📢 It Doesn't Have to Be This Way

🗽Together, we can champion our rights, freedoms, rule of law, democracy, hold our leaders accountable to the people's will, and inspire voters to make a meaningful difference.

If you believe power should belong to the people—not billionaires, corporations, or shady politicians—help fuel the movement. Subscribe to our newsletter 📰 for just $5/month or $60/year.

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Photo by Luke Michael on Unsplash

Across America, many of us feel like we're watching the country we love slip away. Every day brings a new headline that leaves us stunned: rights taken, freedoms trampled, the rule of law rewritten to suit the powerful. And while the news keeps moving, the pattern remains: a slow, brutal erosion of democracy itself. But this didn't come out of nowhere. We're here—on the edge of an authoritarian takeover—because for too long, too many looked the other way, avoiding the ballot box and failing to hold our leaders accountable. And now, Trump and his Republican enablers—who built detention camps during his last term and have just completed a concentration camp in the Florida Everglades—are back, emboldened and more dangerous than ever.

When Donald Trump descended that golden escalator nearly a decade ago, we were told not to worry that it was all talk. That our institutions would hold. But fascism doesn't arrive overnight. It creeps in when people stay silent, leaders refuse to act, and the public becomes too exhausted or numb to fight back.

This is not normal. This is not patriotic. This is not what democracy looks like.

Let's be clear: the escalating cruelty and lawlessness we're witnessing is not about keeping Americans safe. It's about control. It's about reshaping the executive branch into a tool for vengeance and domination under the radical unitary executive theory—a legal fiction that claims the president can do whatever he wants, unchecked. If we let this take hold, there will be no balance of powers, independent agencies, or meaningful rule of law. One man will rule it.

We're already seeing what that future looks like.

At a Miami ICE detention center, "Migrants ... were shackled with their hands tied behind their backs and made to kneel to eat food from styrofoam plates "like dogs (The Guardian, 2025).¹ This isn't justice. It's degradation. And it's happening on American soil with taxpayer dollars.

Meanwhile, the same administration that treats refugees and migrants as subhuman went out of its way to free an American citizen convicted of murder in Venezuela—an act more about political optics and power games than any principle of justice (New York Times, 2025).² Ask yourself: Is this really about crime and safety, or is it about who this regime chooses to protect and punish?

They tell us they're making America great again—but what they're doing is making us feared, distrusted, and isolated. We're witnessing a wholesale abandonment of moral leadership around the world. In Gaza, children are dying of starvation as the U.S. government stands by—or worse, enables the crisis (New York Times, 2025).³ To think that as Americans, we once prided ourselves on being a beacon of hope and a defender of human rights. Now we're complicit in suffering.

Even those who risked their lives for our troops aren't safe under this new regime. One Afghan interpreter—who saved the life of a U.S. officer during the war—was denied protection and left abandoned despite America's promises (CBS News, 2025).⁴ How can we claim to support our veterans or value loyalty when we betray those who stood by us in our darkest hours?

But it's not just one man. Trump's administration has gutted U.S. foreign aid, slashing humanitarian programs that provide food, clean water, and basic medicine across the globe. According to NPR, these cuts could result in the deaths of up to 14 million people—a staggering number of lives lost simply because of political cruelty and indifference (NPR, 2025).⁵ These aren't just budget decisions—they are death sentences for innocent people, including allies who trusted us and families struggling to survive.

This isn't about policy disagreements. This is about who we are as a country.

Trump and his allies have built a system of cruelty and chaos—where the powerless are crushed, the powerful are shielded, and the executive branch makes its own rules. They've turned "law and order" into a smokescreen for oppression. They weaponize fear. They excuse lawbreaking when it serves their cause. And they dare to call it patriotism.

But we know better.

We know that patriotism means defending democracy—not dismantling it. It means honoring the promises we make to allies. It means fighting for a government that protects the vulnerable instead of persecuting them. It means speaking up—especially when it's hard.

We are not powerless. We are not alone. And we are not too late.

We are the people—and when we come together, we create change. When we show up, speak out, build power, vote, and refuse to back down, we build something bigger than any one politician or party: we build people-powered democracy. A country where dignity is a right, not a privilege. A nation where the rule of law applies equally to all—not just the rich or the connected.

So no, it doesn't have to be this way.

But if we want something better—if we believe in liberty, equality, and justice for all—we must fight like hell to protect it.⁶ Speak out. Show up. Shine a light. Don't let silence be complicity. Don't let exhaustion turn into surrender.

History is watching.

And the future is still ours to shape.

📣 Today’s calls to action

When leaders escape accountability, it signals that power—not justice—rules, eroding trust, fueling corruption, and opening the door to authoritarianism. Billionaire-backed justices and elites aren't serving the people—they’re scheming to suppress our voices, strip away our rights, and rule over us. But progress and power to the people is more than an idea; it’s a movement. By standing up, speaking out, and demanding dignity, opportunity, and justice for all, we can build an America that truly lives up to its promise.

We are a group of people who believe in the possibility of change—and work every day to make it happen. Join us by by taking action to champion progress and power to the people! Pick up to 5:

• Click here to Denounce CBS for Firing Stephen Colbert to Appease Trump

• Click here to Tell Congress to Block US Bombs In Gaza

• Click here to Denounce Islamophobic Attacks on Zohran Mamdani

• Click here to Tell Congress: Release the Epstein Files

• Click here to Tell The IRS: Keep Church and State Separate

• Click here to Shut Down Trump's "Alligator Alcatraz" Concentration Camp

• Click here to Unmask ICE. No Secret Police in America.

• Click here to send a letter to your member of Congress: Unmask ICE

Bonus

• Join us by taking action and speaking out to champion progress and power to the people!

• Join us by showing up to events to champion progress and power to the people!

• Join People Power United to defend democracy, uphold the rule of law, and inspire voters to take meaningful action—so that everyone in our community can thrive.

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We are not just resisting—we are reclaiming, rebuilding, and rising. Let’s do it together.

With fierce resolve and people power,
Laurie Woodward Garcia (paid with hugs and kisses, not bought by special interests)
People Power United

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What We’ve Built Together at People Power United

💥 The largest zero-funded grassroots movement in America—powered entirely by the people.

✅ Thousands of bold actions taken daily to protect our rights and freedoms
✅ A growing community of over 250,000+ members across all 50 states
✅ Ranked in the Top 100 on Substack for both “On the Rise” and “Bestseller” in U.S. Politics

We are not just resisting—we are reclaiming, rebuilding, and rising. Let’s do it together.

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If you believe power should belong to the people—not billionaires, corporations, or shady politicians—help fuel the movement. Subscribe to our newsletter 📰 for just $5/month or $60/year.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/21/migrants-miami-ice-jail-abuses

2. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/world/americas/venezuela-american-convicted-murder.html

3. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/world/middleeast/gaza-starvation.html

4. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/afghan-interpreter-who-rescued-u-s-officer-life-during-war-says-america-broke-its-promise-to-allies/

5. https://www.npr.org/sections/goats-and-soda/2025/07/01/nx-s1-5452513/trump-usaid-foreign-aid-deaths

6. Please note that when People Power United uses the word “fight” in writing, online, or in speech, we mean to advocate fiercely, never to incite or support violence. We do not condone violence in any form, nor do we promote breaking the law.

Our work is rooted in peaceful advocacy through exercising our constitutional rights: voting, free speech, peaceful assembly, rallies, protests, and acts of civil disobedience. We use these tools to defend our rights, freedoms, the rule of law, and our democracy. And together, we will win.