2024 Election: The Morning Aftershock
We hoped for the best, now we must prepare for the worst
Dear Readers,
I went to bed before Trump reached 270 electoral votes, but I was already certain of what was coming; even so, it didn’t soften the blow upon waking. Some will say we shouldn’t be shocked by the outcome of this election—I say fuck that. I never want to stop being shocked by stupidity, hypocrisy, corruption, greed, and cruelty. To be anything less is to surrender to cynicism, to let go of hope.
Yes, I sometimes fear we may be too far gone—that Americans have lost their capacity for critical thinking, that facts have become casualties in the battle for influence and power, that the world, or at least this country, has turned permanently upside down. And yet, I’m constitutionally incapable of giving up. I know progress is a long haul and a lifetime commitment. Win or lose, those of us who believe in justice have to keep fighting for it as long as we are able.
So here we are, not at the end of the road but at an extremely treacherous detour. It’s too early in the day to pivot to what resistance might look like in the coming years, and I don’t want to add to your overwhelm right now. But I will say this: building community and bolstering local power will be critical in the coming years. I look forward to working alongside you.
Keep loving, keep fighting.
Chloe
Some wise words from Rebecca Solnit: Gather offline. Find your people. You don't have to plan anything right away but maybe you want to just plan to meet again, to be in solidarity with each other, maybe to be equipped to protect those who will be attacked. It's a good time to not be alone and help each other not be alone. But you don't have to organize right now. We find comfort in each other in person. I'm doing it.
Count me in!