We all grow up with stories of heroes.

The lone leader. The underdog savior. The cavalry that arrives in the nick of time to fix everything just before it’s too late.

It’s how movies work.
It’s how campaigns work.
It’s how we want the world to work.

But here’s the hard truth:
No one is coming.

Not to save us.
Not to fix what’s broken.
Not to “handle it.”

And somewhere deep down, we know this.
We know the cavalry isn’t real – not in politics, not in democracy, not in the work of protecting the institutions that shape our lives.

So why do so many still wait?

Why do we scroll, rage, complain… but not act?

Because it’s easier to believe someone else is responsible.
That someone smarter, stronger, more connected, more influential will step up.
That we’re just one person – and what could we possibly do?

That’s the myth.

The idea that the system will right itself.
That justice, freedom, and truth will win by default.
That progress is inevitable.

It’s not.

Every inch of progress we’ve ever seen – in this country, in this world – has come not from waiting, but from ordinary people refusing to wait.

The Civil Rights Movement wasn’t made by politicians.
It was made by students, pastors, mothers, neighbors – people who didn’t wait for permission to make change.

The American Revolution didn’t begin with generals.
It began in taverns, churches, and town halls – with citizens who showed up because no one else would.

If democracy survives this moment, it won’t be because someone “handled it.”
It’ll be because enough of us chose to act before it was too late.

The cavalry isn’t coming.

Because it was never meant to.

It’s always been us.

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🔜 Coming Next Week

Part 3: Fragile by Design

Democracy was never built to run on autopilot.
In fact, its strength is also its greatest vulnerability:
it only works if we keep it working.

In Part 3, we’ll explore how the fragility of democracy isn’t a flaw – it’s a test. One every generation is called to answer.