Michael Jochum
Here’s 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 “it can’t really get that bad,” still trying to balance comfort against conscience.
It is that bad. And it’s 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 “terrorist,” 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 isn’t rhetoric. That’s structure. That’s architecture of power.
The Nazi analogy isn’t some edgy metaphor people throw around for effect. I don’t like it. I hate needing it. But history doesn’t announce itself with swastikas and stormtroopers. It announces itself with normalized force, manufactured enemies, propaganda ecosystems, dehumanization, and state violence wrapped in language of “security.” It starts with “exceptions.” It grows into routine. And by the time people admit what’s happening, the machinery is already built.
What’s happening in Minneapolis isn’t an “incident.” It’s a warning flare.
Go look at the “Americans for Trump” 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 isn’t organic. This isn’t 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 didn’t build this alone. Silicon Valley didn’t 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 “politics.”
It isn’t.
This is systemic collapse behavior. Here’s the part people don’t 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 doesn’t 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: “How did this happen so fast?” It didn’t. You’re watching the middle, not the beginning.
If you supported Trump, it’s not too late. If you defended him, it’s not too late. If you stayed silent, it’s not too late. If you sat on the fence, it’s not too late. If you told yourself “both sides,” it’s not too late. But the window is closing. This isn’t about parties anymore. This isn’t about ideology. This isn’t 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 what’s forming right now is not strength. It’s not security. It’s not patriotism. It’s not order.
It’s 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 it’s not dead yet. The boat is sinking , yes. But people are still on deck. And the pumps still work. And the hull hasn’t fully split. It’s not too late, but it is late. Choose wisely.. Not later. Not when it’s easier. Not when it’s safer. Not when it’s comfortable. Now.
Because history doesn’t 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
