It is so difficult to coordinate my thoughts; I am still grieving the consequences of the election of Donald Trump as future President of the United States. It is so challenging, and unexpected (and yet so expected, given what I know about emotional process). It also is a disaster as regards the management of global warming.

Pertinent responses by others include:

• Shocked, Grieving, And All In For All Life, The Climate Mobilization, 20161110
• Dear Mr. Trump, Avaaz, 20161110
• Trump, climate and us: A letter to those who won’t give up, David Suzuki Foundation, 20161109
• The United States Is Not About to Spiral Into Fascism and Tyranny, Mother Jones, 20161110

The best metaphor I have encountered regarding this situation is that this is the Pearl Harbor of our times. And if I truly accept this, it ultimately means either civil war, military coup, or world war. Sooner or later, one of these is likely to be the outcome as the Trump Organization pushes its brand of tyranny.

Alternatively, it might mean maturity of our species, if we can see beyond the struggle for power. Aside from the huge outcry that is occurring in the many other responses I have seen, I have always maintained that global warming is not a technological issue; it is a symptom of our immaturity as a species. As such, the long-term impact of this election and the consequences are yet to be determined.

In any event, two things stand out for me:

• tyranny is not responsive to rationality; the needed response is that of self-differentiation, and
• in the tradition of the Chinese curse, we are living in interesting times.

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I am currently reading George Marshall’s Don’t Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired To Ignore Climate Change (2014, New York, NY: Bloomsbury). It is offering me some fascinating insights into the difficulty of response to these kinds of issues. I will be commenting on it further in the next few posts.