When Donald Trump was elected as President I was shocked and I felt naive.  It was clear to me that my view of America was limited and I felt the need to educate myself.  I reached out to many Conservative friends to see their viewpoint.  I read the Art of the Deal and listened to The Trump Tapes.  I started following current events at home and abroad, looked to experts to better understand the world around me, and looked to our recent history to better understand how we got here.

We stand at the dawn of a new age.  The Global West has lost its luster while the East/China has cemented their role in the world.  The global South has risen exponentially as a force in these new times.  In the US AI looms, the middle class disappears, and authoritarianism rises.  Trust in Democracy, trust in the government, trust in capitalism, trust in each other has all been eroded and destroyed.  Ethics and principles have fallen to the wayside as people glorify the rich and the selfish and live increasingly online.  The ideas that had held true for so long and had been enshrined in the Western world are falling away.

This has been a long road but I’m not at the end of my trip.  These writings are to help me organize my thoughts and share them, but also a springboard for discussion and a refinement of ideas.  Frankly, I'm looking for other perspectives on these matters. I also want to be clear that while I have ideas on how to fix things to truly resolve these issues require difficult and complex solutions as well a as a deep understanding of the problems themselves.

These are my thoughts as of January 31st, 2026