That Trump and Covid could be a gift sounds outlandish, callous even, to the millions of people who have suffered since 2016 at the hands of cruel policies and wilful incompetence. But I’d suggest that Trump and Covid have been trial runs; tests of our institutions that have found gaping holes. Our lesson is to rebuild back better – before we are faced with more capable and relentless foes.
Trump’s ‘unique’ approach blasted through an American political establishment used to people playing by certain rules. His talent for attention seeking came at a time when Silicon Valley’s social media platforms were at their most powerful and least regulated. Next time, the authoritarian won’t be as thin-skinned, self-obsessed and surrounded by incompetent, servile people. Despite this terrifying presidency and a shocking pandemic response, he increased his vote, increased the share of the vote from all minorities and down-ballot Republicans gained over Democrats. Much of what he stood for was validated by the voters, while they removed this incarnation of it.
Covid is a truly awful pandemic but it could have been (and may still be) more deadly and more viral. More so, it’s a warning from our planet that the whole system is failing. We’re sliding fast towards out of control feedback loops, with melting ice caps absorbing more heat and dying rainforests reducing their ability to absorb CO2.
In action movies, the hero is often bound and chained while humanity, or his kidnapped loved one, faces certain annihilation. It seems – pending surprising moves by a man more interested in tweeting his victimhood than actually planning a coup – that the hero has now escaped from the chains. But this is where the work starts. Let’s immediately get to work on saving humanity – no exaggeration. This means we need to create a new society in which institutions and the rule of law thrive, people feel heard, inequality shrinks and the planet heals. Then the heroes, and more likely heroines, can relax and bask in the applause.
There’s only four years so there’ll be a temptation to start running fast and building immediately. I hope there can be in parallel a national ‘listening tour’, bringing in people across the aisle, while not watering down the change ambition. The dialogue needs to have elements of a non-judgemental Truth and Reconciliation Commission; not about pardoning but as a sounding board and audit for what happened. My hunch is that one of the winning strategies that will emerge is the need to go local; building back local, inclusive, intergenerational communities. Looking forward to hearing how these conversations go, so we can start to make the most of these ‘gifts’ that we’ve been given.
