I hope this year brings more peace and political stability than the last. I also hope that the U.S. will stop behaving like a reckless bully and start acting like a responsible stakeholder. As bad as this administration has been and is for the U.S. and all it’s supposed to stand for, e.g. democracy, human rights, and a fair and impartial judiciary, it’s important to remember that it and its “stable genius” leader is merely a symptom so people shouldn’t fool themselves by thinking that everything will be great once the wannabe king is gone because the actual disease is tribalism and political polarization along with an increasingly corrupt political and campaign finance system and this will be much more difficult to change than a president.

If we’re going to stop this and any future slide towards authoritarianism we need to get more people out of their information bubbles and thinking as independents open to voting for the best candidate regardless of party affiliation. Then we need to place more limits on presidential power, undo gerrymandering, start ranked choice voting, and elect more independent and third party candidates so there’s a true swing vote in the House and Senate and politics isn’t just a perpetual and increasingly ugly game between the Blue team and the Red team. All this is easier said than done but 2026 is a new year filled with new hope and midterm elections. In the meantime let’s hope the republic and its system of checks and balances will fare well in this stress test as it approaches its 250th birthday.