Democracy: what can be done now?
By Alice Bond | Project 2029 Contributor
ldcea123@gmail.com
"Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number—
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you—
Ye are many—they are few."
The Mask of Anarchy – Percy Bysshe Shelley
I grew up in the vast heart of the country geographically, but also culturally and economically. With an old fashioned 1950’s suburb circled around me, I nestled in the feel of being in the middle of the nation. We may not have had dramatic Hollywood TV stars or stratospheric skylines or the excitement of the coasts, but it was safe and stable. A feeling like you’re standing right side up on this whirling planet. Others might fall or fly off, but not those in Kansas, where wheat and maize fields spread brilliant green to the sky.
Like most of us, I stood alongside my fellow first-graders and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. As I did, I absorbed the major ideas —the flag, the republic, and then God, which was added at President Eisenhower’s suggestion during the Communist scare in the 1950’s. I had no idea that “forwichistans” was not one long complicated word. But I believed in the perpetuity of the American flag and the truths outlined: Our country was a democracy. We all had something called freedom of speech. Our government represented liberty and justice. We voted almost as a sacred duty, without doubt.
Today in 2025, I awake to a new set of cold facts after a decade-long onslaught against democratic institutions: this isn’t the country I once knew.
Instead of democracy, I have an incipient and threatening dictatorship. I have the cruel whims of an unbalanced, corrupt leader who extorts private and public universities, businesses, world nations and allies of the United States.
I have no security. Instead, I have a sort of chaotic uncertainty. People can be “disappeared” without warning, including citizens. Detention centers stain our country for the first time since the World War II Japanese and German American internment camps. Historically fundamental civil liberties —freedom of speech, religion, assembly, freedom of the press, the right to due process, to vote and to privacy—guaranteed by the Constitution to everyone, are no longer our given right. Instead, our own armed forces occupy our streets.
People are vulnerable, especially if they are non-white, non-Christian, a woman, a child, elderly, or recently entered the country. In fact, people are at risk simply if they oppose Trump.
Our democratic government is now nearly unrecognizable. Vital systems like healthcare, medical research, social security and veterans’ benefits and jobs are dissolving in front of our eyes. These cuts represent a many-pronged attack of lies, lawless acts, and seemingly, destruction for destruction’s sake. Add to this, the fact that a future return to any likeness of the democracy we all grew up under is cloudy, unclear.
So what do we do?
Project 2029 was founded to meet this moment. We are a group of everyday concerned citizens who are creating a blueprint for re-establishing freedom and democracy for our country. We’re doing this by developing policy and plans to enact that policy, reenvisioning how we want our government to function now and in the future, and fostering those who want to make the needed changes for our country.
Who joins Project 2029?
Project 2029 is a grassroots organization that’s run completely through our own efforts. Everyday people — teachers, small business owners, nurses, retirees, students, professionals, and activists are working, contributing, and planning together.
What can you do now?
Visit the Project2029.Me web site to assist our efforts. We need people with policy experience, volunteer management, writers, social media gurus, marketing experience, and more.
Spread the word on social media and talk to the people in your life about getting involved. We welcome people at all skill levels and ability to participate.
Consider donating. Every little bit helps.
Believe me, at this point in my life, I’d rather be running—around the reservoir, down the hedgerow-rimmed asphalt of Susank Road, or any other trails I’ve put mileage into in my life —than rising to the call of a pivotal moment in history, such as the one we are now living. But there is good work to be done. And not a morning to waste.