What do you do when it feel like the whole world is falling apart?
The answer begins with a simple choice: do something or do nothing.
We assess whether doing something would make a difference, whether it is safe, and then what to do. This is where most people stop. That’s just not where folks want to spend their time. Work, family, entertainment and hobbies are all much more appealing or demanding.
But there are a large number of people who feel called to do something. They don’t agree about what to do or what will work. Sometimes they don’t even agree if or why the world is falling apart. But they want to try something: activism, charity, spiritual work, debate, research, development, internet trolling or some other pursuit.
But this year, President Trump’s administration rolls out unprecedented executive orders every day. Other branches of government have done little but affirm his actions. The opposition appears stupefied by incompetence, incredulity and shock. In so many ways the circumstances match historical examples of nations backsliding into authoritarianism.
So what do we do?
Well, my job is to write columns. Perhaps you’d consider reading this one (gift link).
For my latest column, I return to memories shared in a 2017 column that ran in the Mesabi Tribune. In that piece, I talked about my childhood obsession with U.S. government and the constitution, detailing the rise and fall of my toy government.
In modern times, I’ve been struggling to write productively about what sometimes feels like the rise and fall of the real thing. We don’t all agree about the problem or what to do, so in this newest piece I focus on events and actions that are truly threatening the functionality of our system of government. I hope you can at least see my point.
Read “When constitutional guardrails fail, we all lose,” in the Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025 edition of the Minnesota Star Tribune.
Aaron J. Brown is a columnist and member of the editorial board for the Minnesota Star Tribune. His new book about Hibbing Mayor Victor Power and his momentous fight against the world’s largest corporation will be out soon.
