Democracy or Autocracy: It’s Up to Us

Guest Opinion

By Walt Wood | Jan. 24, 2026

Our nation may not have been this divided since before the Civil War. Party politics are tearing us apart, escalating the threat of American-on-American violence.

However, when I look around Bellaire, Central Lake, and other villages in Antrim County, almost all people of every political stripe are decent human beings who support one another. Peacefully, we go about our business, saying “excuse me,” “thank you,” and “you’re welcome.” We hold doors for one another. When our cars are stuck in snowbanks or have dead batteries, we come to the rescue. We treat one another with dignity and respect, or we simply mind our own business.

The numerous values we share with our neighbors far outweigh our differences. We are, in short, good citizens.

Some of us participated in “No Kings” rallies across the country. Our displeasure with our federal government is rooted in opposition to Project 2025, the lengthy policy proposal document written by the Heritage Foundation. The contributors include Russell Vought, the current head of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and Brendan Carr, the current FCC chairman.

Project 2025 was deeply unpopular—only 4 to 10 percent of Americans supported it before the 2024 election, according to numerous polling. At the campaign debate, our current president said, “I have nothing to do with Project 2025.” Yet, according to Project 2025 Tracker, a community-driven initiative that tracks the implementation of Project 2025's policy proposals, his administration has implemented 51 percent of them as of this writing, January 18, 2026.

Our forebearers fought and died to protect democratic ideals that are now being shattered by the implementation of Project 2025. Concentrating power in the executive branch, a goal championed by Vought and a linchpin of the project, has led to an authoritarian takeover of our government. We did not consent to this, and responsible Republicans, Democrats, and Independents will continue to oppose this assault on our representative republic.

So what? Or, more to the point, now what? Trust in our political leaders and institutions have been eroding for decades. It seems that our federal government is utterly corrupt, on both sides of the congressional aisles, and in the Supreme Court. How are we, in northern Michigan, supposed to respond to this dysfunction in any substantive way that leads to genuine improvement, while sustaining self-governance and thwarting the rise of a fascistic police state?

The far-left insists that this is a struggle between working people and the billionaire class. The far-right oligarchy seeks to subjugate and rule over the rest of us. We must unite in this class war and not get distracted by the culture wars they use to divide us.

There are two overarching emotions that guide the human race: love and fear. The dividers use fear to motivate us to oppose one another, diverting attention away from their misdeeds. Love, compassion, and empathy must be the antidotes to their strategy of “divide and conquer.” We must unite and cooperatively build a better way forward that embraces our humanity, democratic ideals, and the common good.

But how? Well, first, we must recall that our founding fathers did not want a two-party system and warned us about the concentration of wealth and power in “incorporations.” Moving forward might require an approach that transcends political parties, relying instead on our shared values at the community level.

Thomas Jefferson advocated for “ward-republics” comprised of no more than 100 citizens, believing that if we failed to practice direct democracy in our neighborhoods, America would lose its representative form of government. For Jefferson, it wasn’t enough that each citizen vote: We had to exercise public freedom, discussing and debating issues face-to-face with our neighbors, in order to develop consensus in our decision-making.

The infrastructure already exists. Think of townships as ward-republics. You live in a township. So do I, and we are called at this critical juncture in our nation’s history to serve our democracy directly through our township governance. This is the way to strengthen the bonds of trust, collaboration, and shared responsibility while cultivating democratic values that work for everyone.

As good citizens, we can build stronger communities at the township and county levels wherein every resident has a voice and a role in shaping our common future.

Democracy is not a spectator sport, and we have taken it for granted for far too long. We must now reassert our right and our duty to govern ourselves from the ground up in our townships. This requires voices of all tribes to come together in the spirit of cooperation. Building consensus through discussion and debate can only move our common goals forward in such a way that serves all of us.

Our democracy is on the ropes, folks. If we are to preserve our way of life in peace and prosperity, we must evolve through nonviolent, nonpartisan, local self-governance. Should we lose our representative republic, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.

Walt Wood is a retired mailman, current Lutheran, and essayist focused on political philosophy and the intersection of religion and democracy.