Well, yes, but how in practical terms are we supposed to accomplish #1? I see no options. The US government is doing what it wants because it can, and has grown

Well, yes, but how in practical terms are we supposed to accomplish #1? I see no options. The US government is doing what it wants because it can, and has grown increasingly obvious about it since they face no consequences beyond the embarrassment consequent from perverting the democracy, which is easier to solve by adopting a status-hierarchy mindset and not worrying about it than by actually letting go of power once seized. They are not going to stop unless someone forces them to, and major tech corporations are the only entities I see capable of wielding force on the scale that might accomplish it. They don't care what citizens think anymore - the total failure of the largest protests in the history of the world to accomplish anything against the blatant idiocy of the Iraq war proved that.