Democracy is in bloom in the US because we need democracy to deal with a brewing catastrophe in US government. 

I say Trump is to democracy as Facebook is to the web. Rebooting democracy isn't easy but we're doing it. And now we have to do the same for the web, if we want the freedom we feel we deserve.

Facebook did contribute something important, as I explain in this 18-minute podcast. They provided a level playing field for news, at scale. But we already had the level playing field, the web. And because 2016 was not a good year for Facebook as a news system, imho, it's a perfect time for us to turn our attention to the web. To let a thousand flowers bloom. And to fill in the features that Facebook refuses to add. 

Facebook is as honest with us as the Democratic Party. Both serve a purpose. But if we want self-government, and if we want to hear what each other are really saying, we have to do it ourselves. And that's how you cause change in the institutions, not by asking nicely but by forcing change.