The trolls won and progressives lost. All progressives. Everyone who cares about social justice, the environment, basic scientific research, education, and common decency. It doesn’t matter if you feel like you won because you get to say you told us so, or that you think this means Clinton voters somehow learned a lesson. You lost. I lost. My son lost. Everyone who isn’t a troll lost, regardless of your actual vote (or non-vote).
I wasn’t prepared for this. I bought into the idea that Clinton would probably win. I thought about volunteering but my busy life seemed to preclude the idea. So I chipped in a few bucks and voted and thought it would be okay. I was wrong, and I regret not doing more.
Progressives appear to be largely on their own now, at least nationally speaking. Congress, the executive branch, and our federal courts will be stacked against us. The majority in Washington will not care what we have to say. I expect that there will be a lot of destruction — this seems to be the m.o. for our new breed of right-wing radical. We won’t be able to stop most of it.
Those of us who happen to live in a deep blue state may be somewhat sheltered from the fallout, though I expect everyone will feel the pinch. There will be a significant reduction in vital services that were once provided by the federal government. Markets will probably weaken, and many people will lose their livelihoods. There are a lot of vulnerable folks out there.
So what can progressives do under these circumstances? It doesn’t seem that griping will do much good. What can we do to at least preserve some of what we have? Does it make sense to refocus our energy at the state and local levels, at least in places where it may be of some use? Do we advocate for the formation of coalitions to provide services that may be taken away at a federal level? What about public lands or climate change? What can we do for people stuck in deep red states? What’s practical and what’s legal? I don’t have any answers, but I feel like I am going to have to start thinking about politics a little bit differently.
I don’t want to just mope around for the next four years. There has to be something that we can do. Any ideas? Or is it a lost cause?