LESSONS FROM A COLLAPSING EMPIRE

The US Congress will resume session on September 3, 2025, and the atmosphere in Washington is electric. Lawmakers have exactly 27 days to avoid what everyone fears: another government shutdown that would literally paralyze the world's leading power. This time, the stakes are colossal. We're talking about 2.1 million federal workers who risk going without pay, national parks closed, essential services disrupted... and an American economy that could lose up to $6 billion per week. The September 30 deadline is approaching dangerously, and negotiations are shaping up to be more tense than ever between the various Republican factions and the Democratic opposition.

What makes this situation particularly explosive is the current political context. With a Republican-controlled House of Representatives divided between die-hard Trumpists and moderates, and a Senate where the Republican majority remains fragile, every vote counts. President Trump, true to his style, blows hot and cold, sometimes threatening to shut down the government to "teach the Democrats a lesson," sometimes promising a "magnificent" last-minute deal. Financial markets are already beginning to stir, with the VIX volatility index jumping 12% in three days. Wall Street is holding its breath, and international investors are monitoring every presidential tweet... It's a real game of poker being played out before our eyes, with the economic future of millions of Americans at stake.

Under Trump 2.0, democratic institutions have been systematically gutted. The Department of Justice has become Trump's personal weapon against his enemies. The State Department has been purged of its career diplomats, replaced by incompetent loyalists. Intelligence agencies are paralyzed, their leaders spending more time fawning over Trump than protecting the country. This is kakistocracy at its finest: government by the worst.

Most terrifying is the normalization of the abnormal. The media treats Trump's lies as "alternative opinions." Constitutional violations have become routine. Corruption is embraced, with Trump continuing to run his businesses while president. Conflicts of interest are rife—government contracts mysteriously go to companies that rent rooms in Trump hotels. Nepotism is institutionalized, with Trump children holding key positions without any qualifications. It's Banana Republic USA, and half the country applauds.

The Media's Role in the Apocalypse

The media bears overwhelming responsibility for this disaster. Fox News has become the de facto state television, with anchors openly calling for a shutdown to "own the libs." OAN and Newsmax go even further, speaking of a "holy war" against the deep state. On the other hand, CNN and MSNBC have become anti-Trump echo chambers, preaching to the converted without ever reaching the other half of the country. Investigative journalism has given way to hysterical commentary. The facts are drowned out by the noise.

Social media has transformed politics into a combat sport. On X, bots and trolls dominate the conversation, amplifying the most extreme messages. Truth Social has become the headquarters of Trumpist disinformation, where the wildest conspiracy theories are treated as revealed truths. TikTok, ironically Chinese, has become the primary source of political information for young Americans. The algorithm favors content that provokes anger and outrage. It's a radicalization machine running at full speed, tearing apart the American social fabric thread by thread.

America in 2025: Portrait of a Broken Nation

The America of September 2025 is unrecognizable compared to that of even just ten years ago. The country is fractured along partisan, racial, economic, and geographic lines. Red and blue states exist in parallel realities, with incompatible laws, values, and worldviews. Texas is openly talking about secession. California is developing its own international trade agreements. The federal compact that held the country together for 250 years is in tatters.

The infrastructure continues to crumble—bridges are collapsing, dams are bursting, the power grid is failing. Public education is in shambles, producing generations of Americans incapable of critical thinking. The already dysfunctional health care system is cracking under the weight of chronic disease and the opioid and fentanyl epidemics. Life expectancy continues to plummet, a phenomenon unique in the developed world. Deaths of despair—suicide, overdose, alcoholism—are exploding. This is a country in advanced decay, and the shutdown is only the most visible symptom of this widespread gangrene. The American dream is dead, replaced by a dystopian nightmare where oligarchs rule over the ruins of a democracy.

We are less than 27 days away from the potential collapse of the US federal government. This isn't just another budget crisis; it's the terminal symptom of a democracy agonizing under the weight of its contradictions. The 2.1 million federal workers are preparing for the worst, knowing they are expendable pawns in Trump's ego game. Financial markets are reeling, international allies are seeking alternatives, and the entire world is watching in amazement as the world's leading power commits suicide. What will be at stake in the coming days is nothing less than the future of the world order as we know it.

The most tragic thing about this is that Trump seems to take a perverse pleasure in this destruction. For him, chaos isn't a bug, it's a feature. He thrives on confusion, uses crisis to consolidate his power, and turns every failure into a rhetorical victory. His supporters, hypnotized by his toxic charisma, are ready to burn the country to "own the libs." It's a collective psychosis, a mob madness amplified by social media and complicit media. The 74 million Americans who voted for him in 2024 knew exactly what they were doing: they were choosing destruction over compromise, revenge over reconciliation.

Perhaps this shutdown will be the moment America finally hits rock bottom and begins to climb back up. Or perhaps it will be the point of no return, the moment the American Republic definitively descends into authoritarianism. Historians of the future may date the end of the American democratic experiment to this September 2025, when a narcissistic president and his enablers chose to collapse their own government rather than give an inch. We are the privileged witnesses of this historical moment, sitting in the front row of the apocalypse, live-tweeting the end of the world. The American empire isn't dying in the glory of a final stand; it's strangling itself with its own red MAGA tie, to the applause of half its population. It's pathetic, it's tragic, and it's entirely deserved. Empires always die from the inside out, eaten away by hubris and decadence. Trump's America is no exception. The spectacle is fascinating, terrifying, and deeply, irremediably sad.

What is a US government shutdown?

A government shutdown occurs when the government has not agreed on its annual budget, in whole or in part. It impacts discretionary spending, which must be appropriated each year.

Such a shutdown basically means that the federal government stops paying federal employees and contractors who work for the government. It is a situation that impacts each part of the government differently.

In the past, there have been partial shutdowns when some of the budget had been approved, leaving some agencies fully funded and able to work as usual. There have also been wider shutdowns when none of the budget had been signed into law.

During a full shutdown all non-essential US government agencies and programs close since they depend on annual government funding.

Despite a government shutdown, essential services and mandatory spending programs do not stop. In past shutdowns, active-duty military personnel and most border protection agents, federal law enforcement agents and air traffic controllers have stayed on the job.

Whereas discretionary spending is up for discussion each year, mandatory spending is approved for longer periods or is permanent. So things like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid payments will continue to be made as will military veterans' health benefits. Mail delivery and the Federal Reserve are not affected because they are funded in a different way. 

Who is affected by a government shutdown?

Federal employees are the first to feel the impact of a government shutdown.

Full shutdowns in 2013 and early 2018 meant that around 850,000 out of 2.1 million non-postal federal employees were temporarily furloughed.

Furloughed employees are not allowed to work and do not receive their paychecks during this time. But they are guaranteed retroactive back pay when the government is funded, back up and running.

In the past, some agencies like the Department of Defense, State Department or IRS have asked workers to come to work to keep things running smoothly — still without pay.  

Many employees working in essential services must keep working but are not paid during a shutdown.

Federal officials who have been confirmed by the Senate cannot be furloughed. The president and members of Congress continue to work and be paid.

What happens during a government shutdown?

A number of agencies or programs are not considered essential and stop operation either in part or full during a government shutdown. These include national parks, national monuments, the Library of Congress and museums like the Smithsonian.

The Environmental Protection Agency, Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission are among the departments affected. 

Depending on how long things stay closed, huge backlogs of work can pile up while millions of dollars are lost in revenue like ticket sales. It also means routine health and safety inspections are not done. Monthly reports on employment and inflation are not published on time. On top of that agencies have to spend time and money creating complex contingency plans.

For federal employees who live paycheck to paycheck, it can mean a temporary financial pinch and resentment.