November 8, 2024

Civics

'The key to taking effective action in a Trump world is to avoid perpetuating the autocrat’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion and disorientation.'

Daniel Hunter has been getting ready for this day. He's been writing scenarios about what might happen. He's been developing trainings for a Trump win. And he's been working alongside colleagues living under autocratic regimes. "One of the things they keep reminding me," he says,  "is that good psychology is good social change. Authoritarian power is derived from fear of repression, isolation from each other and exhaustion at the utter chaos. We’re already feeling it."

He says that for us to be of any use in a Trump world, we have to pay grave attention to our inner states, so we don’t perpetuate the autocrat’s goals of fear, isolation, exhaustion or constant disorientation. This is a helpful primer that I'd hoped we would never need.

"3. Grieve

No matter what we try to do, there’s going to be a lot of loss. The human thing to do is grieve. ...If you aren’t a feelings person, let me say it this way: The inability to grieve is a strategic error. After Donald Trump won in 2016, we all saw colleagues who never grieved. They didn’t look into their feelings and the future — and as a result they remained in shock. For years they kept saying, 'I can’t believe he’s doing that…"

"...Believe it. Believe it now. Grief is a pathway to acceptance. "

ARTICLE: 10 Ways to Be Prepared and Grounded Now That Trump Has Won

Civics

What we’re facing is serious, and we need to acknowledge the whole truth of it.

ARTICLE: Learning to See in the Dark Amid Catastrophe: An Interview With Deep Ecologist Joanna Macy

Civics

Many Americans still want to live in a compassionate country.

‍ARTICLE: Even as Polarization Surges, Americans Believe They Live in a Compassionate Country

Civics

What does a creative response to polarization look like?

ARTICLE: The Hopeful Thing About Our Ugly, Painful Polarization

Civics

Care, dignity, and belonging as the core antidotes to resentment politics

‍ARTICLE: How Hannah Arendt Can Help Us Understand This New Age of Far-Right Populism