What Do We Do Now?

Subversive Joy, Insurrectionary Love

Americans have elected a misogynist, fascist, bigoted, senile, theocratic felon as president, and I am in shock and grief.

Not today, but soon, I will rise up and join all of you to mitigate the damage and redouble our efforts to create a gorgeous new world.

Let's be inspired by this traumatic tragedy to deepen our commitment to each other as we renew our crusade on behalf of beauty, truth, justice, and love.

I love you.

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The meme above has words from my book Pronoia Is the Antidote for Paranoia: How the Whole World Is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings. (Hear the text that the meme draws from here: https://tinyurl.com/ShadowBlessings.)

Here’s the question: Is pronoia still a philosophy worth wielding? Can we justify its continued viability in an age when bigoted misogynistic authoritarianism has hijacked so many imaginations?

Here’s my first answer, to be followed by more later: As I teach it, pronoia recognizes the critical necessity of acknowledging difficult truths: in this case, the fact that 74 million Americans yearn for the authoritarian rule of a demented racist rapist bigot misogynist criminal who's also a cruel sick raging daddy figure.

Understanding this devastating reality is a key step in reformulating our plans for how to build a paradise on earth.

And I guarantee we will do that. It may take longer than we wanted, but we will.

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Remember that almost 72 million Americans voted for the smart, compassionate, laughing, dancing woman who has articulated specific policies that are in alignment with 95% of our noble ideals.

Professor David Schultz, editor of the book Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter, says this: If 121,000 people in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin had shifted their vote, Harris would have won the Electoral College and become President—just as Trump did in 2016 when he got 2.9 million fewer votes than Hillary Clinton but was awarded the presidency. Source: https://tinyurl.com/SwingStatesRule

Votes are still being counted, but Harris will ultimately get more than 48% of the vote.

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A crucial task in reformulating our plans for how to build a paradise on earth is that we fully embrace the wisdom in the quote below by Audre Lorde.

More from Black lesbian feminist mother philosopher warrior poet Audre Lorde:

If you don’t define yourself for yourself then you will be crushed into others’ fantasies of you and eaten alive. —Audre Lorde

Sometimes we are blessed with being able to choose the time, and the arena, and the manner of our revolution, but more usually we must do battle where we are standing. —Audre Lorde

My fullest concentration of energy is available to me only when I integrate all the parts of who I am, openly, allowing power from particular sources of my living to flow back and forth freely through all my different selves, without the restriction of externally imposed definition. —Audre Lorde

Unless one lives and loves in the trenches, it is difficult to remember that the war against dehumanization is ceaseless. —Audre Lorde

Each time you love, love as deeply as if it were forever. —Audre Lorde

Pain is important: how we evade it, how we succumb to it, how we deal with it, how we transcend it. Pain will always either change or stop. The confidence that it will change is what makes bearing it possible. So pain is fluid. It is only when you conceive of it as something static that it is unbearable. —Audre Lorde

June Jordan once said her function as a poet was to make revolution irresistible. Well OK, that is the function of us all, as creative artists: to make the truth irresistible. —Audre Lorde

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HOW TO SURVIVE AUTHORITARIANISM

Historian Timothy Snyder tells us 20 rules for surviving authoritarianism. The meme below states the first rule. The other 19 are here: https://tinyurl.com/SurviveTrumpocalypse

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IDIOT COMPASSION

Sometimes compassion requires the discernment to identify what's dangerous to oneself, to others, and society.

We don't become any less compassionate as we face evil, pathology, and malignancy. We still continue to work hard to create love and beauty and justice. But we don't suffer from the delusion that our compassion can fix everything and everyone.

Pema Chodron says that one of the enemies of compassion is idiot compassion: “This is when we avoid conflict and protect our good image by being kind when we should definitely say 'no.'

“Compassion doesn’t only imply trying to be good. When we find ourselves in an aggressive relationship, we need to set clear boundaries. The kindest thing we can do for everyone concerned is to know when to say 'enough.'

"Many people use Buddhist ideals to justify self-debasement. In the name of not shutting our heart we let people walk all over us. It is said that in order not to break our vow of compassion we have to learn when to stop aggression and draw the line. There are times when the only way to bring down barriers is to set boundaries."

MEDIA MALFEASANCE

The corrupt malfeasance of the mainstream media was a prime cause leading to the election of the fascist goon Trump. The press has consistently "sane-washed" this terrible human being, pretending he's just another Republican candidate — as if he had the high integrity and moral scruples of previous GOP presidential candidates like Mitt Romney and John McCain.

But the fact is, Trump is a sick authoritarian abuser who has hurt many people and will continue to do so. McCain was and Romney is a genius saint by comparison.

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The US mainstream media is rotten and broken. The business has atrophied into a clique of sycophantic stenographers who are greedy for ratings and profits at the expense of truth and facts.

There’s another problem, too: As Noam Chomsky proved in his book Manufacturing Consent, powerful media publishers are not scrappy engines of inquiry getting to the root of the real truth, but rather are propaganda machines in service to wealthy and powerful white men.

Here’s a review of Manufacturing Consent: “Contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order.”

When future historians write about our era, the failure of the press—entertainers and propagandists pretending to be journalists—will explain how America surrendered to white nationalist misogynist tyranny. Americans’ inability to discern truth from fiction has much to do with this tragic decline.

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But now let’s identify excellent journalism that deserves our support and curiosity. Go here for a list of feisty truth-seekers:

https://tinyurl.com/AlternateMedia

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I don't have space to debunk all the destructive deceptions the mainstream media has perpetrated in recent years. So I will focus on one:

Among its many failures, the press has steadily neglected and refused to report the many progressive actions that the Biden-Harris administration has undertaken to enhance the lives of working-class and middle class Americans.

Contrary to the tsunami of media lies being told about why Trump won, the Democrats have NOT abandoned working-class people. On the contrary, the Biden-Harris Administration has been the most pro-union administration since FDR's. If Americans don't know this, it's because the media has failed to report it.

Read Rebecca Solnit’s wise understanding of this.

Here’s a list of many great things Biden-Harris has done for blue-collar workers and middle class people: https://tinyurl.com/HelpWorkers

Here’s abundant evidence that Kamala Harris has always been a champion of working class and middle class people: https://tinyurl.com/KamalaChampionsWorkers

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FREE WILL ASTROLOGY

Week of November 14

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): You are entering a phase when you can acquire more mastery in the arts of self-care and self-sufficiency. I hope you will become more skillful in giving yourself everything that nurtures your emotional and physical health. Have you gathered all you need to know about that subject? Probably not. Most of us haven’t. But the coming weeks will be a favorable time to make this your main research project. By the way, now is also an excellent time to kick your own ass and unbreak your own heart.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): My father was a big fan of the military. As a young man, he served as a lieutenant in the army and for a time considered making that job his career. I'm the opposite of him. I keenly avoided becoming a soldier and have always been passionately anti-war. I bring this subject to your attention because I think now is an excellent time for you to get clearer than ever about how you don't resemble your parents and don't want to be like them. Meditate on why your life is better and can get even better by not following their paths and ways. There's no need to do this with anger and blame. In fact, the healthiest approach is to be lucid, calm, and dispassionate.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): At age 49, James Patterson retired from his job as an advertising writer. Until then, he had produced a few novels in his spare time. But once free of his 9 to 5 gig, he began churning out books at a rapid pace. Now, at age 77, he has published over 305 million copies of 200+ novels, including 67 that have been #1 New York Times bestsellers. Would you like to make an almost equally memorable transition, Capricorn? The coming weeks and months will be an excellent time to plan it and launch it.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The Breakfast Club was an iconic 1985 film about teenagers coming of age. Critics liked it. At the box office, it earned 100 times more than it cost to make. Aquarian director John Hughes wrote the screenplay for the 97-minute movie in two days, on July 4 and 5 of 1982. I predict that many of you Aquarians will have a similar level of productivity in the coming weeks. You could create lasting improvements and useful goodies in short bursts of intense effort.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Ben & Jerry’s is a wildly successful ice cream maker that sells it products all over the world. Its founders are two Pisceans who met in seventh grade. Over 45 years since they launched their business, they have become renowned for their wide variety of innovative flavors and their political activism. When they first decided to work together, though, their plans were to start a bagel business. They only abandoned that idea when they discovered how expensive the bagel-making equipment was. I suspect that you are near a comparable pivot in your life, Pisces: a time to switch from one decent project to an even better one.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): You may be on the verge of the breakthrough I prophesied a while back. Remember? I said you would be searching for the solution to a boring problem, and on the way you would discover a more interesting and useful problem. That exact scenario is about to happen. I also predict that the coming weeks will be a time when you tame an out-of-control aspect of your life and infuse more wildness into an overly tame part of you. I will speculate on one further stroke of good fortune: You will attract an influence that motivates you to be more passionately pragmatic about one of your key dreams.

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TAURUS (April 20-May 20): It's time for some friendly warnings that will, if heeded, enable you to avoid problematic developments. 1. An overhaul in your self-image is looming; your persona requires tinkering. 2. Old boundaries are shifting and in some places disappearing. Be brave and draw up new boundaries. 3. Familiar allies may be in a state of flux. Help them find their new centers of gravity. 4. Potential future allies will become actual allies if you are bold in engaging them. 5. Be allergic to easy answers and simplistic solutions. Insist on the wisdom of uncertainty.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): To honor and celebrate your melancholy, I’m turning this horoscope over to Gemini author T. H. White and his superb formulation of the redemptive power of sadness. He wrote: "The best thing for being sad is to learn something. That is the only thing that never fails. You may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then—to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting."

CANCER (June 21-July 22): A Massachusetts woman named Andrea Martin loves chickens so much she treats them as family. A few years ago, she took pity on one of her favorites, a young bird named Cecily, who had been born with a damaged tendon in one of her legs. Martin arranged to have the limb amputated. Then she made a prosthetic device on a 3-D printer and had it surgically grafted onto Cecily's body. Success! The $2,500 cost was well worth it, she testified. I propose we make Andrea Martin one of your role models for the coming weeks. May she inspire you to take extra good care of and shower bonus blessings on everyone and everything you love. (PS: This will be really good for your own health.)

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Once a year, the city of Seoul in South Korea stages a Space-Out Festival. Participants compete to do absolutely nothing for 90 minutes. They are not allowed to fall asleep, talk, or check their phones. To test how well they are banishing stress, burnout, and worries, their heart rates are monitored. The winner is the person who has the slowest and most stable pulse. If there were an event like this in your part of the world sometime soon, Leo, I’d urge you to join in. I expect the winner would be a member of your astrological tribe, as you Leos now have a high potential for revitalizing relaxation. Even if you don’t compete in a Space-Out Festival, I hope you will fully cash in on this excellent chance to recharge your spiritual batteries.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): My favorite Virgos love to learn. They are eager to add to their knowledge. They have a highly honed curiosity that is always percolating, continually drawing them towards new comprehension. On the other hand, some of my favorite Virgos are inefficient at shedding long-held ideas and information that no longer serve them. As a result, their psyches may get plugged up, inerfering with their absorption of fun new input. That’s why I recommend that you Virgos engage in regular purges of your mental debris. Now would be an excellent time for one of these sessions. PS: The futurist Alvin Toffler said that a key to intelligence is the ability to learn, unlearn, and relearn. I invite you to act on that counsel.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): I endorse Libran tennis star Serena Williams' approach to self-evaluation—especially for you right now. She testified, “I'm really exciting. I smile a lot, I win a lot, and I'm really sexy.” I'm convinced you have the right to talk like that in the coming weeks—so convinced that I suggest you use it as a mantra and prayer. When you wake up each morning, say what Williams said. When you're asking life for a sweet breakthrough or big favor, remind life why it should give you what you want. Feel free to add other brags, too, like, “I’m a brilliant thinker, a persuasive negotiator, and a crafty communicator.”

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