
My husband told me he plans to write out a list of what he fears from a Trump presidency. It makes sense, given how much fear is in the air. Until each of us gets a bead on the nature of our fears, chances are it won’t matter much what we do.
We are exhausted from a long and tortuous election season. Our nerves are wracked, our moral compasses are twitching. Our guts are writhing from a roller-coaster ride that isn’t over but barely beginning.
The presidential contest was close, but it was more than that: it was polarizing, salacious, and unedifying. It was omnipresent and momentous, hauling us all in together in a stinking net of civic obligation. Then it ended with an ugly surprise, revealing that the nation’s ‘leading citizens’ don’t deserve their reputation as a leading class. Today, American minds are still traumatized and reeling. People are depressed, resentful, angry, disapproving. Most of us sense further calamity brewing.
Who likes the feeling of powerlessness that sets in after ‘the people have spoken’? We, the electorate (yes, we’ll all complicit) have tipped the political order upside-down.
So, instead of bringing relief, the outcome of the election brings a new host of worries. Americans must continue to be attentive and mitigate the various forms of damage Trump’s presidency may cause. Fissures have opened up in both political parties; they, too, are divided and dangerously weakened. The next few years will see ongoing tumult and crisis, making it all the more urgent to clarify goals and conserve energies.
American politics requires stamina and organization. No one person or organization can fight every battle. So know your fears; name the nature of the danger as exactly as you can. Let the list you write define the wisest course to pursue.
Feel free to state what you fear most from a Trump presidency
and what you think people who share your fear should be doing.
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