Imagine you’re an old-school, Cold War-era establishment Republican. Communism is spreading, threatening the global order. You don’t fight it with guns—you fight it with ideas. You help build a sprawling ecosystem of NGOs devoted to promoting democracy, freedom, civil society. It’s soft power, and you believe it’s the only way to win.

Then the Soviet Union collapses. But the institutions remain—so does the mission. You believe these NGOs helped bring down the USSR. You believe they saved the world. So you keep funding them, growing them, embedding them in every facet of foreign and domestic policy. They’re not just doing good; they’re safeguarding civilization itself.

Over time, those NGOs become more than just mission-driven. They’re jobs—your job, your spouse’s job, your kids’ internships, your think tank’s donors, your consultants, your staff. But it doesn’t feel corrupt, because the mission still matters. Russia can’t be allowed to rise again. China can’t be allowed to win. And only these institutions—your institutions—can hold the line.

In your mind, you’re not just supporting democracy. You are democracy. You’ve internalized the role so deeply that threats to the system feel like threats to your identity, your legacy, your country.

So when Donald Trump comes along in 2016, promising to “drain the swamp,” you know exactly who he means. He’s not talking about vague corruption—he’s talking about you. Your career, your network, your purpose. He’s undermining the very structures you believe are keeping authoritarianism at bay.

If he wins, you think, Russia wins. China wins. Civilization loses.

Because in your mind, the NGOs are democracy.

It doesn’t matter if Ukraine bans elections, bans media, bans anything that is “democratic.” They are on your side. They’re devoted to stopping Russia. That makes them “democracy.”

 

This young lady nails it!