The idea of “checks and balances” is that systems have the strength to counteract systems.
Individuals attempting to counteract systems is a much, much taller order. People are multifaceted, and those that dissent can be replaced nearly instantly with someone who won’t.
I’m not saying it’s pointless, and individuals asked to do horrible things should do nothing, but it’s much much harder to resist on an individual level than to rely on the leverage that counteracting systems can provide.
Unfortunately these checks and balances have been eroded to the point where they are no longer effective.
The idea of the 3 branches is that there are systemic incentives for ‘bad people’ (which is a fundamental normal state, btw) to have incentives to screw up the bad people in the other branches. Not that ‘good people’ (an idea which most of the founding fathers would have considered a naive fantasy) would use it to save everyone.
They are supposed to be 3 selfish pillars fighting each other to what is likely an actually reasonable state, not 1 or 2 pillars of ‘hero’s’ fighting evil. Which notably, presenting the executive as the ‘hero’ here is exactly what Trump is trying to do to squash what limited resistance he is getting.
Individuals attempting to counteract systems is a much, much taller order. People are multifaceted, and those that dissent can be replaced nearly instantly with someone who won’t.
I’m not saying it’s pointless, and individuals asked to do horrible things should do nothing, but it’s much much harder to resist on an individual level than to rely on the leverage that counteracting systems can provide.
Unfortunately these checks and balances have been eroded to the point where they are no longer effective.