Sometimes crisis has to precede fundamental change - Dick Rauscher

I’ve received many emails in the last 24 hours regarding the election results. Here are some of my thoughts…………..

I too was disappointed that Hillary didn’t win the election. On the positive side, like every new President coming into office, Trump will not be able to follow through on many of the promises he made during the run-up to the election.

In the meantime, I believe Trump will bring a new sense of hope for our nation. I think he will become a force for positive change. Here’s why I believe this to be true.

Sometimes crisis has to precede fundamental change.

Once the shock and disappointment have been processed by those who found the words and attitudes of Trump frightening and disruptive to many of the core values of our nation, I believe this election is going to awaken the consciousness of our nation. It may have to get worse for a while but as the smoke clears, I believe the American people will wake up to the reality of the world we live in. We will waken to the reality that we have to do a better job of embracing change. We’ve been resisting fundamental change and “pushing the river” for too long.

The middle class has been struggling for decades. Wealth inequality is destroying our democracy. The findings of our environmental scientists are warning us that global warming is a reality, not an opinion. We’ve been accepting the same old, same old, anti-science politics funded by 1% for twenty plus years. We have avoided dealing with the real consequences of global climate change; changes are already becoming increasingly evident in the last few years.

Compromise, Cooperation, & Mutual Benefit

As I’ve been writing about for years, primitive ego-driven black and white inflexible ideological thinking (Tea Party thinking) is not the answer if we want to create a strong democracy. A strong democracy is built on compromise and cooperation. Evolution has been teaching us that simple reality for a long time. Compromise, cooperation and mutual benefit for all is how living systems survive…..not survival of the fittest and richest.

Unfortunately, our childhood primitive ego would rather have change without crisis…..but I don’t believe that is possible.

The only viable way forward for our nation and our planet has to be mutual benefit and common good for every person on the planet…..and every living species. Again, nature and evolution have been clear on that message. We have refused to listen to nature because it would require massive change and disruption (crisis, chaos) in how we structure human civilization. A good example of this reality is what will happen if we actually begin to wean ourselves from our current petroleum-based human civilization. Everything would change! Human civilization as we know it would change. Stated simply, we would experience massive change (crisis, chaos).

As I said above, sometimes crisis has to precede fundamental change. When real change is necessary, crisis is our friend…..and right now our nation and our planet need to embrace real change. However, I don’t believe the changes we need to embrace will happen until the universe provides the level of crisis necessary for humanity to awaken its consciousness. The crisis and chaos that precedes changes we need to make will create a lot of pain and suffering for a lot of people……but nature is clear…..change “is” the path forward. And crisis is the driving force that creates that change.

The changes we need to make are far too big for us to embrace without an awakening of the human consciousness; an awakening that will be created and sustained by the crisis and chaos that global warming, wealth inequality, the lack of mutual benefit and common good, and overpopulation are going to provide.

I’m concerned that many of those who voted for Trump are going to be disappointed in what he can accomplish. Because he is used to being in charge, I suspect Trump is going to experience just how difficult it is to get things accomplished when every decision he makes runs into political blow-back…..inside and outside of his party.

A lot of people in our nation have been struggling and ignored for decades. Fortunately, we do live in a democracy and they found their voice in this election. But I fear the real economic stress they are struggling with will not be addressed as effectively as they are hoping for. I doubt they will see the changes they are hoping for. But real change is necessary; we have been ignoring poverty and a declining middle class for two generations. The work is not finished.

Summary

With or without Trump, our political system and nature are both telling us change is coming…..and it will likely be pretty disruptive to life as we know it.

I believe being better prepared for the changes that are coming makes a lot of sense.

We need to embrace mutual benefit for all living systems and become more sustainable in the way we live…….not just as a culture, but as individuals. We are putting far too much faith in the “systems” that support our current way of life…..for example our electric power grids, our petroleum-based human culture, our food sources (all transported by petroleum), our fresh water (impacted by global climate change), natural gas (dangers in fracking) to heat our homes, and droughts created by increasing global climate change.

Stated simply, we are relying too much on the “system” and I think we need to better prepare for change and the probable “disruption” of the services we depend on. We need to embrace the safety and sustainability that solar, home gardens, fruit trees, alternative heating systems, community gardens, localized services, etc. could provide.

I believe a Trump presidency will become one of the inevitable “awakening” events our nation needs; that his time in Washington will help the “awakening” process we so badly need. He is simply a part of the reality called change.

Change is creation at work. We need to infuse the changes that are coming with hope. We need to remind ourselves, there is always a new path forward. We need to embrace hope and work together to create the better future we all want for ourselves and our children…..and it will require change.