by Gary Hooser
The general mood among many in our islands was reflected in this email I received recently.
“Oh, man. Just saw the latest – They control House and Senate. We’re going to be in hell. How will we recover? They will make draconian laws. We have no recourse – there will be too many things and laws to focus on.
“All his appointees hate government. I’m scared, fearful of what’s going to happen next.”
Yes. It’s increasingly bizarre and scary.
It’s clear President-elect Trump is intentionally exacerbating the already existing discontent, distrust, and uncertainty.
Instead of trying to calm nerves, settle the unrest, and bring us together – he continues to stir the pot.
He seems intent on shoving his arrogance in our face and pushing the limits of every boundary. He will push, and threaten, and push and threaten until the streets are filled with people marching in defiance and anger – pushing back against his unstable narcissism.
Then of course he will step in with authoritarianism to solve the problems and eliminate the chaos…and he will blame it all on Democrats and “woke’s” for not cooperating.
So what to do?
We can play the armchair quarterback blame game, but the bottom line is Donald Trump won the election and will be the next President of the United States.
He won the popular vote and all 7 “battleground” states.
Republicans beat the Democrats nationally winning a majority of seats in the U.S. Senate and in the House of Representatives.
What’s next?
My initial thoughts were about the many checks and balances in place which would normally slow the actual implementation of his many threats and promises.
I’m thinking now he will frame the opposition as obstructionists, and play hardball like we’ve never seen before. He will force through the approval of his newly appointed unqualified ideologues, who will then take charge of our military, our top secrets, our international relations, our legal systems, and every single aspect of our government.
As to the streets filling with brown shirts and fascists, that’s something way beyond my pay grade to figure out, predict, or understand. All I can think of is “Lucky we live in Hawaii”.
Think global and act local. That’s my strategy for maintaining some semblance of sanity and a moving forward plan – and hoping our Governor, State Legislature, and County Council – will do the same.
We must fight back against what’s currently unfolding in Washington DC by doubling down on our local efforts, impacting our local communities. When our new president removes federal environmental protections and reduces support for public education – we must increase those protections and expand support at the state level. When he attacks already marginalized communities and cuts important government services, we must push back hard and defend our community and our values.
We must also focus immediately on the most important “disaster preparedness” issue facing our islands. The time is now, more than ever before, to get serious about food and energy self-sufficiency.
Growing our own food will expand and diversify our economy, improve our health, preserve valuable open space, and be the best insurance possible to protect us against shipping disruptions and a world gone crazy.
Increasing tax incentives for roof-top solar energy production is an obvious essential action that also must be taken now.
If we’re wrong about the future under Trump (and I hope we are), then that’s ok. After all, achieving energy and food independence, improving public education, supporting environmental protection, and treating all communities with respect and aloha — have no downside.
GARY HOOSER is a former Hawaiʻi State Senator and Majority Leader.
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