How Will We Know When We Have Lost Our Democracy?

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The founders probably assumed people would elect ethical people so no ethics are in our system. Even businesses have rules about conflict of interest, hiring relatives, etc, but our government, nothing.<p>Without that it’s been failing and perhaps those ethics should rest on a popular vote and not representatives so it doesn’t get ruined, but then mob rule could always ruin it, which is why we have a republic that is slow to change with all these checks and balances but no ethics.

We don&#x27;t know the How, but we can agree on the When - when it will be too late.

I don&#x27;t think the meaning that you give to that word is the same as the one used in the rest of the world. Democracy is about elections (presidents, referendums, whatever), where every citizen is able to participate and vote freely. And in that, US may well is (and has been for quite some time) functionally an oligarchy.<p>That a legally elected government then oppress part of the population, put weird laws or sink the economy is within the rules of the game. Citizens are responsible for what they choose, at least if they all can choose for it freely.<p>But if whole sections of the population can&#x27;t freely participate, or can be punished somewhat if doing so, then you didn&#x27;t had a democracy to start with, even if the government was a symbol of peace and prosperity.

When the next pandemic hits, for people who don&#x27;t remember the last one.