Michael Jochum
Hereâs the hard truth, stripped of slogans and denial:
The boat is taking on water. Fast. And the people still arguing about the paint color on the deck are going down with it.
This is a plea, not to the extremists, not to the true believers, not to the cultists who have fused their identity to one man, but to the millions of Americans who are still on the fence, still rationalizing, still telling themselves âit canât really get that bad,â still trying to balance comfort against conscience.
It is that bad. And itâs accelerating.
When federal immigration agents can operate inside American cities, kill a U.S. citizen in the middle of a raid, seal off the scene from local authorities, block investigations, and immediately brand the dead as a âterrorist,â we are no longer talking about policy disagreements. We are no longer in the realm of normal governance. We are watching the emergence of a federal security apparatus that sees itself as above law, above oversight, and above accountability to the people.
That isnât rhetoric. Thatâs structure. Thatâs architecture of power.
The Nazi analogy isnât some edgy metaphor people throw around for effect. I donât like it. I hate needing it. But history doesnât announce itself with swastikas and stormtroopers. It announces itself with normalized force, manufactured enemies, propaganda ecosystems, dehumanization, and state violence wrapped in language of âsecurity.â It starts with âexceptions.â It grows into routine. And by the time people admit whatâs happening, the machinery is already built.
Whatâs happening in Minneapolis isnât an âincident.â Itâs a warning flare.
Go look at the âAmericans for Trumpâ spaces. People openly calling for the Insurrection Act. Openly calling for the arrest and execution of elected officials. Openly demanding military rule. Openly celebrating state violence. All built on fabricated narratives, algorithmic lies, and the refusal to believe their own eyes even when video evidence is available.
This isnât organic. This isnât accidental. This is a designed information ecosystem, built by tech billionaires who engineered platforms to amplify outrage, distort reality, reward extremism, and turn mass deception into a business model. The GOP didnât build this alone. Silicon Valley didnât build it alone. Oligarchy, propaganda, and political power fused, and this is the result.
A nation psychologically fragmented. Reality shattered into tribes. Violence normalized. Authoritarian language mainstreamed. Democracy reframed as weakness. Compassion reframed as betrayal.
And still, still, millions of people think this is just âpolitics.â
It isnât.
This is systemic collapse behavior. Hereâs the part people donât want to hear: Voting alone is no longer sufficient. Necessary? Yes. Sufficient? No. Peaceful, massive, coordinated pressure is the only thing that has ever slowed authoritarian systems in history. Millions marching, not on Minneapolis, not on symbolic targets, on Washington.
A nationwide general strike that shuts down the economy.
Organized labor. Industry leaders. Unions. Civic leaders. Faith communities. Veterans. Students. Workers. Artists. Doctors. Teachers. Musicians. Truck drivers. Nurses. Engineers. Service workers. Parents.
Not performative protest. Not social media hashtags. Not symbolic outrage.
Real disruption. Real pressure. Real consequence. Because power doesnât reform itself out of moral awakening. It reforms when it becomes afraid of losing legitimacy, stability, and control. This requires sacrifice. Discomfort. Risk. Courage. Coordination. Discipline. Resolve. All worthwhile causes always do.
Time is not on our side. Systems harden. Surveillance expands. Emergency powers normalize. Legal guardrails erode. Violence becomes procedural. Language becomes bureaucratic. Atrocities become paperwork.
And then people say: âHow did this happen so fast?â It didnât. Youâre watching the middle, not the beginning.
If you supported Trump, itâs not too late. If you defended him, itâs not too late. If you stayed silent, itâs not too late. If you sat on the fence, itâs not too late. If you told yourself âboth sides,â itâs not too late. But the window is closing. This isnât about parties anymore. This isnât about ideology. This isnât about left vs right.
This is about whether we remain a constitutional republic or slide into managed authoritarianism with elections as theater and violence as policy.
Come to the side of integrity. Come to the side of law. Come to the side of human dignity. Come to the side of accountability. Come to the side of compassion. Come to the side of truth. Come to the side of the country you claim to love. Because whatâs forming right now is not strength. Itâs not security. Itâs not patriotism. Itâs not order.
Itâs a parasite state, feeding on fear, rage, lies, grievance, and manufactured enemies, draining the life out of the nation while calling itself salvation.
The grief I feel over the murder of another citizen is inseparable from the grief I feel watching the slow suffocation of the republic itself, the death of trust, the collapse of institutions, the erosion of law, the normalization of cruelty, and the quiet burial of hope.
Our nation is very ill. But itâs not dead yet. The boat is sinking , yes. But people are still on deck. And the pumps still work. And the hull hasnât fully split. Itâs not too late, but it is late. Choose wisely.. Not later. Not when itâs easier. Not when itâs safer. Not when itâs comfortable. Now.
Because history doesnât ask whether you were polite. It asks whether you were brave.
-Michael Jochum Not Just a Drummer: Reflections on Art, Politics, Dogs, and the Human Condition
