From the Trenches, Not the Owner's Suite

Subsidiarity is America's "blockchain" secret weapon...

As football season kicks off across America, think of the principles of subsidiarity and the genius of America at its best using the metaphor of sports — the posh owner’s suite vs. the tough trenches.

To understand this comparison, first realize that our Founding Fathers did more than write a Constitution. They understood human nature — flaws, instincts, incentives, ambitions — and built a system to channel our better angels while keeping our worst impulses from wrecking the republic.

They knew self-preservation would always be the most powerful political instinct. As battle-hardened revolutionaries, they didn’t try to erase it — they balanced it, forging powers to collide instead of collude.

They foresaw the dangers of a ruling class hoarding power in the “owner’s suite.” So, they built America to win, closest to home. Subsidiarity thrives where the decisions are local, made by those taking the hits on the field, not just observing from lofty skyboxes.

But in recent decades, before the ascendance of the America First populist movement, this land witnessed a massive consolidation of economic and political power. An unholy alliance unfolded between corporate chieftains and leftist radicals. Their toxic bargain: “We oligarchs will back your cultural Marxism as long as Permanent Washington protects our economic interests, especially regarding globalism.”

Now we see a pivot back to the Founders’ design, which understood:
• Concentrated power rots.
• Distributed power resists capture.
• Proximity sharpens accountability.

How We Let Plaque Build Up
The system still works — when we use it. But we let it gather plaque:
• Distance from the People — Power drifted from towns to state capitals, to Washington, to unelected bureaucracies and “global forums.”
• Careerism Over Service — Public office became a career, not a duty.
• Centralization as Shortcut — “Efficiency” created single points of failure and easy capture.
• Self-Preservation Without Balance — When branches collude, self-preservation hardens into plaque, choking off self-government.

And the media? No longer watchdog — now window washer. While beams crack, they polish the glass so the luxury box crowd can watch the game without seeing the stadium sink. Journalism is dead at the legacy platforms, replaced by PR for the protected class.

As alternative media grew, the masses gained awareness of the scam. Most Americans now distrust the mainstream and demand transparency from new voices.

The Before Picture
Joe Biden didn’t just preside over the decay — he modeled it as he shuffled and mumbled. He became the breathing personification of the managed decline of America.

Kamala Harris was no rescue — an empty DEI suit chosen for boxes checked, not talent or results.

To Klaus Schwab — part futuristic Bond villain, part Lumon Industries department head — it was perfect. Weak Americans meant a strong owners’ suite.

The Fix: Bridge Cables, Not Dainty Knots
In 2016, voters sent Doctor Trump to shock the system. In 2024, they brought him back — because the capture had deepened and the decay was undeniable.

Now, the patient is on the table. The chest is open.

This isn’t a rookie fumbling the scalpel. This is Trump in the clutch — Mariano Rivera walking to the mound as Enter Sandman hits, Winston Wolfe from Pulp Fiction saying “I solve problems,” and a Category 5 storm rolling in whether you’re ready or not. Not patient — inevitable. Not measured — a force of nature called when nothing else will do.

He’s not sewing tiny stitches — he’s grabbing bridge cables and cinching America’s ribcage shut so tight it’ll hold for a hundred years.

America: The Original Blockchain
Blockchain is a network where no single authority can rewrite the ledger. Every node verifies the record. No central bank. No master server. No single point of capture.

That’s not new. The Framers built it in 1787.

In America’s constitutional “blockchain,” every state and community is a node. Power is distributed. Accountability is baked in. The design makes cheating hard by default.

Centralizing power in Washington is like putting all of Ethereum on one server in Brussels — one hack, and it all collapses.

Closest to Home keeps the ledger in the people’s hands.

The Play Ahead
The Framers gave us the blueprint. We either use it or lose it.

The more we spread the field, the more the owners’ suite will panic. They’ll call it chaos. They’ll warn it’s unsafe. “You’re a threat to norms…or something.” They’ll wheel out credentialed voices to say America can’t run without their blessing.

But decentralization makes America harder to hit and impossible to capture. Apply pressure, don’t feel it — that’s how you dominate the field, the century, and the world.

The heart is America’s power — pumping life to every part. The nervous system is her freedom — millions of fast, local signals deciding in real time. Keep both strong, and no owners’ suite on earth can stop her.

Steve Cortes is president of the League of American Workers, a populist right pro-laborer advocacy group, and senior political advisor to Catholic Vote.

He is a former senior advisor to President Trump and JD Vance, plus a former commentator for Fox News and CNN.