Dear Friends,
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After Tuesday’s election, a whole lot of Americans are fretting, even afraid. Understandably. What will Trump do to immigrants? Women? Journalists? Activists? College professors?
Trump’s revenge-tour list could be quite long.
I like what Bill McKibben wrote this week: “Can things get worse? I think they can, and I think we will find out, here and around the world. But I don’t think it will last either, because the promises on which this new MAGA order are built are mostly nonsense.”
That’s the mix of honesty and optimism we need. In the coming weeks and months, my talk-show guests and I will have a lot to say about the risks that lie ahead — and what we can do to fight back.
The question I’d like to address today is, regardless of where a Trump presidency might take us, what can we do right now to protect ourselves and strengthen our communities?
Here are five positive things I challenge each of us to do to build resilience as we move forward toward an uncertain future:
1. BUILD COMMUNITY. Deepen your connections with neighbors. This takes effort, since the structures of modern society (housing, communication, transportation, et al) encourage isolation, not connectivity. Kathy and I are fortunate to live in Sherman Hill, where we see our neighbors daily and have grown accustomed to helping each other.
If you live in an apartment complex, connecting with your neighbors might be more challenging. Here’s a beautiful video of a woman who gets to know her neighbors over a spontaneous meal in the hallway of their apartment building. Click on the image above and give it a watch.
As I wrote in my book, Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim, “[W]hen we’re isolated we’re more easily duped by propaganda. When we’re confined in subdivisions, when our main source of information and ideas comes through a screen, not through direct dialogue with people facing similar life challenges, then the collective ‘we’ is weak, easily exploited, eager to scapegoat those who are ‘different,’ inclined to buy the lies of, say, a Donald Trump.”
Of course, strengthening our bond with friends and family is essential as well. And don’t exclude people because they voted for Trump. I get really tired of hearing that all Trump voters are racists or misogynists. Sure, a few are. Most aren’t. Most are good people who voted for Trump for a hundred possible reasons. They are not the enemy.
2. GROW FOOD. It’s important to share food with others, and given the unpredictable time we live in, it’s also important to grow some (or a lot!) of our own food. That’s why Kathy and I founded Birds & Bees Urban Farm — to help people turn their yards into dinner.
In Des Moines, there are plenty of great resources, including FEEDDSM, which grew out of the Food Security Task Force that Kathy and I worked with City Council members Carl Voss and Josh Mandelbaum, and Mayor Connie Boesen, to establish.
Again, if you live in an apartment complex, or have a really shady yard, growing food is more difficult. One idea is to ask your neighbors if they’ll let you garden a slice of their space, perhaps paying “rent” by sharing some of the produce. For several years, Kathy and I tended two or more garden beds at seven — yes, seven! — neighbors’ yards.
Between gardening and foraging, Kathy and I procure about half our food. Most of the rest comes from local farms. We buy flour from Paul’s Grains, dairy from Picket Fence Creamery, lamb from Tesdell Farms, and syrup from Great River Maple.
Starting a garden and finding a network of local farmers to buy from takes effort and creativity. But as more of us do this, we increase our collective resilience to withstand the disruptions that lie ahead.
3. SHOP LOCAL. One of the most powerful tools each of us has is right in our pockets — cash. (And as I’ve written in the past, please use cash when at all possible.) Although it might seem more convenient and less expensive to shop at a big box store or national chain, Kathy and I get most of what we need from locally owned businesses with less inconvenience and without busting our budget.
We also patronize local restaurants, cafes, and pubs. Money spent there recirculates in the local economy many times over, as opposed to heading out of state to some big chain’s corporate headquarters. Furthermore, the majority of national restaurant chains heavily favor political donations to Republican candidates, most notably Applebee’s, IHOP, Outback Steakhouse, Chick-fil-A, Wendy’s, White Castle, Taco Bell, KFC, and Pizza Hut. (Check out the complete list here.)
Beyond dining and drinking establishments owned by our friends and neighbors, a few of the local businesses Kathy and I patronize include Gateway Market, Miller Hardware, Des Moines Feed, and Leachman Lumber. We also use local credit unions instead of national banks, and Kathy is a thrifting ninja.
Finally, remember to support local music, art, theater, and crafters. Wherever you live, there are all kinds of creative people who will enrich your life and would benefit from your support.
4. SPEAK OUT. City government remains mostly above the divisive fray of partisan politics. This year, working with other Des Moines residents involved with urban agriculture, we were able to minimize the damage of proposed changes to Des Moines’ chicken ordinance. Our informal network fought that bad idea with a series of meetings and actions, including a chicken parade around City Hall. Here’s a couple cute pics from that event.
The bottom line is, local elected officials (including county supervisors, state lawmakers, and school board members) are far more responsive to input than members of Congress ever will be. Don’t be afraid to talk with them.
5. LAUGH. In even the most dire of times, it’s important to maintain a healthy sense of humor. Thus, you’ll notice that the first couple segments of this week’s program are about baseball and Halloween. We need lighter topics and downright funny stuff to lessen the heavy load of our contemporary political conundrum.
Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action. — Ed Fallon
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ON THIS WEEK’S PROGRAM KATHY, CHARLES, AND ED DISCUSS:
(00:50) Everything-but-the-election news:
– Ex-Red Sox Factor
– Switch Witch
– Gulf stream is going to collapse
– Last gasps of British imperialism
– Media beat drums of war with Iran
– Bug-out bags become big business
(19:07) Federal election analysis
(38:40) State elections analysis
(54:15) November garden Q & A
In addition to our PODCAST, listen to the Fallon Forum on these affiliates:
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– KKFI 90.1 FM (Kansas City, Missouri)