Dear Reader:
I am writing to you from the past, specifically late October. If this column manages to get itself written, edited, and published, it will appear in the issue dated Thursday, Nov. 7. You will know then (maybe — let’s hope) what I do not know now: the name of the country’s next president and the makeup of our new Congress.
As you are in the aftermath of Tuesday’s election, with all that entails, you may already have left behind your feelings during the lead-up to it. I will remind you what they were: the most extreme anxiety and stress, unlike any other time in memory. It is as if we are a small Florida coastal town with a Category 5 hurricane barreling toward us, and we have meager protections. The (absurd) fact that the popular vote is no bulwark for us defies comprehension.
This is not a political column, although I will candidly declare that I voted for Kamala Harris and fervently hope for her victory. No, this is a column about what to do if in fact Harris is defeated, or otherwise kept from winning, by Donald Trump. In this unthinkable outcome — many people have used just this term: unthinkable — we must plot our course. What will we do?
We will not give in to despair; we will keep hope alive. No, we will not pull up stakes and leave the country. This is our country. (And many countries around the world are also trending to the right.) We will continue to live within the confines of our protective blue bubbles and rely on local, county, and state protections until this national fever breaks. We will also support those nongovernment and nonprofit organizations devoted to women’s autonomy, health care, civil rights, environmental protection, and the defense of democracy itself.
We will continue to call things as they are. We must commit ourselves to activism and responsible resistance while maintaining civility. This is a tough balance, but civility is more than just a nice idea: it is the foundation of our regard for one another, our common values, our very humanity. We must bring it back.
I know all the negative situations that are not only probable but certain to confront us under a Trump administration. The effect of the federal government on our lives is profound, even when we are barely aware of it. While we fret locally about curb cuts and zoning details, Washington dictates major aspects of our day-to-day existence. Foreign policy decisions alone could bring tragic results. Beyond these considerations, a general malaise would descend upon the nation. We have been repeatedly told that this is a miserable, failing country, and so it will be.
But we have to remember that people have lived through and survived such times before. We have had it relatively easy in this country up until now under various administrations, but we are no less strong than those throughout history and around the world who have confronted evil. We will find the strength to resist and to build alliances and movements. We will survive.
Life will go on, and we must insist that it do so, for everyone’s sake. We must remain positive. The sun will still shine, the tides will continue to repeat themselves. Playgrounds will still be there for children. People will still say hello in the streets. Our libraries will welcome us. Our comedians will attempt to save us, and it is always a relief to laugh.
A young Anne Frank in hiding wrote in her diary: “In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart … if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right … that peace and tranquility will return again.”
In spite of everything, we have to believe her.
