American Hypothetical
Let's consider a hypothetical situation.
Imagine that it is November, 2016. Imagine that you meet a time traveler from November 2025. Anxious about the stakes in the upcoming election, you ask: What has happened since 2016? What does the United States look like?
The traveler tells you the following:
Immediately after the election, those who had supported the winning candidate were ecstatic. They believed that the country would be stronger and better. Once the new President assumed office, however, troubling signs began to suggest that the promised changes might not come to pass.
Nepotism, favoritism, and patronage ran rampant. American troops were still dying in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Illegal immigration fell briefly, but soon increased to levels higher than the previous administration. Jihadist terrorist attacks took place in New York and Florida. Domestic terrorists struck at a South Carolina church, a Pennsylvania synagogue, a Florida school. They struck in Texas, in Florida, in Virginia, and elsewhere within the United States.
The gravest threat, however, came from a new source: A pandemic spread across the country as the President refused to accept the guidance of the nation's health experts. The pandemic had drastic effects on the economy. The federal deficit reached new heights, and joblessness saw the largest single-year spike in American history. At the same time, violent crime increased drastically: The year 2020 brought the largest single-year increase in homicides in sixty years.
As the President's re-election campaign stalled, the President sought help from foreign governments, publicly asking Communist China to investigate the opposing candidate's family members. After being defeated in the election in November 2020, however, the President refused to concede; supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, smashing doors and windows in a violent attempt to cling to power. The coup failed, but members of the President's party refused to impeach the outgoing chief executive. Attempts to hold the former President accountable came to an end when, in a 6-3 decision (along party lines), the Supreme Court granted the President immunity. Backed by billionaire supporters and shielded by the court, the former President mounted a comeback. Lingering economic hardships left the public deeply dissatisfied with the existing administration, and in 2024 voters brought the former President to power once again.
Cabinet members who had served the President during the first term had warned of the threat to democracy: Both the previous Chief of Staff and the Secretary of Homeland Security described the President as a fascist, and the former Secretary of Defense called the President "a threat to the Constitution." Confirming their worst fears, the President began the new term by purging those who had resisted the earlier coup and pardoning more than 1,500 individuals who had stormed the Capitol Building. The President also pardoned party members who had been convicted of corruption.
Organizations charged with government oversight and accountability were dismantled. Advocates for citizen's privacy were were horrified when the President allowed a group led by a foreign national to access restricted data from the the Social Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service. At the same time, the President launched a new cryptocurrency. Although the President had previously said that cryptocurrency "seems like a scam," the President's family earned at least $800 million from crypto. Accordingly, the President pardoned the Chinese founder of the world's largest crypto exchange, who had pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Military commanders and intelligence officials were replaced by allies of the President; many had little or no relevant experience for the positions they were given. Seizing on protests as an excuse to claim that American cities were "under siege" and "war-ravaged," the President sent National Guard troops into the cities over the objections of local leaders.
The opposition, meanwhile—joined by a handful of members of the President's own party who were appalled at the continuing mismanagement of the country's finances—refused the President's demands to fund the government without a budget. As a result, the government shut down on October 1. By November, the shutdown appeared to be destined to become the longest government disruption in the history of the country. Many Americans sensed that democracy was crumbling.
If they needed a metaphor, they got it on October 23, 2025. The President unilaterally ordered the demolition of the entire East Wing of the White House to make room for a $300 million ballroom, a gift from the billionaires who had bankrolled the dictator's ascent to power.
Meanwhile, peaceful protesters were being tear-gassed and shot with pepper balls. American citizens were being abducted in broad daylight by masked federal agents in unmarked cars. Helicopters and military vehicles were raiding apartment buildings in the middle of the night. That, the traveler said, is the United States today.
There is nothing at all hypothetical in this description of the United States. These are facts, and they are easy to verify. It is only the question that is hypothetical: If you had been told these things nine years ago, who would you think won the 2016 election?
Answer honestly. If you voted for Donald Trump, is this the America you expected? Is this the America you wanted?