This week we decided we have to talk about the results of the American election.

  • Not to get into the fray about whether the result was good or bad but to talk about where we all go from here.
  • Not to assume that president elect Trump will be as bigoted or misogynistic as he seems but to discuss what our options are if he is.
  • Not to get caught up in the negativity and divisiveness but to look for possible positives and common ground.

BUT, there are some troubling signs that Trump intends to carry on with the racism, misogyny and environmental recklessness that was evident in his campaign. Here are some of his appointments that are raising concerns:

  • Steve Bannon – the executive chairman of the far-right website Breitbart News is now the Whitehouse Chief Strategist. Nancy Pelosi, the US house minority leader said “there must be no sugar coating the reality that a white nationalist has been named chief strategist for the Trump administration.”
  • Myron Ebell- “Donald Trump just hired a well-known climate denier funded by ExxonMobil to head up his transition team and the EPA transition.Under Myron Ebell’s watch, Trump’s agenda for his first 100 days in office will be a disaster for the climate — because both Ebell and Trump believe climate change is a hoax.Right now, the plan is to pull out of the Paris climate deal, repeal President Obama’s limits on pollution from coal plants, lift the restrictions on shale gas, oil, fracking and coal, and bring devastating projects like Keystone XL project back from the dead.”

The above is from a SumofUs.org email. For more information go to SumofUs.org

There are a couple of articles that we felt were worth sharing from the Huffington Post and Yes! Magazine:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ed-and-deb-shapiro/finding-your-peace-in-unc_b_12931994.html?

http://www.yesmagazine.org/people-power/how-cities-can-protect-people-threatened-by-trumpism-20161111?utm_source=YTW&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=20161111

And of course our favourite writer Charles Eisenstein has something to say about it in his latest offering:

“We live in a civilization that has robbed nearly all of us of deep community, intimate connection with nature, unconditional love, freedom to explore the kingdom of childhood, and so much more. The acute trauma endured by the incarcerated, the abused, the raped, the trafficked, the starved, the murdered, and the dispossessed does not exempt the perpetrators. They feel it in mirror image, adding damage to their souls atop the damage that compels them to violence. Thus it is that suicide is the leading cause of death in the U.S. military. Thus it is that addiction is rampant among the police. Thus it is that depression is epidemic in the upper middle class. We are all in this together.”

Here is a really interesting article pointing to the rise of authoritarianism as the source of Trumps support – definitely worth a read if you want to understand the “movement” that Trump tapped into:

http://www.vox.com/2016/3/1/11127424/trump-authoritarianism

We spoke with our guest host Gary Tacon as he’s in the US right now and experiencing the aftermath first hand.