The new Republican presidency-congress in the United States as well as developments in other countries mean that in addition to the illiberalism we have had so far, there is more – perhaps worse – to come.
So how should liberals respond?
Here are three suggestions, humbly put forward.
1. Do not respond, if you can, to catastrophism. You are going to think how bad things can be, and will project this on to the other side. You will then react to what your mind has conjured up. Even if those projections are plausible, this will exhaust you quickly. You will have little energy or focus left for what they do come up with.
2. Do not respond, if you can, to what the illiberals say they will do. They will goad you and frighten you, as they enjoy “owning the libs”. They like the sound it makes, the reactions they can get. Again, even if these threats are plausible, reacting to each bare threat will exhaust you quickly. You will again have little energy or focus left for what they do come up with.
3. Respond, if you can, to what they actually do – not what you fear they will do, or even what they say they will do. What they actually will do will be bad enough, and will need your energy and focus. The illiberals will hope – and expect – that all the noise and fears under (1) and (2) will mean that by the time they do put measures forward, they will have little opposition.
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As Margo Channing in All About Eve said, we are are in for a bumpy ride.
We don’t need to make it even bumpier for ourselves.
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All good advice. What I would add is that when hearing about things that might happen or even things that supposedly have happened, don’t trust any source enough to forgo your own research. Test everything. If something seems outrageous, it may not be quite what it appears.
Liberals like to think we are superior. Our news sources don’t distort. That’s the other side. Except that’s not entirely true, and we have our own blinkers and susceptibility to confirmation bias and other fallacies.
Most importantly, don’t let them (anyone) make you angry and try not to be made to feel afraid. Anger and fear are powerful emotions that operators understand how to manipulate. When we are angry or afraid, we become irrational and don’t make good decisions.
The truth is usually somewhere in the middle of the two extremes, even if it’s perhaps closer to our side (because we’re better).
I couldn’t agree more.
Trump’s initial actions, such as his ludicrously inappropriate cabinet picks, are intended to “own the libs”. It’s an orgy of provocation. Liberals have no need to react, just watch them fail as they inevitably will. What is said in response won’t change what will happen.
An excellent post David – Carole Cadwalladr in the Observer yesterday made it into twenty points, not just three!
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/17/how-to-survive-the-broligarchy-20-lessons-for-the-post-truth-world-donald-trump
For myself, I found that renewed focus on the things that are in my control and reduced focus on things that aren’t in my control has helped.
Related to that, finally deactivating my account at the hellsite formerly known as Twitter was refreshing.
Good piece, thank you.
Do you have any thoughts on Nesrine Malik’s article today “Behind Trump’s victory lies a cold reality: liberals have no answers for a modern age in crisis”?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/18/donald-trump-victory-liberals-modern-crisis-neoliberal
Fair advice.
I suspect there might be a deliberate attempt to toy with, hint and leak the ‘catastrophic’ with the aim of softening the impact of what subsequently unfolds in reality.
“It’s not as bad as it could have been” can make people more tolerant of ‘This is still as bad as it’s ever been’?
Not every Republican representative is going to bow to Trump’s worst whims and impulses, but they’ll have to carefully pick their battles.
Excellent advice, thanks! To be applied to many situations.
In the year 2000, I accepted a job at Ave Maria College of the Americas, a conservative Catholic institution funded by Tom Monaghan. I was not happy, and I recognized that it was Monaghan’s institution and it would be run his way. So I found a new job, teaching at a university that is run by the State of Florida (although my campus is in the Republic of Panama). I was prepared to take a modest cut in net income to gain academic freedom. My new boss is Ron DeSantis, and Trump’s win will empower him as he shakes up the system.
Of course, all I can do for the moment is try to do the job I’m paid to do to the best of my ability. I draw strength from the final words of R. G. Collingwood’s Autobiography:
“I know that Fascism means the end of clear thinking and the triumph of irrationalism. I know that all my life I have been engaged unawares in a political struggle, fighting against these things in the dark. Henceforth I shall fight in the daylight.”
Interestingly, virtually all catastrophism comes from the left. Whether it be mass unemployment and catastrophe for the economy, should we have the temerity to vote for Brexit. 500,000 deaths and overwhelmed hospitals from Covid unless we are all locked into our homes. Climate catastrophe if there are four Co2 molecules in every 10,000 molecules in the air rather than three. Or it is the end of democracy and the coming of Hitler 2 if Trump gets elected.
If only I were allowed to post something irksome.
Brexit did negatively affect the economy. Without vaccines, social distancing was the only way to control COVID19 infections. (We were never locked in our homes.) Human activity is warming the climate. These aren’t ideas of the left, they are moderate and centrist.
Trump has promised populist solutions and characterised the Democrats as the cause of the problems (they are hardly “the left”). No one sensible says he will be Hitler 2, but Trump clearly wants to act as a dictator. With Congress and the Supreme Court on his side he can do that.
This article was about not making knee jerk reactions to Trump’s election victory. Fears of the end of democracy in the USA may never happen. If it does, there isn’t much we can do about it, except learn the lesson.
Catastrophism is a trait that is prevalent in people who are particularly thoughtful and sensitive, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that it manifests more in those who call themselves liberal than in others who, as an example, are characterised by white nationalist sympathies.
I only need to mention Trump’s continual claims that undocumented migrants were ruining the US to refute what you say. All political viewpoints tend to present a worst case scenario in order to be heard, and I would not call this catastrophism. Brexit is indeed having serious effects on Britain, Covid did indeed kill many thousands, and Trump is indeed, though not a Hitler, a serious threat to democracy.
Excellent advice. Thank you, DAG. Though it will be hard to give up doomscrolling, having been largely addicted to it for the last eight years.
My hesitation about this advice is that it would prevent us from preparing for the worst while hoping for the best.
When trying to figure out what Europe should do now, we have to look ahead and develop scenarios. We can’t be reactive and wait for Trump to actually do something.
For example, if we think there’s a plausible scenario where Trump will not comply with the US obligations under art 5 of the NATO treaty, that has consequences for how much we should spend on defence and for what we should spend that money on. That is true even if that scenario is only the most pessimistic scenario among a handful.
Bette Davis was incomparable in the part,
Thank you David for this sensible, timely and transferable advice. I shall refer to it often.
“So in the future, remember to retreat into this little plot of earth that is truly your own, and above all, do not distress or overstrain yourself, but preserve your freedom, and look at things as a man, a human being, a citizen, a mortal creature. And among the precepts which you keep most closely at hand for frequent reference, let the following be included: firstly, that things of themselves have no hold on the mind, but stand motionless outside it, and all disturbances arise solely from the opinions within us; and secondly, that all that you presently behold will change in no time whatever and cease to exist; and constantly reflect on how many such changes you yourself have already witnessed.
Marcus Aurelius
Good advice. There is something practical we can all do, however. Some sort of “defensive” constitutional reform is a good example.
The 99% Organisation has begun a campaign for such reform. I do suggest you read about the project. The link is here:
https://99-percent.org/projects/constitutional-reform-to-prevent-uk-democracy-succumbing-to-bad-actors-in-or-outside-government/