We Will Survive This Travesty

Because We're in Service to Loving Life

Further down in this newsletter, I will reference the dark possibilities that the Trumpcalypse threatens us with — and what we can do about it. But first, I will offer you a dose of vigorous, life-affirming determination. We will need a whole lot of that magic medicine in the coming months.

CULTIVATING HOLY DESIRES

I'm totally attached to giving all my heart and soul to any noble desire I am moved by. I love my noble desires. I want to make them come true because they will make the world a better place and make me a more soulful person.

In my world, being attached to my beautiful desires is a glorious and honorable thing. Being attached to my beautiful desires doesn't make me suffer; it liberates me.

So yes, I prefer to encourage us to cultivate excellent, holy desires. Here are a few I recommend:

• a desire for beguiling riddles and enchanting challenges that excite both our minds and our hearts;

• a desire for allies who share or enjoy our distinctive idiosyncrasies and eccentricities;

• a desire to attract ongoing encounters with evocative, nonstandard beauty so as to always ensure a part of us remains untamed;

• a desire to help create a world in which everyone gets the food, housing, and health care they need, including mental health care;

• a desire for energizing surprises and unpredictable fun;

• a desire to engage in group collaborations that enhance the intelligence of everyone in the group;

• a desire to keep outgrowing what worked for us in the past and a desire to ceaselessly explore renewed approaches to being ourselves;

• a desire to be playful and imaginative with our libidinous energy;

• a desire to foster and protect the health and beauty of the natural world;

• a desire for revelations and experiences that steer us away from thinking and acting like the machines we interact with so much;

• a desire to keep recreating and reinvigorating our relationships with those we love;

• a desire to steadily refine and expand our ability to learn from non-human intelligences;

• A desire to regularly refresh our quest for freedom and deepen our capacity to be free — and to hlp others to be free, too;

• a desire to move our bodies in ways that delight our souls;

• a desire to extinguish bigotry, misogyny, plutocracy, racism, and militarism.

THE TRUMPOCALYPSE

The oncoming Trumpocalypse will barrage us with reasons to be outraged and full of grief. I can hardly believe that 77 million people invited this tragic travesty to unfold, but I must acknowledge its reality.

Donald Trump will soon begin doing what he has done before, but worse. He will dramatically and grotesquely increase suffering. It’s his specialty! He is the most toxic and sinister human being to ever appear in American public life.

You think you know how bad Trump will be once he is fully unleashed? It will be even worse: https://tinyurl.com/TrumpDangers

Every awful thing Trump has promised to do: https://archive.ph/WoPQ0

The Trump presidency could wreak huge damage to America’s economy and institutions: https://archive.ph/GKg4x

ARE WE OVERREACTING?

Some people say we are overreacting. One reader told me: “I will sit back and watch as Trump accomplishes nothing except embarrassing himself. Last time he had both houses of Congress and did nothing, with reasonably intelligent people around him. This time, he will accomplish less because he is surrounded by sycophants who know nothing about government.”

Here’s my response: I don't share the hopeful view that Trump will accomplish few of his intentions. This time he has purged all the sensible associates who intervened to slow down his pathological behavior last time. And he is already proving that the media is even more eager to grovel and surrender to his insanity — and thereby collude with it.

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THE MEDIA IS DEAD, LONG LOVE THE MEDIA

To keep ourselves well-informed by actual facts and not deluded by propaganda, let’s identify excellent journalism that deserves our support and curiosity. Go here for a list of feisty truth-seekers: tinyurl.com/AlternateMedia

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THE HARD TRUTHS

Marc Elias of Democracy Docket (democracydocket.com) is a crucial resource. He wrote all the words in the section below.

“One month after the election of Donald Trump I feel more certain about who he is and what he aims to achieve but less certain about who stands in opposition to him. Trump is an aspiring dictator who aims to aggregate his power to reward his friends and punish his enemies.

“His nominations are neither surprising nor unexpected. He is elevating his henchmen to key positions without shame or explanation. He seeks to convert the power of the state to a personal arsenal. He wants to transform government policy to enrich himself, his family and his cronies.

“As I said, none of this is unexpected. It was both predictable and predicted. Not only by me, but by countless politicians, journalists and civic and business leaders. For months leading up to Election Day there were warnings nearly every day of what would happen if he was returned to power — Project 2025, weaponizing the government, staffing his cabinet with unqualified people loyal to him rather than the nation.

“What has surprised me, depressed me and ultimately angered me are the voices that have gone silent. So many who were so loud in warning about the dangers of Trump now speak only in whispers if at all. The critics who were bold and brash when they thought Harris would win are now tamed and seeking accommodation. Media figures who claimed to be the bastion of protection for our democracy now make pilgrimages to temper Trump’s anger.

“Martin Luther King Jr. said that “the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge.” We are in a time of challenge. The question for every leader, every citizen is where do you stand?

“One of the most common refrains I now hear is that people are exhausted and want to tune out politics. I’m sorry you are tired, but you don’t get to claim you are fighting for democracy only when you think your side will win. It is a fight precisely because the other side may prevail. It is exactly in those times that we need your voice, your energy and your action.

“Others confess they want to avoid the fight because they are scared. They worry about what Trump might do to them, their families and their jobs. They take Trump literally and seriously when he talks about retribution. They fear the financial, emotional and legal toll of a politically motivated investigation.

“It is okay to be afraid. It is natural to worry about what Trump and his minions might do. It is a productive to plan to stay safe, secure, and sane in a time of uncertainty and insanity. But do you think you will survive that way for four years? Do you really think Trump will spare you because you now show obedience?

“He won’t. Trump is a bully and bullies prey on the weak. They understand the power of fear and exploit it. Capitulating to Trump now — even before he has been sworn in — makes you more vulnerable, not less.

“When he was 28 and living in the Jim Crow South, King gave another, less famous speech that speaks to our times. He spoke about the need to confront fear with courage.

“Courage breeds creative self‐affirmation; cowardice breeds destructive self-abnegation. Courage faces fear and thereby masters it; cowardice represses fear and is thereby mastered by it. So we must constantly build dykes of courage to ward off the flood of fear.

“My ask of you is this: don’t disengage. It is okay to be fearful, but don’t let it rule you. As King said, ‘build dykes of courage to ward off the flood of fear.’ Start with a simple act of telling a friend that what Trump is doing is wrong. When you have built up the courage, tell a larger group or post it online. When you are ready, join a group or civic organization aimed at protecting our democracy.

“If you are a leader who previously boasted about your pro-democracy positions, you have a greater obligation. If you feel obliged to obey Trump, spare us your justifications and rationalizations and just tell us you are too scared to continue the fight. If you feel the need to bow down, then stand down and let someone else with more courage take your spot.

“Unfortunately, too many legacy media outlets may have catchy slogans but have already chosen to bow down. They hide behind false neutrality and journalistic “ethics” as an excuse to do nothing. I started Democracy Docket to be fearlessly independent and unapologetically pro-democracy. It will always stand tall. It will not obey.

“Donald Trump has not yet taken office. The abuses of his administration have not yet begun. It is going to get worse, much worse. We need to stand up in opposition not for a month or two but for four years or more. To do that, we cannot allow ourselves or our leaders to be too tired. We must insist they have courage or get out of the way.”

More from Marc Elias: facebook.com/democracydocket

AMERICA CHOSE THE MONSTER

John Pavolvitz writes: America chose the monster. It chose the hatred, the fear, the nihilism, the separation. The question of why is too sprawling and nebulous to answer. The essential question now becomes: are there enough of us left who refuse to let us become a monstrous nation? Are we still willing to fight for the beautiful things?

More by John Pavlovitz: tinyurl.com/ChoseTheMonster

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How to survive the broligarchy: 20 lessons for the post-truth world: tinyurl.com/6ue3hwpb

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We CAN and MUST resist Trump's authoritarianism: tinyurl.com/ResistDespondency

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Three tips for surviving the next few months: tinyurl.com/c4jtkt7r

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WANT TO GET YOUR ASTROLOGICAL CHART READ?

If you want your personal chart done, I recommend a colleague whose approach to reading astrology charts matches my own. She's my wife, RO LOUGHRAN. Her website's here: https://www.roloughran.com

Ro utilizes a blend of well-trained intuition, emotional warmth, and technical proficiency in horoscope interpretation. She is skilled at exploring the mysteries of your life's purpose and nurturing your connection with your inner wisdom.

In addition to over 30 years of astrological experience, Ro has been a licensed psychotherapist for 25 years. This enables her to integrate psychological insight with the cosmological perspective that astrology offers.

Ro can do phone consultations and work with you regardless of geographic boundaries. Her website at https://www.roloughran.com

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

For the Week of December 19

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): One of my paramount wishes for you in 2025 is this: You will deepen your devotion to taking good care of yourself. You will study and learn more about the sweet secrets to keeping yourself in prime mental and physical health. I’m not suggesting you have been remiss about this sacred work in the past. But I am saying that this will be a favorable time to boost your knowledge to new heights about what precisely keeps your body and emotions in top shape. The creative repertoire of self-care that you cultivate in the coming months will serve you well for the rest of your long life.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): To fulfill your life mission, to do what you came here to earth to do, you must carry out many tasks. One of the most important is to offer your love with hearty ingenuity. What are the best ways to do that? Where should you direct your generous care and compassion? And which recipients of your blessings are likely to reciprocate in ways that are meaningful to you? While Jupiter is cruising through Gemini, as it is now and until June 2025, life will send you rich and useful answers to these questions. Be alert!

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Mysteries of the past will be extra responsive to your investigations in 2025. Persistent riddles from your life’s earlier years may be solvable. I encourage you to be aggressive in collecting previously inaccessible legacies. Track down missing heirlooms and family secrets. Just assume that ancestors and dead relatives have more to offer you than ever before. If you have been curious about your genealogy, the coming months will be a good time to explore it. I wish you happy hunting as you search for the blessings of yesteryear—and figure out how to use them in the present.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): If you worked eight hours per day, seven days a week, it would take you 300 years to count to the number one billion. I don't recommend you try that. I also discourage you from pursuing any other trivial tasks that have zero power to advance your long-term dreams. In a similar spirit, I will ask you to phase out minor longings that distract you from your major longings. Please, Aries, I also beg you to shed frivolous obsessions that waste energy you should instead devote to passionate fascinations. The counsel I'm offering here is always applicable, of course, but you especially need to heed it in the coming months.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In 1951, minister and author Norman Vincent Peale was working on a new book. As he wrote, he would regularly read passages to his wife, Ruth. She liked it a lot, but he was far less confident in its worth. After a while, he got so discouraged he threw the manuscript in the trash. Unbeknownst to him, Ruth retrieved it and stealthily showed it to her husband's publisher, who loved it. The book went on to sell five million copies. Its title? The Power of Positive Thinking. I hope that in 2025, you will benefit from at least one equivalent to Ruth in your life, Taurus. Two or three would be even better. You need big boosters and fervent supporters. If you don't have any, go round them up.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I love how colorfully the creek next to my house expresses itself. As high tide approaches, it flows south. When low tide is on its way, it flows north. The variety of its colors is infinite, with every shade and blend of green, grey, blue, and brown. It's never the same shape. Its curves and width are constantly shifting. Among the birds that enhance its beauty are mallards, sandpipers, herons, grebes, egrets, and cormorants. This magnificent body of water has been a fascinating and delightful teacher for me. One of my wishes for you in 2025, Gemini, is that you will commune regularly with equally inspiring phenomena. I also predict you will do just that. Extra beauty should be on your agenda!

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CANCER (June 21-July 22): Just 81 billionaires have commandeered half of the world's wealth. Even worse, those greedy hoarders are usually taxed the least. That’s hard to believe! How is it even possible that such a travesty has come to pass? I also wonder if many of us non-billionaires have milder versions of these proclivities. Are there a few parts of me that get most of the goodies that my life provides, while other parts of me get scant attention and nourishment? The answer is yes. For example, the part of me that loves to be a creative artist receives much of my enthusiasm, while the part of me that enjoys socializing gets little juice. How about you, Cancerian? I suggest you explore this theme in the coming weeks and months. Take steps to achieve greater parity between the parts of you that get all they need and the parts of you that don’t.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Anthropologist Robin Dunbar theorizes that most of us have limits to our social connections. Typically, our closest circle includes five loved ones. We may also have 15 good friends, 50 fond allies, 150 meaningful contacts, and 1500 people we know. If you are interested in expanding any of these spheres, Leo, the coming months will be an excellent time to do so. In addition, or as an alternative, you might also choose to focus on deepening the relationships you have with existing companions and confederates.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century. It was written by a Virgo, Harriet Beecher Stowe. Her story about the enslavement of African Americans in the US was not only popular. It awakened many people to the intimate horrors of the calamity—and ultimately played a key role in energizing the abolitionist movement. I believe you are potentially capable of achieving your own version of that dual success in the coming months. You could generate accomplishments that are personally gratifying even as they perform a good service for the world.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): According to my reading of the astrological omens, you will be teased with an abundance of invitations to grow in 2025. You will be encouraged to add to your current skills and expertise. You will be nudged to expand your understanding of what exactly you are doing here on planet Earth. That’s not all, Libra! You will be pushed to dissolve shrunken expectations, transcend limitations, and learn many new lessons. Here’s my question: Will you respond with full heart and open mind to all these possibilities? Or will you sometimes neglect and avoid them? I dare you to embrace every challenge that interests you.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Scorpio-born Rudolf Karel was a 20th-century Czech composer who created 17 major works, including symphonies and operas. His work was interrupted when Nazi Germany invaded and occupied his homeland. He joined the Czech resistance, but was eventually arrested and confined to Pankrác Prison. There he managed to compose a fairy-tale opera, Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man. No musical instruments were available in jail, of course, so he worked entirely in his imagination and wrote down the score using toilet paper and charcoal. I firmly believe you will not be incarcerated like Karel in the coming months, Scorpio. But you may have to be extra resourceful and resilient as you find ways to carry out your best work. I have faith that you can do it!

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): What is the perfect gift I could offer you this holiday season? I have decided on a large square black box with nothing inside. There would be a gold ribbon around it bearing the words, "The Fruitful Treasure of Pregnant Emptiness." With this mysterious blessing, I would be fondly urging you to purge your soul of expectations and assumptions as you cruise into 2025. I would be giving you the message, “May you nurture a freewheeling voracity for novel adventures and fresh experiences.”

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