It Sucks. It’s Complicated. It’s Scary.

But all is far from lost.

This morning, like so many people, I am surprised and very disappointed by so many of the election outcomes. I especially never thought it possible that Trump could get the majority of the popular vote, which appears possible. My mind is swirling with scenarios all laced with red-flashing warning signs. My hackles are up. However, I also realize that I’m also extremely curious. There are both challenges and opportunities ahead. I must work to stay in control and to keep my ears, eyes, and mind open to new dangers and possibilities.

I know I’m far from alone.

One of my daughters texted to our family her early morning thoughts — that this outcome cannot be understood in simple terms like us vs them. She texted the following (slightly edited for clarity):

I am wary of making too many assumptions that people specifically like Trump versus just being frustrated with the current state of the economy and are unwilling to vote for the democrats right now. The abortion measure had more than 50% of the vote in Florida (it lost because it needed 60%) but Florida went solidly to Trump. It’s more complicated than there really being more than 50 percent of people who are (hard-core) Trumpers. Democrats can’t be complacent so I don’t want to argue for that, but I also worry about us missing the bigger patterns like that it almost always switches parties when people are frustrated with the economy.

And then, in a note to his brother, her husband added:

I’m also feeling *sooo* much more measured about this than the lead-up to 2020. I really had been like . . . I’m leaving the country. And now it just feels so much more like ebbs and flows of a system that moves with super slow time scales, longer than a human lifespan. And it *is* my responsibility to bring love and care and an attempt to improve the communities I am a part of . . . [And} not ascribe judgment to people whose backstories and motivations I don’t know, and to not take on apocalyptic narratives about what this means for the nation.

What I especially appreciate in these early thoughts is the notion that the outcomes we are seeing are likely far, far more complicated and ultimately perhaps less bleak than we are feeling in the immediate aftermath.

However, our other daughter shared in response her “respectful disagreement.” She pointed out (I’ve summarized her thoughts in my own words) that:

Trump’s stated plans could render her and her husband jobless and destroy organizations and agencies doing great, humanitarian work; and that the people voting for Trump were voting for bigotry and thuggery that is a real and present danger to her, her husband, and her children, as well as to others of our family and friends.

This latter sentiment and reality is critical and accounts for a great deal of the angst so many of us feel today. Trump’s reelection and the choices that have led to this are complex but they are also dangerous. We knew that going-in and that’s why there was a lot of “nauseous optimism” going into the voting. Trump has threatened many dire and deadly consequences for people he dislikes and/or has ‘othered.’

So, while there are complexities to unravel there are also millions of people in the country — and well beyond — who are and will experience Trump’s second term as an existential threat. Even opposing such threats to persons and to law and order can also involve a different level of jeopardy.

There is a strong temptation — that I have felt on and off over the past 2 days or so — to understand these outcomes in terms of ‘red v. blue,’ ‘autocracy v. democracy’ or even ‘idiots and thugs v. the rest of us.’ In other words, a strong temptation to write off a lot of people just like a lot of people seem inclined to write-off many of us.

But, while the NYT’s graphic representation of the overwhelming “red shift” nationally is quite a “tell,”¹ there’s a lot going on in this that’s not straightforward and that will require our best, clear-sighted efforts to understand and to address.

This is, in part, because it does seem that people see Trump through many different lenses.

The economically disenfranchised and/or politically disaffected see through their lenses; thugs (and let’s not kid ourselves: there are lots of thugs amongst us) see through their lenses, and so forth across many demographics. Each of these is a challenge unto itself and, taken together, is the stuff of Trumpism that we must understand better and find more effective ways to address.

And then, of course, there are the lenses the rest of us wear that we must be open-minded about adjusting as well. All of this will become clearer in the coming weeks and months.

Our job, as I understand it in this ‘day after’ moment, is, first, to tend well to our tired bodies and battered psyches. We need to serve ourselves and others big helpings of TLC.

And then we need to rededicate ourselves to forging a better future. This, of course, is what we have always strived to do in life, but achieving the collective expression of this in our politics and polity is a special case. Each of us can only do so much; so we need to do so selectively, and hopefully collectively, depending upon our personal, familial, and community circumstances and supports.

There is no sugar-coating the fact that we have lost a meaningful, significant battle for a better future. But as those who have just ‘won’ know, the thing to do is to pick ourselves up, and re-engage in this ongoing, historic quest.

All is not lost. We are not lost. Not nearly.

We are challenged by sh*tty, new circumstances. But we can meet that challenge.

We can overcome.

1. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/06/us/politics/presidential-election-2024-red-shift.html?unlocked_article_code=1.X04.t-eo.eJc8mNzBiGPX&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare