This paper argues that the Trump phenomenon is not an anomaly but rather a predictable stage of the waning of US power. The United States has enjoyed military and economic dominance of the world since the early twentieth century when it gained control of the massive Third World colonial regions of the world. We must regard education as the human right of all people, free to develop minds of their own and to run their own affairs even as they recognize the importance of learning to live together in association with others. Childhood and growing up should shimmer with creativity and joy, not drudgery, fear, and punishment. An expansive curriculum of liberation would be based on student questions and inquiry, community needs, and an invitation to read the world as we read the word.