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https://youtu.be/i-6wm4S6lL0?si=ocNF1aGhpuP2llvE
From one year ago...

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"The system is not broken. It is working as designed."


a) In your own words, explain what Shahid means by the claim that Americans are not living through a deviation from American democracy, but rather seeing American democracy operating perfectly normally.

b) Identify at least three concrete examples Shahid uses to support this, and explain how each example functions as evidence for the designed system rather than a temporary abnormality.

c) In the video, Shahid also argues the main change is that coercion/violence is becoming more visible domestically. Explain why this visibility shift matters for understanding the U.S. political system.

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Why "solutions" like voting, protest, and reform are framed as traps or mechanisms of containment?

Shahid argues that common civic actions (voting, peaceful protests, petitions) exist because they do not threaten power. Try to explain this argument carefully: what assumptions does he make about how the system responds to genuine threats, and why does he think these outlets rather dissipate resistance?

He also points to a major anti-Iraq War protest as an example. What does he draw from that example about the limits of mass protest?

Identify and interpret two metaphors he uses in this part of the video (for example electric chair vs life support, gambler and bookies, line-crossing cartoon). For each metaphor, explain what exact belief or behavior he is criticizing and how the metaphor strengthens his points.

Ideological reorientation, moral framework, and building parallel structures

Outline Shahid's proposed sequence of change from individual (micro) to community to broader outcomes (macro). What does he think must happen first, and why does he insist that without that step, resistance will collapse when it becomes inconvenient?

He also says that Americans need a moral architecture rather than liberal platitudes, and argues that Islam provides a robust civilizational framework (compared to Christianity and secular humanism that have been compromised). Can you summarize his reasoning in a couple of sentences?

Lastly, he lists concrete examples of parallel structures (mutual aid, alternative education, food systems, cooperatives, restorative justice, local media, etc.). Choose three of these and explain:

a) what problem each is meant to solve,

b) how it reduces dependence on the state/market, and

c) how it ties into his ITYS of imperial decline (reserve currency/dollar erosion, increasing police state, rising political violence).

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