I was wrong. I was absolutely convinced Harris/Walz would win the US election and have spent this week trying to understand how I got it so wrong. I’m not the only one, of course, Allan Lichtman did too. You can count on lots of opinions and discussions in the reads (link below) that show my attempt to comprehend what the election result means. I’m updating this daily, so check in often if you want to see the latest.
One of the questions I’ve been asking myself for a while, while attempting to comprehend all aspects of the polycrisis, is this – is fascism or authoritarianism an inevitability considering the massively complex crisis’ we face? And this week, it feels like the answer to that question is yes.
Why? Because complex challenges require complex solutions, but voters appear to prefer simple answers or slogans from supposedly strong men or women. Unfortunately, they won’t be able to keep those promises, because how can they? Growth? Controlling inflation? Have you seen the extreme weather impacts and do you understand what that means?
I suppose one thing is clear, in the coming years as climate catastrophes continue to escalate, we are going to witness exactly what life will be like under this sort of leadership. We can only hope for the best and they rise to the moment when their people are suffering, but most of us know this isn’t likely. It’s going to get a lot more expensive too. The other issue, of course, is they’re not planning on going away in four years, because once you move in an authoritarian direction, it’s very hard to reverse it.
Read: Buckle Up. Climate Change Could Destroy Half Our Economies and definitely follow Umair Haque, he’s predicted the rise of authoritarianism for years.
When it comes to world issues, my biggest concern is always the planetary crisis, and a second Trump term is a global disaster in that regard. His first term sent climate progress back by a decade, and today, we’re in an even worse situation environmentally than we were in 2016.
In the US, there will be many national issues of concern (more women dying of pregnancy complications, desperate families separated and deported, persecution of LGBTIQA+ people, and on it goes) BUT I must focus on the global issues. I can’t take ALL the pain and suffering on board, so focus is important, just from a mental health perspective.
So, what can we do right now?
This is a conversation happening across the world, so I want to add a few thoughts, but this is something I will ponder and expand upon in the coming weeks.
- Protect your democracy if you still have one, because democracy is in decline, and we really need to focus on a much-improved version of it or create something completely new. You might say, what can I do? Well, start by learning from the US, and do everything you can to bridge the divides within your country, and bring everyone you know along for the journey. Far too many in the US have no understanding of what life is like for a large majority of people, and this is true elsewhere. It really is the challenge of our time. To cross those boundaries and bring our communities back together. Social cohesion needs to be at the centre of our politics and societies. And if you missed the news this week, the next possible authoritarian government we may see elected is in Germany
- It’s time for our leaders to speak the truth. There is so much bullshit in politics, there always has been, but no leader is laying it on the line about the risks we face as a society. How often was climate change mentioned in this election cycle? Barely at all, because no one has the guts to make it a campaign message, and while I understand it (if by talking about it you’re going to lose, then you can’t do anything to solve it, right?), we are losing valuable time, and things are going to get worse. Demand the truth and then we need to build consensus about what that truth is, and what we’re going to do about it. We can’t keep having different interpretations of the truth about the state of the world, because not only will it drive our societies further towards authoritarianism, it will drive our civilization towards collapse – check out Planetary Boundaries guide humanity’s future on Earth which came out today
- Pay attention to the information that matters! Have you heard me say that before? I hope so, because I add it to most Weekend Reads. My friends, there are a LOT of people sounding the alarm and they have been doing it for years (me included), but no one has wanted to pay attention. I know it’s scary and challenging to face, but here’s the problem with that. We are now facing the consequences of our inability to face that which scares the shit out of us, and I promise you, our life in the coming years and decades is going to be harder! There are brilliant minds sharing insights about what our future looks like, but they’re not doing it in 30 second reels. Sometimes they can talk for hours, or they publish it in a big fat book – so please, it is time to dig into what is on the line, how much our lives will change and what it means to us. Here is what India is dealing with: India saw extreme weather events on 93% of days in first nine months of 2024, over 3,000 killed: Study
- Brace for impact because times are going to get much harder. Not only are we seeing escalating climate events, information wars, economic wars, and more, we are seeing a major geopolitical realignment, and it is going to reverberate around the world. Do you understand what that means for you and your family? Your community? Your country? We need to build our resolve now, and we need to build our inner resilience. Strength and courage is essential to get through the years ahead. Start finding people who can help you build this inner strength if you don’t know where to start. Another opportunity is to do charitable work with those less well off than you – it really helps. Please, don’t get lost in fear about the future, get ready to face it and handle it
- Mis- and disinformation is a global crisis, and we need to get a handle on it. Surely, we can agree on some essential truths, especially within our leadership ranks. A starting point is really challenging the ownership of social media platforms and the media. Murdoch, Bezos, Musk, etc… are a problem, and if you look at the “media” landscape (including all forms of media) it’s so extreme now, especially on the right. Yes, the left has its outliers, but the right has far more numbers on the extreme edge. This is a PROBLEM. The important thing is to become media literate, and that means always listening to views you don’t agree with, even if it makes you uncomfortable. I do it and while I often can’t finish listening (because it’s just too ugly) I give it my best shot, because I know it’s important
- Algorithms need to be changed – check out Yuval Noah Harari on this topic and go deep. We need to understand this and demand a solution. It is a MASSIVE issue. AI is a massive issue too and Yuval Noah Harari talks a lot about this too. Also check out the great philosophers of our time. There really are many great minds to learn from
- We need to massively reduce consumption across the world, and the billionaires in the US have shown us what they care about – making money at the expense of human rights. Maybe it’s a good time for us to show them that we care about human rights and stop buying from them? The collapse of civilization is happening slowly and soon it will happen quickly, so everything is on the line, including the viability of these businesses, so why don’t we get started now and just stop buying from them? It’s a form of post-election protest, but more importantly, it could be the momentum we need to drive real change. Let’s go
- Be kind, I know the ugliness is rising to the surface and I’m sure you’ve seen the disgusting comments already being made towards women and minority groups. But please, if we don’t want that sort of behaviour in our societies, we cannot achieve that if we become like them. I don’t mean we sit back and take it, but we absolutely must not become like that, or all will be lost! Get out into your community, join a charity, do good in the world, take care of your neighbours, get off your phone, and let’s make sure civility is expected. Be kind, exude love everywhere you go, but be strong and take no shit
I could go on, and I will write more (I mean I haven’t mentioned the tech bros, the challenge we have with our boys, the challenge we have with our girls, etc…), but there’s one final point I want to make. I wrote about it in my book Uncommon Courage: an invitation, because it’s one of my biggest life lessons – every experience is a gift if we choose to see it that way.
In this chapter, I talk about facing really challenging times and it’s usually in hindsight that we see the gift we were given, even if it was a horrible experience. We see the experience helped us to grow, became stronger, smarter, or whatever gift we got. Today, I try to see the gift while I’m in the horrible experience, and right now, everyone is in the same boat, even if not everyone is aware of it.
What is this gift we are being given right now?
Well, we needed a great awakening to the existential threats we are facing, so we could finally come together and face it together. I don’t know about you, but the US slipping into authoritarianism should definitely be that wake-up call, right? It boggles the mind we are here right now, but at the same time, I’m not surprised at all. It has been on the cards for a couple of decades.
So it’s a weird time now, and this is our job – to come together globally, where we fight like hell, start changing our behaviours to live in balance with our earth, we prepare our societies for the escalating climate disasters to come, we regenerate our earth so we give ourselves a fighting chance at a future, and we build a calmer, more beautiful world.
And this is the important piece – we do all this while many of our fellow humans rage and scream around us, but we stop focusing on them and instead stay resolute in what we need to do and we do it, and maybe, just maybe, those who aren’t with us will get tired of raging and screaming, and they will come and join us.
Some may say I’m a dreamer… but I’m OK with that. I will never lose faith in the human spirit.
In the meantime, feel the feelings you need to feel, sink into it, but just don’t get stuck there, OK? When you’re ready, come and join us for the biggest fight of our life – regenerating our world, so our children and grandchildren have a fighting chance at a future. I’ll see you when you’re ready.
Favorite visual
Friends content and my own
It was an absolute delight to have Weenarin Lulitanonda on Climate Courage this week. Weena and her team are fighting to make clear air law in Thailand, and I have to say, it’s people like Weena who give me hope. Find the issue you’re passionate about and join a team fighting for it, and if one doesn’t exist, create it.
Dig into the news
Plenty more to read, listen to or watch, so do click through to the reads at the image below, and a reminder, this platform (elink.io) means the articles go back weeks, so have a scan and read/watch/listen to whatever jumps out at you.
Let me know what caught your attention? Or share with me what has your attention now? There’s a lot going on, which means none of us can cover everything. Besides, it’s always great to get feedback so I know I’m delivering something of value.
Cheers
Andrea
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Uncommon Courage: an invitation
Uncommon Courage is an invitation to be your courageous best self every day. It’s also an antidote to the overwhelm, fear, and rage rolling around the world. But it’s more than a book; it’s an invitation to join an inclusive community that wants to better understand humanities challenges – both global and personal – in order to take courageous action and create a better world for everyone.
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