TRUMP

CALAMITY LOOMS 215
Hah... Oh shit. Apocalypses are frequently closer than you think, and
tend to take people by surprise.
For the sake of our sanity, it’s necessary to assume that this isn’t true.
We must act as if we are not all about to die, as if the sky will not fall.
(And who knows? It might not.) If we become resigned, if we start to
feel doomed and hopeless, we are liable to produce a highly dangerous
self-fulfilling prophecy. This has to be a moment of action rather than
despair. Just how disastrous Trump turns out to be depends in large part
on how progressives act in response. If they keep themselves focused
on the issues where Trump is weakest, they can keep public opinion
against him and sap his political capital. If they rebuild themselves into
a persuasive and principled opposition, Trump may have to back down
on some of his extreme policies. On the other hand, if the “resistance”
is characterized by Meryl Streep telling Americans that football sucks,
and Keith Olbermann draping himself in an American flag and ranting
about Putin, 663 the left is unlikely to win many converts.
What, then, does the election of Donald Trump actually mean?
Here is the important point: nobody knows. Anybody who says they
know doesn’t know. This election is, first and foremost, a repudiation of
the establishment, which means that the wisdom of pundits, experts,
and elites has been proven hollow. So in trying to interpret this event,
do not listen to those who insist they know things, or who confidently
offer a new round of predictions for what will happen. We’ve entered
the Age of the Unpredictable.