How to survive America in 2026

Hate your country right now? Here are four ways to do something about it.

Key takeaways: 😉

• Americans are deeply dissatisfied with the state of the country.

• The recent killings of two Minneapolis civilians by federal agents recall the Kent State killings in 1970.

• Trump stokes divisions but Americans were gloomy before he came to power.

• America is a lot better at the local level than the federal level.

• Here are four ways to regain some faith in your country and maybe make it better.

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It’s no secret that America is a mess. Years of political polarity have degenerated into the grotesque spectacle of federal agents killing nonviolent protesters in Minneapolis, with no apparent accountability. As the 1970 Kent State shootings came to embody the madness of the Vietnam War era, the Minneapolis killings stand as a bloody and insane travesty of a nation addressing its most pressing problems.

President Donald Trump exploits the nation’s divisions, but they predate him. From 1995 through 2005, an average of 48% of Americans said they were satisfied with the direction of the country, according to Gallup. That fell to a low of 7% during the Great Recession, in 2008. For the last 10 years, the portion saying they’re satisfied has averaged just 27%. In the latest Gallup poll, only 24% say they’re satisfied, with 74% dissatisfied.

What’s the problem, exactly? New York Times columnist David Brooks cites a “collective loss of faith” in just about everything—religion, technology, institutions, American ideals. Steadily worsening wealth inequality probably has something to do with it. The Internet and social media give every hater a pulpit. And Trump stokes every grievance, offering convenient villains and encouraging every feral impulse of an angry citizenry.

What should we do about all this? Brooks wants everybody to find their way to a “humanistic renaissance” emanating from college campuses and join a “Great Conversation” about how to balance all the competing human impulses.

Eh. Too ethereal. There are more pragmatic ways to find comfort and safety and rediscover what is good about America. I’m offering a few ideas here and encouraging others to offer theirs, in the comments below or to me privately. I’ll write updates as warranted. Meanwhile, let’s hope two dead in Minnesota is as high as the toll gets.

Live locally

Almost all the news focuses on national events, especially political shenanigans in Washington, DC. But Washington, DC is America at its worse, and most Americans don’t live there anyway. States, cities, towns and communities—where people do actually live—are in much better shape than Uncle Sam.

[More: Why Trump let up on Greenland while rampaging through Minnesota]

At the most basic level, most municipalities are not drowning in debt as the federal government is, because they have to balance their budgets every year. That basic discipline, missing from the nation’s capital for 25 years, produces state and local government that is generally more competent, more responsive and less infuriating.

Pew Research data shows that approval ratings go higher as the governing structure gets closer to home, with 61% rating their local government positively—nearly three times the approval rating for the federal government. Anecdote: I needed to renew my county library card recently, to listen to a Libby audiobook on a car trip, and it took about two minutes on the phone with the nearest library. A real person answered the call and was eager to help. I told her it was the best customer service I had encountered in years.

Doing stuff in your community can provide a sense of belonging that dispels much of the national gloom. In “Democracy in America,” French chronicler Alexis de Tocqueville marveled that “Americans of all ages, all conditions, and all dispositions constantly form associations,” compared with Europeans more likely to wait for some authority to take charge. De Tocqueville wrote that in the 1840s, but this is still a standout feature of America, and there is assuredly a book club, bowling league or mahjong group that would happily take you.

Team up

Affordability is an undeniable problem for many Americans, especially the high cost of housing. Yet there are still millions of Americans, mostly older, who have high levels of home equity, thanks to soaring home values and a cheap mortgage, or no mortgage. Older folks also have tons of financial wealth from a booming stock market. Can’t they share some of it?

[More: Why Americans say they’re worse off under Trump]

I don’t mean giving money away. Think in-kind donations. If you’ve got a spare bedroom, could you host a student for a semester? If you’re comfortably retired, could you offer career coaching or mentoring to young people struggling to get ahead? Even donating unneeded business clothing can help somebody trying to get ahead save a few bucks.

We should stop jeering boomerang kids living with their parents into their 20s or later. This is a sensible and time-tested way to save money when living costs are high. Maybe your kids don’t need that kind of assist, but they know somebody who does? Saving somebody a few months’ rent or helping pare other expenses might go a lot further than you realize.

Cull your tribe

During the divisive Trump years (and the Biden interregnum), a lot of people have struggled to sustain relationships with people of varying political perspectives. Putting in the effort to sustain those connections seems fine, if both sides are civil and respect each other’s views. But we may be too reluctant to cut ties with people who are strident and obnoxious. There’s no rule saying you have to forever be on good terms with everybody you’ve ever met. Therapists counsel us to break ties with people who exude negativity, and this should apply to people whose political views we find insulting.

[More: Your 5-step guide to the next Trump crisis]

I’m divorced and single, which means I’ve endured a number of relationships that simply ended. The endings are usually a bummer, but they also create openings for new people to enter your life. You learn that there are worse things than staying committed to certain people forever. One of those worse things is staying committed to people who don’t enrich your life or give back, when you could be opening yourself to new and better experiences.

If you want to speak up, now’s the time

Historian Robert Kagan has been warning that Trump is establishing a dictatorship that will include negation of this year’s midterm elections, by force if necessary. On a recent New Yorker podcast, one of the hosts asked Kagan what Americans should do about it. “Do what you would do if you were upset that your property taxes were being raised,” he said. “Contact your elected officials, send letters to their offices, go to their offices. We have elected officials who are still under the illusion that they’re running for office in a fair election in 2026. Play on that. They need to hear from their constituents in a very loud way.”

Some Americans obviously want to go further, by joining protests or helping track federal agents marauding through their cities. It can feel buzzy to participate in a no-kings protest or some other turnout with like-minded people. But it might also feel dispiriting once the protest is over, if nothing seems to change.

New Yorker writer Charles Duhigg draws a distinction between mobilizing—joining a protest—and organizing, which is more like building communities that can make a lasting difference. “Mobilization can become organization, but it takes a deliberate effort to do so,” Duhigg said on a recent podcast. “If I blow my whistle and I’m out in the street, the next day I call the person who was next to me, and I say, hey, I just want to introduce myself. Like we exchanged numbers, but we really didn’t get a chance to talk. Can we have coffee sometimes? If your goal is to build coalitions, this can become an enormous catalyst.”

Minneapolis, in fact, seems to be a great example of what’s good about America. Though under siege by agents of chaos, citizens are defending their home turf and demonstrating neighborly resolve for the sake of the communities they live in. It almost makes you proud to be an American.