Feel free to add your favorite respites and remedies in the comments.
It was one of the grimmest, meanest weeks in our nation’s history. Even though we have prepared and braced for the impact of Trump 2.0, I am still astounded by the cruelty and stupidity of the Executive Orders. I am angered and disgusted for all of the people who have been put into harms way. And I am livid with the impact on civil society – our rights as citizens to a transparent and functional government. It is a travesty.
I take comfort in knowing that the truth is still the truth. We still live on a planet of carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen. We can put our feet on the ground, together, and feel the sun and wind. Our bodies and our work together are still sacred. We are still real – even in the face of obliteration.
Please take care of yourself and your loved ones. We are going to do this together.
Sarah E. Myhre PhD on Linked In.
Katharine Hayhoe on Linked In:
In a world that seems increasingly out of control, we are desperate for hope: real hope, a hope that acknowledges the full magnitude of the challenge we face and the very imminent risk of failure.
Where can we find such hope? We find it in action. The world has changed before and, when it did, it wasn’t because a president, a prime minister, a CEO or a celebrity decided it had to.
Change didn’t begin with the King of England deciding to end slavery or the President of the United States giving women the vote or the National Party of South Africa opting to end apartheid. It began when ordinary people – people of no particular power, wealth, or fame – decided that the world could and should be different.
Who were William Wilberforce, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and all the countless others who shared and supported and fought for their visions of a better world? They were people who had the courage of their convictions, who used their voices to advocate for the systemic societal changes needed.
We are the people who changed the world before: and we are the people who can change it again.
In a Democracy, the people, however difficult it is to admit it, are responsible for people like Trump being elevated to power. I say this because there’s been no end of media ‘blaming’ going on to explain Trump. Biden caused Trump, ‘woke’ caused Trump, elitists caused Trump. No: the American people caused Trump. And the only way to ‘uncause’ him, is the same way. This morning, I read George Will in WaPo explaining that RFK Jr is what you get when people lose their trust in government (specifically, government experts like Fauci). Maybe that’s true, but if so, whose fault is that? If you say anyone other than ‘the people’, then there is no hope. The fault likes with us, and the solution must begin there as well. This is not Biden, this is not Fauci, this is nobody else but the guy looking back at you in the mirror. It’s time to stand up and make that guy do better, or, at the very least, stop coming up with excuses why none of this is his fault. Because Lord Knows, the rightwing media disinformation machine is dedicated toward giving him that ‘out’: finding a way that Trump is anybody’s fault but the guy looking back at you in the mirror.
The Republicans and Christofascists have learned resentment-mongering and how to control the feed of misinformation to a large chunk of the electorate. They’ve learned how to manipulate media that thrives on shock and drama, where quoting a stunning lie gets clicks and shares and reporters can pretend it’s journalism.
People who actually follow politics and know how the government really works generally have no clue how small a percentage of the electorate we represent. American voters as a whole don’t read WaPo or NYT or Politico. They don’t follow political blogs. They can’t name their state or congressional representatives.
“Be intentional with how you spend your time.
Be effective with how you spend your energy.”
This is analogous to how I have learned to address my once-crippling depression and the overwhelming awareness of the amount of suffering in the world. Rather than reacting to a heartrending event or appeal, I plan ahead of time with choosing appropriate charities that address them and set up recurring donations and use that as emotional buttress. Rather than feeling anxious about my carbon footprint, I learn the carbon cost of various products and actions and start with those changes that are easiest for me, and it starts to add up.