The Case for a Third Reconstruction

The Case for a Third Reconstruction The Case for a Third Reconstruction The scale and depth of the attack on our institutions means that there is no simple way for a pro-democracy coalition to flip the lights back on after Trump. Illustration of the Office of the Freedmen’s Bureau in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1866 from Harper’s Weekly (Wikimedia Commons)Just months into Donald Trump’s second term, it’s clear that his administration is transforming. The slashing of health and safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP will devastate millions of families. Second, this vision of a hierarchical social order is being forged through a parallel effort to remake foundational political institutions. Some institutions, from safety net programs to regulations on corporate pollution and malfeasance, have been dismantled, whether through mass firings or defunding.