WE wanted to write from the heart about what just happened
in the US, and what's happening around the world.
The shock is
justified - the most powerful nation in the world will be led by a
breathtakingly ignorant, bigoted, violent, pathologically lying, sexually
predatory, vengeful, authoritarian, corrupt reality TV star. Those aren't
insults, they're facts.
How is democracy
coming to this? How do we deal with it? We want to offer 5 points:
1.Acceptance - we can't wisely change anything about the
world or ourselves if we don't first accept it. So take a deep breath, and
let's face it. President Trump. And Trumpism striving for power in many of our
countries.
2.Holistic Evaluation - I can't find a better phrase for
this idea, but our brains have a deep negativity bias. We are easily
overwhelmed by fearful focus on the negative, and we make awful judgments when
we are. This is how demagogues rise. We can't let it happen to us. So looking
at the situation holistically, here's some reassuring points: ◦He's not
all-powerful - The US President faces many checks and balances from Congress,
the constitution, the courts, his own party, and foreign leaders.
◦He was recently a liberal! - Trump is dangerous, but not a
maniac. He has praised Hillary Clinton and donated to her campaigns and many of
his positions are more reasonable when you scrutinize them. "Building a
wall" is just saying he will physically police the US border. It's
distasteful, but not crazy. Much of his party opposed him because he wasn't
conservative enough!
◦He's tapped into legitimate concerns - Trump's supporters
are not simply a racist ignorant mob. Polls show at least half are people who
are well aware of his faults but are desperate for change, hate Hillary
Clinton, and are willing to gamble on him.
◦The "people" are not with him - Trump lost the
popular vote in the election (he just won through the US's quirky 'electoral
college' system). So don't think this was a landslide.
3.Focused Alarm - now that acceptance and holistic
evaluation ensure we're not freaking out unproductively, let's focus our
concern where it most needs to be: ◦Climate Change- Trump says it's a hoax and
wants to tear up the Paris climate agreement. Climate Change threatens our
species and we're running out of time - but IF we can make sure that world
leaders don't slow down, but speed up, the US alone can't destroy us. The rest
of the world will drive a clean energy revolution that will make renewable energy
much cheaper than fossil fuels - the US will be forced to switch by simple
economics.
◦Fascism - we just don't know what kind of leader Trump is.
Is he a Berlusconi, the Trump-like Italian billionaire Prime Minister who was
outrageously corrupt and ridiculous but not a fascist? Or is he a Mussolini? We
will have to watch like hawks and respond fast to the tell-tale signs of
eroding the rule of law, rigging the electoral system, intimidating the media,
or promoting hatred of some minorities.
◦Terrorism and War - Trump's instincts in the campaign were
to call for things like murdering the families of suspected terrorists and
introducing widespread torture. This direction is a gift to ISIS and will fuel
the global conflict with militant Islam. His ideas are mostly illegal, but
we'll have to watch closely and push back hard - domestically and through US
allies - if this erratic man-child uses the US military brutally.
4.It's the Media Stupid - Despite ALL evidence to the
contrary, the American public overwhelmingly sees Hillary Clinton as MORE
dishonest and corrupt than Donald Trump. This, by itself, is the reason why
Trump is president. And it's the media's fault. US network news devoted more
time to coverage of Clinton's totally BS email scandal than TO ALL POLICY
ISSUES COMBINED. One the one side, we have ruthlessly sophisticated partisan
propaganda media pushing Trump, and on the other an 'impartial' media that
chases fake scandals and ratings and suggests false equivalence between the
sides in the name of appearing balanced. This is the dynamic that gave us
Brexit as well. We desperately need a smarter media. Very few organizations
campaign on this, and Avaaz needs to.
5.This is a HUGE opportunity, let's rise to it - change
doesn't happen in a steady, linear way. We human beings learn best from crisis
and calamity. Our brightest lights emerge from our deepest darknesses. World
War II gave us human rights and the United Nations. And the darknesses of
Trumpism could help us build the most inspiring movement for human unity and
progress the world has EVER seen, to not only beat back the Trumps in each of
our countries, but to do so with a new, people-centered, high-integrity,
inspiring politics that brings massive improvement to the status quo. Let's get
to work on it :).
With hope, and
apologies for the long memo,
Ricken and the Avaaz
team.
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