We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” – Abraham Lincoln.
The Decline and Fall…
In 1988, I stood in southern England, at the site of a reclaimed ancient Roman building. Amidst the mosaics, there was a sign indicating that – if I recall correctly – the building was believed to have belonged to a wealthy English man who claimed Roman citizenship and culture, and who had been alive to witness the withdrawal of Roman soldiers from Britain at the end of the Roman occupation.
I stood there, wondering how he must have felt watching the decline and fall of an empire from his distant vantage point, knowing that the empire was collapsing due to internal rot.
That is how I felt at the time as an Australian citizen, watching from a distance the decline and fall of another great empire due to internal rot encouraged by a mediocre President whose claim to fame was a mediocre Hollywood acting history. It’s also how I feel now, watching the election last week of another US President who is clearly unfit to lead.
My human empathy for this unknown Roman citizen in circa 400 CE now compels me (and all of us) to empathise with the coming suffering of millions of people as they face the consequences of possible white supremacist fascism and theocratic Project 2025 in the USA.
The Coming Storm?
Historians of the future will debate why so many US voters chose the lesser alternative of the candidates – or chose to not vote at all – and discuss whether it is a reflection of mediocre mass media monopolies who feed distortions and lies (or withhold truth) from their audiences; a wider culture of ignorant, narcissistic individualism based upon narrow self-interests or (worse) an entitled racist and misogynist hatred of “the other”; or simply that the privileged grandchildren of those who fought a World War against fascism and the Holocaust have forgotten its legacies of human rights and equality.
As Sarah Connor said in the “Terminator” movie, a storm is coming. We need to build and resource storm shelters now.
But we also need to recognise that the storm is already here. We see that in the fact that millions of otherwise good people are prepared to vote for bad outcomes; and in the realities of climate change that the incoming Administration is about to deny and exacerbate.
Anyone who empathises with others, who cares about the welfare of fellow human beings, or who opposes injustice and inequality, should be worried and compelled to action.
The Line in the Sand
How to respond without hatred and anger? We must surely do our best to respond with the better angels of our nature in mind.
This is not just an election where the populist vote won, like a sports game where one team simply beat another. This is an outcome where harm and cruelty and injustice were selected.
This is not an “us versus them” situation. We are all in this together. We must act individually but for the common good.
This includes being willing to take a stand against the excesses and injustices that will start in the USA and spread around the world. For example, our extended LGBT+ family must be prepared to do what they can to oppose the cultural or physical extermination of trans people or others who are targeted.
But we must also remember an important lesson that Trump voters have forgotten: that human connection and intersectionality are important.
I encourage people to join local, national or international activist or support groups as they feel led. LGBT+ support groups. Women’s rights groups. Abortion advocacy groups. Refugee and immigrant support groups. Public education advocacy groups. Civil rights and human rights groups. Groups opposing the death penalty or unrestricted gun ownership. Community groups or other local volunteer organisations that help homeless people, women, school students, elderly citizens, public health or welfare advocacy. Whatever groups you feel led to support due to your passion for human decency and natural justice. Because we are all in this together.
This is not just a call for people in the USA. Deporting immigrants and refugees based upon their skin colour will kill people around the world, just like it did during Trump’s first Presidency. Encouraging antigay death laws in Uganda or other nations dependent upon US economic support will spread death and hate. Allowing genocide in Ukraine or Palestine or Yemen or Sudan or Congo will diminish us all. Withdrawing humanitarian aid or spreading lies about black people as criminals or rapists will affect the world. Locking children in cages will not build a better world for our children. The rise of Trump populism will encourage a similar rise in other nations.
We can look with horror or disapproval or disgust and abhorrence at those who voted for the diminution of human rights – but what are we going to do about it?
Our collective morality must not equate with those who refused to vote. Inaction is a form of collaboration and complicity for us all.
©2024 Geoff Allshorn.