We’re Not Burnt Out—We’re Being Burned: A Call to Reimagine Democracy Through a Trauma-Informed Lens

“They laugh while we ration. They hoard while we stretch. But we remember—our worth was never meant to be measured by the size of their tables. It’s time to build our own.” - Mary Coughlin

Let’s be clear:
We’re not exhausted because we’re weak.
We’re exhausted because we’re living through a system that was never designed to care for us.

Working people—parents, nurses, teachers, service workers, students, artists, elders—are being crushed under the weight of economic violence, political gaslighting, and systemic neglect.

The rent is too high.
Groceries cost more than ever.
Wages aren’t keeping up.
Healthcare is still a luxury.
And the billionaires? They’re getting tax breaks while the rest of us are told to “budget better.”

This isn’t burnout.
This is deliberate, structural harm.

We are being burned by a political machine that prioritizes power over people, profit over care, and control over compassion. We are being told to trust systems that have repeatedly failed us.

And while we're just trying to survive, the current administration is actively dismantling the very institutions that were meant to protect us—slashing oversight, gutting social supports, and handing power to unqualified cronies who serve only the ultra-rich.

If this feels insane, it’s because it is.
If this feels like trauma, that’s because it is.
And it's time we say that out loud.

The Truth (Unfiltered):

Let’s stop sugarcoating it.

The people dismantling democracy right now aren’t misguided—they are calculated.
They are intentionally gutting public institutions, defunding accountability, and handing over our futures to the billionaire class—because it serves their power.

They gaslight us with the language of “freedom” while criminalizing protest.
They scream “fiscal responsibility” while hoarding wealth and funneling public money to private pockets.
They mock our exhaustion while they feast at the top of a rigged pyramid built on stolen labor, stolen land, and stolen futures.

And we’re supposed to stay polite? Stay quiet? Keep playing the game while the house is on fire?

No. More.

This isn’t politics as usual.
This is economic abuse. Political gaslighting. Structural trauma disguised as leadership.

And while working people are stretching paychecks, losing housing, navigating broken health systems, and caring for each other in the gaps—they’re being told they’re the problem. That they need to hustle harder, pray more, or wait for trickle-down salvation.

Then comes the smirk.

When a president laughs at the word “groceries” like it’s some quaint concept from the past—while people are literally choosing between eggs and electricity—it tells us exactly where we stand in the eyes of power:

We’re invisible. Disposable. Entertaining, even.

That giggle wasn’t a gaffe. It was a revelation. A moment that stripped the veneer off the myth of leadership and laid bare the truth: those at the top aren’t governing—they’re mocking.

The problem isn’t our mindset.
The problem is a system built to extract, exploit, and erase.

This is what trauma looks like at scale.
This is what it feels like when democracy dies behind a velvet rope.

And this—this is our call to rupture the narrative.

Call to Action:

We rise from the ashes of burnout with bold clarity:

• That this system is not broken. It’s working exactly as it was designed—and that’s the problem.

• That our exhaustion is not a personal failure, but a collective warning sign.

• That healing requires us to not only care—but to act, to organize, and to reimagine.

Sign The People’s Declaration
Add your voice to a growing collective demanding a trauma-informed, just, and equitable democracy.
✍️ READ HERE

Join us on Patriot’s Day (April 19, 2025 2pm EDT)
Be part of the Virtual Town Hall where we gather, reimagine, and reclaim power as a force for healing and hope.
🗓️ REGISTER

Share this message
Use your voice to disrupt the gaslighting. Let’s remind the world: We’re not the problem. The system is.

With fire, truth, and unstoppable love,
—In solidarity, always

Mary

P.S.: This isn’t just a moment. It’s a movement. If your bones are tired but your soul is sparking—you belong here. Let’s reimagine everything, together.