Lappé is the author of the three-million copy book, “Diet for a Small Planet,” and 19 others, many focusing on themes of “living democracy”—suggesting a government accountable to citizens and a way of living aligned with the deep human need for connection, meaning and power. In 2017, she co-authored with Adam Eichen, “Daring Democracy: Igniting Power, Meaning, and Connection for the America We Want,” focusing on the roots of the U.S. democracy crisis and how Americans are creatively responding to the challenge. Frances is co-founder of Oakland-based Food First, Vermont-based Center for Living Democracy (1991-2000), and the Cambridge-based Small Planet Institute, which she leads with her daughter Anna Lappé.
Our country lives at a time of great peril and great promise. Multiple crises challenge both the U.S. and the world. The survival of our country, our species and our planet are at stake.
The problem is that the people with the solutions often don’t have the power to implement them; and the people with the power are often unaware that solutions exist.
However, solutions do exist. Today, we offer you the second in a series of essays on critical issues of our time as an introduction to the Solutions Summit 2023 broadcast from the U.S. Capitol where solutions will be brought to the attention of decision makers at every level. This live Zoom broadcast runs from November 6th - 16th, and is free and open to those who register. Please register here.
Explore with us the first of a series of essays on key subjects to be explored at The Solutions Summit.
We gather in a historic moment, one filled with terrifying threats from climate chaos to intra-state conflict—and even greater possibilities.
But no problem. If we identify the root cause, the most intractable problems can be solved. So…let us identify the tap roots of today’s distress.
First is the failure of so many societies, including many democracies, to meet the deepest human needs. And what are these needs? At least three: personal power, meaning larger than oneself, and connection with others. These needs run so deep that when not met constructively, humans often resort to domination and blaming.
So, what have we learned throughout history about the conditions proven to meet these needs positively?
Three conditions stand out:
● The wide dispersion of power so that no one remains powerless.
● Transparency in decision making.
● A culture of mutual accountability in which it’s understood that, since we are all connected, we are all responsible.
And what do these conditions add up to? Democracy.
Thus, my big claim: Democracy is the only form of governance positively aligned with our nature. Yet, for 17 years democracy—measured in political rights and civil liberties - has been deteriorating worldwide. Fortunately, last year saw the narrowest decline.
How do we best respond to democracy’s urgent call? For one, we make clear that democracy is not a dull duty. It is a thrilling way of life. It isn’t simply a particular set of rules. It is a way of life meeting essential needs.
Today, many Americans feel down about our country. Satisfaction with our government has reached a new low. Americans also worry about a weakening economy, polarization, and our widening wealth gap.
The solutions require that we flip pessimism’s paralysis into fuel for action.
Freedom House, founded by Eleanor Roosevelt, ranks our democracy 60th. We could think: Whoa, all those nations are doing better, so there’s proof we can, too! We can translate a negative ranking into evidence for hope.
However, sustaining essential hope demands a courageous democracy movement. In 2021, remember the success in the House passing the omnibus For the People Act before it died in the Senate.
Progress requires building awareness and energy. We can all spread the word that, yes, the power of money in our election is undermining democracy. However, key states and cities are showing us the way by embracing public financing, including the long-running programs in New York City, Arizona, and Connecticut to newer ones in the District of Columbia and Denver.
Two stories I love: Maine’s clean election law enabled waitress Deborah Simpson to gain office and ultimately chair the House judiciary committee and later allowed Chloe Maxmin, —in her twenties,— to make it into the Maine Senate where she has spearheaded key environmental legislation.
Plus, in Los Angeles and New York City small donors provide most candidate funds; and in the last decade a dozen jurisdictions have launched or strengthened programs.
And gerrymandering? In Michigan, young Katie Fahey—starting with one social media post about gerrymandering in 2016—triggered a grassroots campaign that made Michigan a national leader in tackling gerrymandering.
Each of us can spread the news and build Americans’ commitment to defang Super Pacs. Success requires funding transparency, fair districting, automatic-voter registration, as well as public financing. Reforms like these ultimately awaken enough Americans to enable reversing Citizens United.
My point is simple. We can do this. Proof is plentiful, both here and abroad. But perhaps the message I most want to leave with you is this: Our journey for democracy is not a burdensome duty. It is a life enhancing journey. It’s not a “you should” but a “we can.”
And in this spirit, democracy does require one thing above all-- courage: For to believe others can change, we must experience ourselves changing. And that means doing what we thought we could not do.
So, I keep in sight the wise advice of Eleanor Roosevelt: “Do one thing every day that scares you.” So, as we take risks democracy let us reconceive our pounding hearts as our own inner applause cheering us on!
Resources:
- https://reliefweb.int/report/world/conflict-trends-global-overview-1946-2022
- https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2023/marking-50-years
- https://news.gallup.com/poll/165371/americans-satisfaction-gov-drops-new-low.aspx
- https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores?sort=descℴ=Total%20Score%20and%20Status
- https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/public-campaign-financing-bright-spot-shadow-citizens-united; https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/for-2017-0015/html?lang=de
- https://michiganadvance.com/2023/10/16/michigan-earns-high-marks-on-redistricting-in-new-report-with-room-for-improvement/
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.