Trump’s imminent return to office has many Americans (though not a majority!) worried about the ensuing, unhinged administration’s focus on vengeance and further enriching the wealthy. But fear not. There is hope: You.
We all know what happens later this month:
A malignant racist and wannabe authoritarian returns to the White House with near-unchecked authority, obedient GOP majorities in the House and Senate (neutered lapdogs, really), and a Supreme Court stuffed with women-hating, religious weirdos who are also cool with conservative Justices accepting vacations and other gifts from billionaire Republican donors.
What could go wrong?
If you’re not nibbling your fingernails while reading this, I applaud you. Mine were reduced to nubs while pondering what I could express that doesn’t dwell on the fog of doom in which some Americans – though not the majority, mind you! – are enshrouded.
But then I remembered that I know a lot of really good people in Postindustrial Communities that are not daunted by the struggles to come.
They are political activists from rural communities in Michigan, Ohio, and other states that feed the rest of the country.
They are leaders in small towns reinventing communities with fresh ideas, businesses, and new residents eager to help write the next chapter in the rich history of Postindustrial America.
They are artists whose work expresses their defiance of the anti-democratic, unconstitutional principles expressed by Trump and his minions.
And they are you: those who care about and improve their community in ways too numerous to list here.
Make no mistake: the next four years are going to be rough. Trump’s new administration will be stocked with deviants and aspiring comic-book villains singularly focused on “saving America” by enriching themselves and restricting the rights of everyone else.
[if you haven’t considered the similarities between Lex Luther and Elon Musk, you must watch this!]
However, there are legions of smart, dedicated, and steel-willed resistors girding themselves for the fight to come.
I know this because for nearly seven years now, we’ve met and featured many of you while chronicling Postindustrial Communities, during which time I’ve been repeatedly impressed and inspired by their boundless will to keep doing good.
So despite the tightness in my chest that comes when pondering another Trump term (yes, I’m getting that checked), I’m confident that the challenges ahead will be met with a ferocious resistance intent on preserving, protecting, and defending our democratic, constitutional republic over the next four years.
And rest assured, we will tell their stories, as well as amplify and support their messages so that those who feel similarly can join the fight.
