Do Not Comply In Advance

I wish I didn’t live in a country where more than half the voters don’t understand – or just don’t care – that Donald Trump doesn’t have the temperament to drive a garbage truck (apologies to actual garbage truck drivers) much less be President of the United States. But I do.

I wish I didn’t live in a country where more than half the voters don’t understand basic economics, don’t know what Smoot-Hawley did, and think the President controls the price of gas and the price of eggs. But I do.

I wish I didn’t live in a country where so many voters are afraid of trans people that anti-trans attack ads are effective in getting them to vote against inclusive leaders. But I do.

I wish I didn’t live in a country where the complicated issue of immigration is reduced to keeping “those people” out. But I do.

And so do you¹.

In 2016 we were surprised – and angry. We blamed Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Russia, third party voters, and especially those who didn’t vote. Things worked out better in 2020, but we were faced with an undeniable truth – a lot of people voted for Trump because they like him.

We thought things would be different this time. Kamala Harris was a new and exciting candidate. Trump was a convicted felon, denounced by those who worked for him. People were motivated by the Dobbs decision.

And Trump still won. All the votes aren’t in as I write this, but this time he’s going to win the popular vote as well as the electoral vote.

We have to accept the truth. This isn’t cheating, or disinformation, or a bad campaign strategy. This is who and what the United States of America is in 2024.

We thought Obergefell in 2015 was just another step toward building an accepting and compassionate multicultural society, not the furthest we would go on the journey. Turns out a lot of people don’t want an accepting and compassionate multicultural society. And now they’re in charge.

And many of us – all of us – will be negatively impacted by their plans.

This is reality and we have to deal with it.

No one is coming to save us.

What are we going to do?

What are you doing to do?

Allow yourself to feel what you feel

Put your own mask on first. Right now, scream, cry, sleep, eat, listen to sad songs – whatever you need to do. Mourn the future you thought you had. Ignore those who say it won’t be that bad. The last time was bad for me and I’m a straight white cis man with a middle class job. It’s going to be worse this time, both tangibly and emotionally.

But make sure your mourning doesn’t degenerate into despair. Give yourself a day – two at most. Then start moving forward.

What do you need to do to take care of you and yours?

Do you need to move to a safe blue state? Do it. Moving isn’t easy and it isn’t cheap, but people have done it for as long as we’ve been human.

Are you OK for now, but may need to move? Start figuring out where you’re going to go and how you’re going to get here. This is where I am. I have a plan and a timetable for that plan. The timetable can be accelerated if necessary, though not without tradeoffs.

Do you need to leave the country? That’s not easy, but it is possible… though not for everyone. If you think that’s something you want/need to do, start working on it now.

If you don’t want to move, or if moving simply wouldn’t meet the cost/benefit tradeoff – and let’s be honest, that’s most of us – then find the people who will support you, and who you’ll support in return. Sometimes that’s neighbors. Sometimes it’s a coven or a grove. Sometimes it’s a UU church. You can get through this alone, but it will be much easier – and much more pleasant – if you have help.

Once you’ve got your basic safety figured out, it’s time to get busy.

Do not comply in advance

I had several friends share this message on social media on Wednesday: do not obey Trump until and unless you have absolutely no other choice. Jeff Bezos – the billionaire owner of the once-great Washington Post – refused to allow his editors to make an endorsement in the Presidential race. So did the owner of the Los Angeles Times. They were afraid of Trump’s retribution if he won.

We must have more courage than billionaires. Fortunately for us, they don’t have much so that isn’t hard.

I’m skeptical about the effectiveness of protests, but if you feel like that’s the thing to do, then do it.

Mainly, keep being who and what you are, as openly and loudly as you can. If that annoys the MAGA crowd, consider it a victory.

Fight to save the sexual revolution

The news analysts will tell you the election was about the economy and about immigration. They’re right, but only in part. Those aren’t the only issues that were at stake.

I’ve been reading some of the more intellectual conservative sites over the past few months. Their #1 hatred is immigration. Their #2 hatred is LGBTQ+ people. Their main objective is promoting and strengthening patriarchy. They’re terrified about a shrinking population and they’re ready to outlaw abortion (Trump said he wouldn’t sign a national abortion bill, but he’s not known for telling the truth about anything). And then birth control. And then make divorce all but unobtainable. They want to move the country back to the 1950s and they’ll use Trump (who’s easily manipulated, as we saw in his first term) to do it.

Keep supporting the sexual revolution, and especially the right of consenting adults to do what they want when they want with any other consenting adult.

They want to ban pornography, and their definition of porn includes anything with LGBTQ+ content. Different people have different opinions on actual porn, but what shouldn’t be up for debate is the need to keep supporting LGBTQ+ books and authors, and all writers, musicians, and artists who push the boundaries of gender and sexuality.

And of course, support your LGBTQ+ friends, especially your trans friends. They’ve just spent several months having their existence attacked every time they turned on the TV. They need our support.

What is your place in the resistance?

We had fun with “the resistance” during the first Trump administration. I’m not sure if that changed much on the ground, but it made people feel empowered and that was a good thing. But I think things are different this time.

I trust by now everyone understands that Trump is the symptom, not the disease. The disease is xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and Christian nationalism. Merely opposing Trump isn’t enough. We need to change the culture… or rather support and accelerate the changes that are in process but have been slowed or reversed since the 2016 election.

Changing culture is very hard, and it’s not done by focusing on politics nonstop, especially if your idea of political action is arguing on social media. We need to be who we are, as openly as possible. Do not carelessly put your safety at risk, but to the extent that you can be “out and loud” do it.

I’ve been thinking about this myself. I’ve been doing more political commentary recently… for good reason, but there are hundreds of political columnists and commentators. There aren’t nearly as many Druids, Pagans, and Witches who are talking about what we do, why it’s good, and how it leads us to support freedom and equality for all. Every time I’ve sworn off writing about politics I’ve come back to it, so I’m not going to do that now. But I am going to try to do a better job of doing what I do best and not what any competent progressive writer could do.

The only way out is through

I’m not going to tell you everything’s going to be OK. It’s going to suck. I’m not going to tell you we’ll all get through it. Not everybody made it through Trump’s first term, and some won’t make it through the next four years. The worst case scenario probably won’t happen, but many of the likely scenarios are still pretty bad.

What I will tell you is that the only way out is through. We can’t go back. Impeaching Trump didn’t work last time and it’s not likely to work this time… and if it did, we’d get Vance, who’s worse, because he’s a true believer in Project 2025 and the concepts behind it.

Acknowledge your feelings – they’re real. Take care of yourself, whatever that means for you. Do not comply in advance. Do not give an inch of hard won rights from the sexual revolution. Find your place in the resistance – help build a culture that would never even consider voting for someone like Donald Trump.

I don’t know what will happen over the next four years.

But I know I’m going to be in charge of my life, not Donald Trump.

¹ roughly 80% of Under the Ancient Oaks readers live in the United States