The more benign view of the Trump election is that it’s precisely what to expect in today’s social media/tech addicted orgy of screen time that dominates our world now. He’s an entertainer in a world that can’t be stuffed with anything any more demanding.
We’re exhausted. The fight for right and rights, for a decent quality of life, for survival in an extreme climate. It’s drained our resources and our impulse to act is strangled by the unrelenting side show alley that’s politics now – wherever we live in the world.
It didn’t matter what Trump said or did. In fact, the more outlandish the better. The Russians were strangely silent this time around, but were they also quiet? Technology has planted itself so deep into our souls these days, it knows what will stir us and what will fall flat. So, you might not be surprised if someone leant in and whispered that the assassination plot was a piece of brilliant political theatre. So too the dance party instead of questions and answers. The confusion and lies in our media have now successfully scrambled real and imaginary conspiracies.
Trump understood the crowds were there for bread and circuses. Stuff the untangling of this deepening mess or complex plans to get us out of it.
In the face of little hope, the crowds bay for quick hits – easy wins and short ideas. They want a great America. They want to beat China. They want a showman’s quick fix to end the annihilation in Gaza and Ukraine. The Middle East is “over there”. So too Europe. The US is safe. Let’s retract, like they did in the Middle Ages, pull up the drawbridge and have a party.
This is a Hollywood fantasy. And only an entertainer can make it happen.
Bad luck for when we all pile out of the theatre and blink in the harsh hot sun so we can skirt the rubbish piled up on the street, fighting for space with the homeless people like it does in San Fran.
Thank you Big Tech for delivering us “dumb” again – a Dark Ages in the popular understanding of the word. In the midst of plenty, for some. In the midst of the biggest boost to god-challenging (artificial) intelligence in the history of the world. But where media is controlled by the cyber presses, shackled by their expense, gated by their algorithms.
Clean energy technologies will continue to outcompete fossil fuels, not just because they are healthier, faster, cleaner and more abundant, but because they undercut fossil fuels where they are at their weakest: their unsolvable volatility and inefficiency.
Hello, the Don and Elon show.
If they could stick to their patch – well it’s still a sovereign country and we’re not sure what devils those two have done a deal with – but sadly they’re like tech and AI itself; this is the Melbourne Cup track we all have to run.
But guess what?
If you want to find the most intelligent people in the world, the most creative, interesting and innovative and with a heart of gold, they’re here. In our patch.
This movement to make this planet great again is unstoppable because it cuts across all borders and all humanity.
There were brilliant words starting to trickle through on the internet we’ve still got access to (not the one that Musk might soon design for us) within hours of the result becoming clear.
The amazing climate warrior Christiana Figueres said:
“The result from this election will be seen as a major blow to global climate action, but it cannot and will not halt the changes underway to decarbonise the economy and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.
“Standing with oil and gas is the same as falling behind in a fast moving world. Clean energy technologies will continue to outcompete fossil fuels, not just because they are healthier, faster, cleaner and more abundant, but because they undercut fossil fuels where they are at their weakest: their unsolvable volatility and inefficiency.
“Meanwhile, the vital work happening in communities everywhere to regenerate our planet and societies will continue, imbued with a new, even more determined spirit today. Being here in South Africa for The Earthshot Prize makes clear that there is an antidote to doom and despair. It’s action on the ground, and it’s happening in all corners of the Earth.”
Professor Wayne Visser, “pracademic” of regenerative business, Fellow at Cambridge University and author, gave 10 reasons not to give up hope because “we lost a battle, not the war. We are a movement, not an election campaign.”
1. Trump is part of an institutional system with checks and balances in the US and a global system that is bigger than America. Look for better leadership wherever it exists.
2. Trump is the embodiment of unsustainable and irresponsible leadership. It is easier to achieve a united force when the opposition is clear. Join with others in solidarity.
3. Trump will try to reverse trends like climate action and renewables that are already past the tipping point. Trust economics and the market to win over political rhetoric.
4. Trump has promised to cancel the Inflation Reduction Act, but more Republicans are benefiting from IRA projects than Democrats. Keep communicating the benefits.
5. Trump does not determine how you spend your time, where you put your energy and resources, or how you make your impact. Focus on what you can control.
6. Trump ran on immigration and the economy. But the problems of climate, nature loss, inequality and women’s rights are not going away. Keep working on solutions.
7. Trump has captured the Republicans, but there’s dissent and dissatisfaction in the Party. Most ordinary people do not want chaos and division. Be the voice of conciliation.
8. Trump is a nationalist and an isolationist. That plays well for populism, but the greater trend is towards integration and connection. Stay on the side of internationalism.
9. Trump, along with Musk, wants to create an oligarchy like Russia – or even a plutocracy. But many wealthy leaders do not support him. Keep supporting servant leaders.
10. Trump can seem like a dementor from Harry Potter – sucking the light from our world. But it only takes one candle to banish the darkness. Keep kindling your flame.
11. (Bonus reason). Trump thinks he’s an all-powerful leader. But complex living systems (like societies) self-organise. Leadership is distributed. Be the creative leader you are.
David Shukman from the BBC outlined fierce headwinds on the planetary battle but added:
“As Ade Thomas points out, Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act hoses money to Republican states which won’t want to lose it. And Elon Musk will presumably make sure that EVs continue to thrive.
If you’re a US company that just wants the cheapest source of electricity, are you really going to push for coal? Surely a rooftop of solar still makes business sense, whoever is in power.
A Trump victory doesn’t make the climate problem magically go away at a time when people are less forgiving of government failure. As Katharine Hayhoe puts it, a hurricane doesn’t care how you voted when it rips your roof off and floods your basement. The case for making ourselves safer will only get stronger. And look how Spain’s head of state was treated in the ruins of Valencia.
And compared to the last Trump term, there’s a far larger number of people now engaged in some way in tackling climate change. New sectors, new industries, new careers. The vocabulary may be toned down in the US but the global effort can continue and may even be energised. Ingmar Rentzhog is right about this. And Elena Doms sums up the task ahead nicely: work harder, work smarter.
So, what’s the thing to do if things get unbearably tough?
There only one thing – keep going.
Momentum builds its own “excitable” neurons and pathways. It’s our secret weapon.
The future is just around the next corner – we’ll see it in just a jiffy, just as we shape it.
From Wikipedia: A neuron, neurone,[1] or nerve cell is an excitable cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network in the nervous system. Neurons communicate with other cells via synapses, which are specialised connections that commonly use minute amounts of chemical neurotransmitters to pass the electric signal from the presynaptic neuron to the target cell through the synaptic gap.