As US national governance slides more toward one person rule, people at local levels seem to be waking up more.

So far, my own life has been pretty good and hasn't changed that much in spite of growing gloom about the state of our national government. At the local level, here in Bellingham and hopefully across USA, alternative cultures still thrive including more LGBTQ people coming out of the closet than ever.

At the same time, national government is sliding more to one person rule without checks and balances. It seems to be sliding toward dictatorship; today's Supreme Court ruling reducing the ability of district courts to overturn unconstitutional executive orders as one more step to absolute presidential rule.

As time goes on, I think a growing majority of the American people oppose one party, one president rule. Still, we seem to now be sliding into some form of dictatorship at the national level. I hope the people can still save us from that fate.

In the past, I've tended to blame the people for the shape of our politics. The people as voters, or lack of voting and the people as consumers buying into mainstream culture have played a role in shaping things up till now. Power of corporations and government has also been part of the equation, but more recently we have crossed a line in which I think the people are not to blame as much as before. The national system is no longer for the people, for the most part.

As Democracy fades at the national level, the people seem to be waking up across the country and can still bring a better outcome. Culture does seem to be awakening in many ways including more enthusiasm for LGBTQ community, at local levels, as one example.