In the Chinese zodiac, 2025 is the year of the snake. Rather fittingly, it is also the year that Donald Trump will slither his way back into the White House (which may prove venomous for the whole world).
Since the US election result was called back in November, there has not been the same sense of profound shock that accompanied Trump’s first presidential win. Then, it seemed impossible that a man with no political experience – and who seemed so patently objectionable on almost every level – could win the White House. This time, for all the late hope that Kamala Harris brought to the Democratic Party ticket, a Trump win felt inevitable.
If you are a progressively-minded individual living in the US, there is an immediate and visceral materiality to deal with, as “The Donald’s” inauguration approaches. For those of us living across the pond, the thought of Trump in the presidential hot seat may not be less gruesome, but its impact is not quite so direct. Either way, how should we best handle the nagging fear of what might be to come?
One option is simply to do your best to ignore it all. According to the latest Digital News Report from the Reuters Institute, just under 40 per cent of people worldwide selectively avoid the news at least some of the time.
When there is such a lot of grim stuff happening, that’s hardly a surprise – especially when so much of the bad news we see or read about is beyond our control. Climate disasters, economic woes, ghastly wars and the general corporatisation of humanity by billionaires can all leave us feeling as if we have little agency. In that case, perhaps it’s best not to think about global matters and just focus on what’s for tea or how many birds you can spot out of the window.
Another possibility, when it comes to Trump, is to convince yourself that it won’t be as bad as some of the worst doom mongers would have it. You can look at his first term through narrowed eyes and note that the US – and the rest of the world – survived it.
Sure, he spread a lot of misinformation on a wide variety of topics, he failed to turn the economy around, and his supporters engaged in the Capitol Hill riots. But hey, he didn’t invade Canada, so perhaps it wasn’t as bleak as all that…
Of course, there are plenty of commentators who’ll tell you that even if you look back through the most rose-tinted of spectacles, the second term will be a lot worse precisely because it’s not his first – this time, there is no re-election to play for (barring a constitutional crisis of the highest order). And, if you’re Canadian, Panamanian or a Greenlander, it is probably hard to feel super cheerful in light of Trump’s recent pronouncements. Still, we could be optimistic and assume it’s all just silly rhetoric – couldn’t we?
Option number three is the opposite: assume the worst. This might not be the way to give yourself quiet and dreamless sleep for the next few years. But at least you’ll be prepared for whatever ills might be wrought on the earth by Trump and his minions.
Get in your bunker, shut the door and, as you eat your daily Spam, you can spend time getting through all those books you’ve had on your must-read list for yonks. By the end of 2028, when you’ve finished with Catch-22, To Kill a Mockingbird and all the rest, you can cautiously open the shutters and check out the damage. (If you then find that Donald Trump Jr is in charge, with Elon Musk and the AfD setting up AI colonies on the moon, you can always go back inside.)
The final option is to face a potentially challenging reality with a stoical smile and try to be everything that Trump is not: compassionate, honest, calm and decent. Don’t make hasty pronouncements, encourage others, seek unity and heal division. In short; follow not the example of the man heading into the White House, but two truly great Americans, Bill and Ted, who had it absolutely spot on when they said the key was simply to “be excellent to one another.” (And “party on”, of course.)
If the rest of us can make the world a kinder place in this year of the snake, perhaps even a reptile the size of Trump can be charmed into doing the right thing.
