Or Stauffenberg’s assassination attempt. That’s the problem with this, it all depends on what the consequences of waiting it out are.

In a functioning democracy, there are legal systems already in place that prevent extreme negative consequences for the population and the democracy itself. The US just isn’t a functioning democracy, and the checks and balances that are supposed to protect the system have been eroded. Impeachment is one such mechanism that’s become dysfunctional - a democratic process to protect the democracy from autocrats. I do hope you’re right and the American people manage to pull through this somehow. But failing that, an intervention from either domestic or foreign forces can be justified depending on how severe the threat to the population is.

Yes, but it is a question that is pertinent to the situation. What do you do if a population elects someone that starts undermining their democracy? I understand that forcibly taking that person’s power away is in itself anti-democratic, but if their actions are even worse, then it would be justified right? A smaller anti-democratic act to stop the larger anti-democratic effort where they’re dismantling the democratic system that put them in power.

Sometimes a voting population needs to be protected from the consequences of their vote, right? A good chunk of the German voting population in the 1930 voted the NSDAP and Hitler into power, and we can agree that it would have been for the best if that party and its leadership had been deposed ASAP. Now, the US isn’t quite that far down the slide yet, but they’re certainly slipping, and the worst part is that the checks and balances that are supposed to keep a president in line are also failing. Not to be alarmist, but we’re in for a wild ride.

I’ve been an exchange student in high school, and my family hosted two of them. Im from Germany, and the exchange was with US students. My personal experience was interesting, I stayed with a mormon family in Utah, and it was a very different life than I was used to from my rather liberal upbringing. Not necessarily in a way that bothered me as most of the people at school also were Mormon and had more or less strict Mormon parents. But yeah, it was just very different. Going to church every Sunday, praying together with family and reading their religious texts, small acts of community service under the umbrella of the church. Their lives were very much defined by their religion and the social circle they built at church. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I kept any of their habits or beliefs long-term, although some stuck with me for a couple of months after I returned home. I do believe that the experience made me more open-minded and inclined to understand others rather than judge them.

The first student we hosted actually stayed with us in the year before I went to the US. He was kind and sociable, and we could tell he was having a good time during his year. I think he also realized some things about himself that he hadn’t known before, so that’s great. That’s the biggest advantage, you go through so much personal growth during that year, which can really help you get ahead of your peers if you can utilize it.

The other student we hosted had a rougher time, and I think it came down to not really finding connection at school. But he did end up staying the year with us and visited again a couple of years later, so I’d say it was overall still a positive experience for him and our family.