07/11/2024
Be gentle at this time, all is well!
There are many people across the globe, and particularly here in Australia, who are feeling a deep despondency, depression, anxiety and even physical sickness today with the news that Trump will be president of the US for another 4 years. They are asking how could a racist, sexist bigot and convicted criminal be re-elected to one of the most powerful positions in the world. They are very concerned that the world’s fate is in the hands of such a person … someone who controls a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons, among other things. How could the work that we have been doing for all these years to bring about inclusion, compassion, environmental and social justice be wiped out by one election?
This victory, in my opinion, is actually proof that the work we all have been doing is actually having its desired effect. Whenever a big change is necessary, and progress is being made towards achieving the only possible correct goal, there are many people who feel threatened by that change … they feel that their livelihood, their belief system, their whole reason for existing is threatened. They cannot see the long-term benefits of this change. They cannot see beyond the immediate shaking up of their world. They cannot see that the only possible outcome of the necessary change is an improvement in the lives of everyone. All they see is the temporary corrections, the small details of the work that is being done, not realising that these corrections are in fact for the benefit of all. They fear the change, because they cannot see the end goal. So they act out of that fear, which transmutes into bigotry, and violence. This, in fact, proves that the change we are making is for the highest good of all.
Along comes a populist (also very damaged and egotistical) figure who feeds that fear, feeds that bigotry and encourages the violence. Because he is not slick and professional in his demeanour, he feels like he is “one of us”, not “one of them” (the polished professional politicians and policy developers). He speaks familiar, comfortable language. He promises a return to a (mythical) set of values that seem familiar and comfortable … and denies all the evidence of the need for change. And the people love him and vote for him.
This Trump victory must be seen as a rallying call for those people who realise that we, as humans, are in a state of crisis in terms of our relationship with our home, our mother Earth. We must remain strong, we must remain gentle, we must remain compassionate, inclusive and respectful. We must keep on doing the things we need to do, on a small-scale local level. We must gather in community to look after each other, to look after the land, the water… look after all our relations. We must use our love, our intuition and our science to make new, sustainable ways of living… radically reducing our impact on the environment. If we don’t, our time on this Earth will be extremely short and uncomfortable.
Getting angry, upset or depressed will not help … unless we recognise those emotions for what they are, and use them as a stimulus for positive change. Getting angry, upset or depressed and acting from those emotions will only feed the monster. We must not be triggered into rash behaviour.
We must realise that this election result is just a symptom of the dying gasp of the old, destructive ways, and that, in the scheme of things, 4 years is not long. The old, destructive ways are way past their use-by date, and they will go.
I am reminded of the words of Lee Hayes from the left-wing folk group “The Weavers”, at a reunion concert at the start of the Reagan era. He said “I have had kidney stones. This, too, shall pass”.
Aho! Mitakuye Oyasın.
Photo: To***co flower. The master teacher plant.
