the old status quo. According to President Trump disadvantaged people are getting help they do not deserve at the expense of normal folk. Under the Department of Government Efficiency, the federal government is vanishing by the day. The money saved by getting rid of programs that help the worse–off can then be passed on to the well–off through tax cuts.  

Respect for others

It is sad to say that respect for others is vanishing from America. And with lack of respect goes any sense of humanity, tolerance, and compassion. The Statue of Liberty, that great icon of American values, was inscribed with lines of welcome to refugees and immigrants. Now, all aliens are lumped together as unwanted lawbreakers. Many have been derided as the worse possible criminals and treated harshly and illegally. Perfectly legal American residents and visitors have been held for days and deported without due process.

It seems acceptable for President Trump to show contempt to anyone that seems a threat. This includes women in particular, people from different races, experts, legal practitioners and judges, and top members of the military. The administration has unleashed a crescendo of lies, vile insults, specious accusations and bullying in order to silence all opposition.

Good relations with other nations

President Trump’s strategy of vilification also extends to leaders of other countries, including the most heroic leader in the world today, Volodymyr Zelensky. President Trump wants to establish an economic hegemony with other countries essentially paying tribute to the United States. He has certainly indicated in his comments that he considers other countries and their leaders to be inferior to the United States and should capitulate to his demands including giving up their sovereignty. People of other countries see this as sign of disrespect. Other nations no longer trust President Trump and are seeking options to become more secure.

President Trump revels in what he sees as the subservience of national leaders seeking to make deals to protect their economies from American tariffs. Raising tariffs on other countries based on dubious and superficial calculations and then postponing them has destabilized stock markets and caused a lot of financial havoc worldwide.

It seems that making America great again may be at the expense of dealing with existential problems such as protecting the environment, helping countries in need, building cordial relationships with other nations, and having a stable world economy. President Trump sees America as exceptional. Its sovereignty is sacrosanct, but it can impinge on the sovereignty of other nations at will.

Truth and integrity

The truth has been so deluged by lies and misinformation from politicians, public relations companies, special interest groups, social media platforms, the press, trolls, conspiracy theorists, foreign governments, advertisements, fear mongering, the discrediting of science and experts through personal attacks; that it is becoming increasingly difficult for ordinary people to work out who and what to believe.

American government, scientific and technological bodies and academic institutions have had their funding cut or have had to succumb to a regime that restricts their ability to undertake and broadcast legitimate and objective research and views. At least one university recognises the dangers of allowing government control of its programs – it would just become a mouthpiece for the Trump Administration’s propaganda.

Saying that all opinions are equal is just a convenient cop out for not being as knowledgeable and objective as possible. In many cases, such as human induced climate change, theevidence is so overwhelming, so convincing, so solid, that it can be considered to be fact. This is deep knowledge that scientists and experts in many fields, have built up over years through detailed study, controlled experimentation, analysis, validation processes, cooperation and debate, and peer review. It is not the superficial media grabs used by the Trump Administration to justify ideological views such as the ones on vaccines and seed oils.

The huge body of knowledge accumulated by the best minds in the world should enable policymakers to make decisions based on the best possible evidence. Unfortunately, the Trump Administration has not only turned its back on such obvious truths but is actively trying to silence and punish those who understand them and advocate for knowledge to be available to all.

We know that powerful people are often very good at manipulating others through propaganda to get results that are beneficial to their personal cause. Telling lies is very expedient for people with no integrity. President Trump has told many lies which appeal to people’s emotions rather than their reason. Decisions made on lies and misinformation are not going to be good decisions.

The invisible

President Trump has desperately tried to make himself great again by cultivating those who have similar aspirations and delusions and feeding the fear, prejudices and anger of many Americans who feel they are losing out in the modern world. It is clear that the status quo is not giving many Americans what they need and want. However, the wrecking ball approach of the Trump Administration has made a lot of ordinary Americans even more powerless andinsignificant. They are invisible because they literally no longer count in terms of Federal policy, however, they will still want freedom and equality even if democracy in America vanishes.

 

Dear reader, we need your support

Independent sites such as The AIMN provide a platform for public interest journalists. From its humble beginning in January 2013, The AIMN has grown into one of the most trusted and popular independent media organisations.

One of the reasons we have succeeded has been due to the support we receive from our readers through their financial contributions.

With increasing costs to maintain The AIMN, we need this continued support.

Your donation – large or small – to help with the running costs of this site will be greatly appreciated.

You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969