It's been a week to the day since the election, and people around the world (not just American residents who'll be impacted first and foremost) have reacted with shock, anger, fear, sadness, bewilderment, and a host of other related emotions. The reality (and unreal feel) of this situation is still sinking in for many, and folk are not only processing, but grieving. (Interestingly enough, almost 1/4 of polled Canadians and Brits indicated they wanted Trump to win, so like their American counterparts they experienced very different emotions as the results came in.)
A key difference this time around though is that unlike the last election when progressives were happy that Democrats won, Republicans (and MAGAs in particular) are expressing a visceral glee in not only winning, but beating their opponents. Slogans like, "Your Body, My Choice" have gained traction and are being used to mock and taunt women, while racist messages were sent to vast numbers of Black people across the US saying they'd been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation. Not surprising I suppose when Trump's campaign was rooted in both misogyny and racism, but chilling nonetheless.
Predictably, the blame game began as soon as Harris conceded (too quickly I think, as she could have made Trump sweat a bit), with fingers pointing at Harris, the campaign, and the Democrat Party for losing. Numerous factors were cited, but any pundit confidently declaring that "She or it or they lost because..." and then only mentioning one reason has lost the plot as far as I'm concerned. No one can definitively conclude why as there were a number of overlapping causes and issues. Let's not forget either that there's been a strong global right-wing shift with many incumbent parties losing their status.
Personally I think Harris ran a strong campaign, and couldn't have done much more given the vast amount of both disinterest (nearly 14 million, or 4 out of 10 Americans, didn't even vote) and disinformation. That Trump's campaign spewed copious amounts of lies about the economy, crime, and immigration was a given. That they spread falsehoods about what they would do (e.g., improve the daily lives of the working class), and what they wouldn't do (e.g., distancing themselves from Project 2025's agenda), was also not a surprise.
But they were truthful in ways that the electorate minimized or ignored, e.g., the reality of the cost of tariffs being paid for by American consumers, what mass deportations would do to both the economy and families, the gutting of environmental regulations (Trump already rolled back 100 EPA regulations in his first term), and so forth.
But it wasn't just Trump, his minions, and billionaire friends (hello, Elon) to blame. Voters themselves couldn't be bothered to know what, or even whom, they were voting for. Google searches on election day itself spiked with queries about Joe Biden running, and searches AFTER election day included "what is a tariff" indicating that a lot of folk were clueless. Didn't know, didn't care sums up the experience of too many, which is sad when you consider what was at stake.
This was an expensive election in more ways than one. Approximately $16B (yes, BILLION) was donated to political campaigns (think about the impact if that much money was spent on housing or health care or social supports), if not the downright purchasing of candidates for expected return favours. Soon-to-be trillionaire Musk, for example, cannot legally run for US office, but he sure did try to buy it. * He's just been selected today to lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, and if he runs/ruins it the way he did Twitter...
Monetary cost was just one price paid. Earth itself, the environment, natural resources, exacerbated climate crisis, human rights, human lives, animal lives (as one of my dear friends often and rightly points out, when things get bad for humans, non-human animals suffer concurrently as well), and even American democracy itself as the UnUnited States lurches towards autocracy.
The current administration is also to blame for not holding Trump accountable while they still had the chance, for not putting him in jail instead of allowing a felon to run for office again, not protecting the constitution, not protecting women by codifying Roe, and trying to take the high moral road with opponents who clearly no longer know what morals mean. It was no longer a level playing field which Democrats ignored at their peril, placing every voter in peril too.
What are parents supposed to teach their kids about crime now? They can no longer say that crime doesn't pay, because it does. It no longer goes unpunished, but is rewarded instead. You can commit any crime you want, and still become President. There's a moral lesson for ya!
And why does this matter so much to non-Americans you ask? And to Canadians in particular? Because everyone will feel the effects of a Trump administration and its decisions. Economically, politically, environmentally, culturally, militarily, you name it, and as members of the global community, we'll experience the repercussions.
As for Canada, we've already felt the impact of his first administration, most notably in how political discourse has changed for the worse. We've become almost as polarized politically as in the US, and the conservative populist playbook followed almost to the letter by our current Opposition Leader champing at the bit to become Prime Minister.
A career politician who's never had a real job but claims to be for the working class while courting millionaires and lobbyists, campaigning from the get-go two years ago even though our election campaign cycles are usually only a few months long, spouting simplistic slogans, lies and outrage, expressing disdain for the media, suggesting he'll implement ant-trans policies, and blaming immigrants for the high cost of living and housing. Sound familiar? Oh, and his team has already spent 8.5M (yes, MILLION) on advertising. It's fair to say that far-right factions in Canada were emboldened by Trump's first term, and will likely become even more so now.
Here's an amusing (although sad enough) column about how Canadians have become just as gullible and wilfully uninformed as our American neighbours when it comes to picking our political leaders. Ignore the multiple ads and enjoy.
If at the beginning of reading this post its title initially struck you as hyperbolic, I'd ask you to reconsider given the picks to his team that Trump has already made. Consider also Trump's statement (threat?) that if you voted for him this time, you'd never have to vote again.
Consider too that Trump is more a figurehead of his party and that the real danger to democracy lies with those behind him. Consider that Vice President J.D. Vance could be President sooner than anticipated given Trump's age and obvious cognitive decline (vigorously remonstrated with Joe Biden but oddly ignored when it came to Trump), and that his allegiance to the stated ideals and policies of Project 2025 are all the more dear to him. Call me hyperbolic, but I fear dark days ahead. And certainly we can expect that the hatred and vitriol won't subside anytime soon, because we've seen it amplified already.
So the biggest question now is, Now what? Stand by and watch? Not an option if you care about either decency or democracy or both. Fight like hell when shite happens, as it quickly will come January. The first 180 days especially, if you believe the Heritage Foundation folks behind Project 2025, who've been preparing their "Mandate for Leadership" manuals for conservative governments since 1981.
In the meantime, rest up Americans, and get ready. Also, as the inimitable Rebecca Solnit writes, "Authoritarians like Trump love fear, defeatism, surrender. Do not give them what they want."
For Canadians specifically, we need to resolve to not let what's happened next door happen here. Like Trump, Pierre Poilievre has bamboozled a lot of folk into thinking that Canada is broken (it's not), that Justin Trudeau is to blame for inflation (he's not), that immigrants are to blame for the cost of housing (they're not), and that "Axe the Tax" (eliminating the carbon tax) will solve all our problems (it won't).
We have to counteract the conservative propaganda machine because right now too many Canadians are fooled into viewing Poilievre as our political saviour. Nope, like Trump, he ain't. So let the work begin!
Comments
I'm sitting here staring at the empty comment box and am almost too sad to get my fingers to even move, but also have no idea where to start. Because I'm American, I already knew that there are probably more Americans that don't know what a tariff is than do know, but I had no idea about those texts going out to black folks saying they're going to pick cotton. I'll stick to this particular issue to begin.
I've mentioned in the comments here before (I think) that when I was in HS in Arkansas, I had a lot of black friends and they said to me (and with no bitterness or anything, it was just a fact) they were surprised my parents let me have black friends. My white friends said it was ok for me to have black friends because I didn't know better, I was from the North (moved there from NE). And my white friends were nice kids. They weren't ever calling names or anything, but it was a very real line drawn. This was in the 80s.
By the time the first T. administration came along, things definitely started backsliding. If this weren't reality and was a movie like Idiocracy (the movie we are watching come to life), of course it wouldn't matter.
But matter it does because when things go down the drain in society, it IS going to land the hardest on non-human animals. From "pets" to farmed animals, research animals, wildlife and everyone in between. They're now even pushed further into the background than before.
I can't even begin to know where to start about how people's intolerance to, mistrust of and hatred of each other based on groups is likely to unfold. And the people that helped usher this in and think they're safe will be in for a rude awakening, but not all of them.....so there's almost no deterrent because those same people have no problem with the concept of collateral damage.
Sometimes I think that taking a (I can't find the word I'm looking for) taking a stand like "Hands off my body!" while absolutely correct, inflames the opposition, but doesn't motivate fence sitters. It's like I've thought for as long as I can remember about influencing non-vegans to become vegan - a non-human animal has to do that. Sure there will be romantic partners (for example) that do it because their partner does, but that doesn't last. Finding voices for the ones that need to be heard and letting them tell their story is more likely to get more support for the cause.
But for women who have had abortion horror stories, it's not fair to expect them to go through that publicly. And so fight fire with fire becomes the only option. How is it 2024 and this is where we're at?
Humanity is a problem. There are so many good people, I know there are, but they are overshadowed simply by the nature of being good not getting the same kind of attention that being a bully or a buffoon does. And here we sit now, with a world population that is just not sustainable for the resources we have and instead of looking for practical solutions to save the planet, we're all now bogged down in this fight that 'should' not be happening in this day and age. We are not advanced as a species enough to handle the technology we have. And we are going to destroy every other living creature in the process if we don't do something.
And I've rambled around enough now to have lost any coherent point I was trying to make, but I will say, it may be too late, I don't know, but the two-party system in the US is so far outdated it NEEDS to go. I'd like to think it's not too late. Hearing opinions from people who keep themselves way more informed than I do (I still don't watch news on purpose to avoid getting upset and messing up my BP and brain activity) makes me feel like it is too late. But there should at least be an attempt made to switch to a multiple party system.
Well. I can only write the Edward Hale quote that I learned on your blog. It speaks louder now than ever:
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
One of the reasons that the "right wing" party over here has gained a lot of support is the huge increase in crime we've had. It's a very real thing, but from what I can tell, the vast majority of these crimes are being committed by people who are not from any of the refugee countries (although there have been some). It's people from Eastern European countries that have the legal right to be here because of the EU. But they don't get the spotlight and I pretty much think it's because they're not Muslim. But I could be wrong. There is a huge anti-Islam sentiment growing over here and it's just not justified.
I can't think of any feasible solution to the problems that are growing so rapidly. I think we can all identify the causes (and things DID get far worse during lockdown...people over here behaved horribly before, it was worse when everything re-opened and I thought "well, it's because people weren't able to do what they wanted for so long, they'll settle down...nope. It has stayed way worse than it was before lockdown), but to get people to stop and think, to be good to others as long as their personal behavior warrants it (some individual people are horrible and throw away their rights by abusing/assaulting/killing others), to put the planet and our fellow creatures on the same level we seem to consider ourselves....I don't know how to accomplish that.
So I will keep living the "I will do the thing/s I can", which may not be enough to change the world, but it can change the world for one of my fellow creatures maybe even only for a few moments...but it's all I can do.
I'm sitting here trying to come up with a hopeful or at least "better" note to end this comment with. I guess all I'm coming up with is a visual image of that cartoon stork with the frog in his throat and the frog reaching out trying to strangle the stork and the caption "Never Give Up". That's pretty appropriate, as much as the Hale quote.