I am a fairly obsessive follower of US politics. I listen to the podcasts, read the articles, follow the polls and more. I have always been interested in US politics, but the binary choice that Trump vs Harris poses is particularly stark.
The prospect of a Trump election fills me with dread. Things that I care deeply about like climate change, the war in Ukraine, and a fairer more equitable world are at stake. In reality though it is a kind of self-torture. I can follow the US election, but I can do nothing about it.
If Trump is elected, how do I respond? How do I do something more practicable, more useful, than shouting at the TV or being cross with the world and moaning with friends, or just being mournful? How do individuals respond to a world filled with bad things that we can do nothing about?
Sir Martyn Lewis the former newsreader and former chair of NCVO used to complain that there was never any good news on the news. He is right, but I think this entirely misunderstands the way the world is.
The bad news comes in huge hideous gobbets: war, natural disaster, election results, inflation, tax rises and the like. The good news comes in a million tiny daily acts of good. The bad news is newsworthy, high-profile, and seeps into our consciousness. The good news is all around, and often takes place without us even noticing. Its why the work of charities gets so little mention in the national news. And its why its so easy to see the world as filled only with bad.
If Trump gets re-elected, and even if he doesn’t, I want, I hope my reaction is to make sure that I am doing enough acts to make the world a tiny bit better, rather than just rail against the things that I feel make the world bad.
A few years ago I bought a field for our family. We now have an acre of wildflowers, planted 750 trees and created three ponds. If Trump wins perhaps, I should buy more land, create more ponds and plant more wildflowers. If Trump wins perhaps, I should find more organisations to be a trustee of, more neighbours who need a bit of support, more things that make the world a little better. It is the only way I can find to stop the feeling of emasculation that comes from a world in which the news can be so bad, so much of the time.
It is the millions of daily acts of good that charities, community groups and individuals carry out that makes so many communities survive. When the world turns bad, we have to counter it with invisible, amazing acts to make the world a better place.
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