The pathogen is gone but the poison remains

Most Americans have breathed a sigh of relief that Trump's reign is finally over, that the Confederate coup attempts failed and that Biden got through day one without being assassinated.

But don't you dare say that you want things to go back to how they used to be. Because "how it used to be" is the conditions that led to Trump and, more dangerously, Trumpism in the first place.

Trump did not change us. He caused many to reveal who they really were. He goaded people to remove the mask. The tinder was there; he just lit the match and kept adding kindling.

He did not invent white supremacy and other forms of bigotry. He did not invent misogyny. He did not invent cult behavior. He did not invent nihilism. He did not invent contempt for the scientific method and for the environment. He merely exploited those things which already existed. They will remain even after he's hopefully thrown in prison or, at the very least, banned from all future public office.

We need to be better people as individuals. And we need a better system, better public policies as a country. Both need to be more human and more humane. Either by itself is not good enough.

Medicare for All - getting what we're already paying for via our taxes - and right-sizing our military - making it serve primarily as the national self-defense unit our Founding Fathers intended - are two good starts.

But whether it's these two specific policies or others. Our tax money should be used to help people - primarily American citizens. I've no problem with the current small percentage being used to help refugees or other foreigners in need.

Our tax money should not be subsidize corporations. And it should never be used to harm foreigners in far away lands who've committed no sin against the United States and her people.

Trumpism came about because people felt the political system was fundamentally broken and that Trump would be the Lord and Savior who could fix it all. They were catastrophically wrong in their prescription but spot on in their diagnosis. We must implement a better remedy.

The Nazis failed in their first attempt to seize power. But the sclerotic, out of touch mainstream parties of Weimar Germany never learned the lesson. The Nazis did not fail the second time.

We cannot "go back to the way things were" because we are certain to get another Trumpist monster. And the next one may be smarter and more disciplined. And then we truly will be screwed.