Heading into the dark

Like most of you, I hoped for a different outcome this Tuesday.

This election was a litmus test of our morals, our values, and who we are as a people. And we failed it.

I don't want to believe in a world of cruelty and arrogance, where might makes right. I don't want to believe in a world where the powerful have impunity, where tyrants crush free nations beneath their tank treads, where the innocent suffer, children go hungry, the poor die on the streets, and justice is nowhere to be found.

But what I believe has nothing to do with it. The world is what it is, and it doesn't bend itself to our desires. Any belief other than that is foolish. We can't control reality by wishing or by wanting, only by working.

At the very least, I wanted to believe that people would be motivated by their own self-interest: the poor, who face the loss of their safety net; union members, who face the end of their hard-won rights; minorities, who are menaced by white supremacists on the ascendant; immigrants of all backgrounds, who face mass arrests and deportation; women, who've already felt the oppressive hand of the state weighing on their bodies; and people who value democracy in general, facing a wannabe dictator who's promised to dismantle it.

But it appears not. People were eager to believe the lies of a demagogue. Even when his evasions were obvious and his promises transparently false, we long to be fooled. We saw decency and turned away from it.

This is a bitter blow for those of us who believe in the hope of a better world. A dark and brutal time lies ahead of us. Much that we hold dear will be lost.

The worst of it is that this won't end when he leaves office or dies. It will likely herald a long-term realignment. In politics, nothing succeeds like success. If strongman attitudes, xenophobic racism, and contempt for the rule of law have proven to work as a strategy, then politicians of all stripes will take up that strategy. They'll outdo each other in showing cruelty to immigrants and every other disfavored minority of the moment, because that's what voters want. They'll conclude that corruption and abuse of office for personal gain is a perk of the job, because nobody notices or cares. Whatever notions of compassion, honor or public service still animate our politics are vestiges soon to be discarded.

What now, for those of us who care? What should we do in response?

Should we plan on moving to another country? (But what country can truthfully say it's free of bigotry, conspiracy theorists, cruel and selfish people, or would-be authoritarians? These aren't American flaws, they're human flaws.)

Should we go Galt—or whatever the liberal equivalent is called—and withdraw from society to build our own enclave of tolerance, decency and human rights? (But there's an inconvenient shortage of handy mountain refuges with limitless free energy.)

Should we conclude that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em? (I get nauseous just contemplating it.)

None of these responses are suitable. As hard as it is, there's only one thing to do—only one course of action that's thinkable.

In the coming age of darkness, we have to keep the flame alive. Until the world turns, those of us who believe in better ideals have to teach them, preserve them, and pass them down. We have to pass them from hand to hand like a precious treasure—like a secret message for those who most need to hear it.

In the meantime, keep putting one foot in front of the other. Conserve your energy. Be kind to yourself. Show compassion to your loved ones, your friends and your neighbors. Don't be afraid to reach out to people who might need it. They might be waiting to hear from you.

If you have anything left over to give, help where you can. Cultivate community, hunker down, build resilience. Plant a garden. Read a book. If you need to disconnect from the news or social media for the sake of your own tranquility, do it with a clear conscience.

And remember: This won't last forever. As hard as it may be to imagine from the standpoint of this moment, there will be better days.

If the study of the past has anything to teach us, it's that history goes in cycles. We alternate between eras of tolerance and expansiveness, and eras of regression and prejudice. When the world is changing rapidly and our accustomed ways of life are under stress, people shrink into themselves; they become insecure, fearful, easily manipulated into hate.

But the wheel will turn, and views that are ascendant one day will lose favor the next. As the Persian poet said, "This too shall pass."

No ideology or political platform is dominant forever. Churches, states, kingdoms and empires that all claimed to be invincible and eternal in their heyday have crumbled into shadows and mist. Rights have been won and lost and won again. The only thing that ensures defeat is giving up.

In the midst of darkness, it can be almost impossible to imagine light. But as far-off as it may seem, don't let that vision go. Keep it alive, even if it's just an ember of dreams smoldering in the ashes. A day will come when the world needs and wants it again.