I asked 18 men I admire how they plan to deal with the enormous changes that we Americans will face when the new administration enters office. Here’s what they said:
David Assael, executive producer/co-writer Evan’s Crime, and writer on The Gangster Chronicles, Northern Exposure, Picket Fences: I plan on remaining fluid, flexible and slightly hopeful that Trump’s New York sensibility of fairness, diversity and respect for others that are different from us, kicks in. It probably won’t, but I can’t control his behavior, but I can control mine. I will continue to be a dreamer and optimist even if engulfed by darkness. I will do my best and try my hardest to assume the best about people until proven otherwise. I will always realize that to whomever I’m speaking, is not me. Therefore, I have to respect their individuality, uniqueness and originality and my profound connection to them as human beings.
Herman Bennett, diehard liberal with Bernie tendencies/musician: I’m in East TX right now (behind the Pine Curtain, some call it), visiting my girlfriend, whose birthday happens to fall on Inauguration Day. She has plenty of friends who are very nice folks BUT who voted for Trump. It’s sometimes a little difficult up here, 250 miles away from my home in Austin, out of [my] comfort zone in the bluest of the blue dots in Texas, trying to find the Venn diagram overlap.
Right now, I think it’s important to just go be nice to some folks….and campaign for progress. My girlfriend put it best, “I’m not going to turn away from people who voted for Trump and I’m not going to turn into the people who voted for Trump.”
Anonymous Bureaucrat– How I will cope with the change in American politics? Three words: Johnny Walker Black. I plan to liquidate my retirement account and use the proceeds to purchase gold bricks, a Hazmat suit, and a Smith and Wesson 45. One thing for certain is that it will be advantageous to learn how to speak Chinese, if not comprehensively, then at least enough to be able to say, “Take it easy with the bayonet, bro. Pokin’ me with that thing won’t make this assembly line move any faster.”
Itzik Cohen, clothing manufacturer: My overwhelming feeling, at the moment, is multi-faceted anger. Because I am an American citizen, I’m angry at the demise of our moral and fundamental state of mind and shocked that this country could elect someone as illogical and unprepared as Trump. As an Israeli citizen, I’m appalled at the current administration’s recent stance on Israel and its settlements. All of this has caught me by surprise and left me with a sinking feeling. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what changes I will make forthcoming, but check back with me in a few months and I’m sure I’ll have an opinion
Bernardo Cubria – I’m a writer. I was born in Mexico. I’m married and I want to start a family. All of these are reasons I am reacting to this election. I’ve sadly spent most of my life as a passive member of society. Sure, I would donate here and there, volunteer once a year, but mostly I would just enjoy my privilege. The one positive that came out of this election is that it kicked my ass into service. I started a podcast about action, called What Can I Do? I joined my local chapter of the DNC and I am will be working with POPS every single week. I hope the energy from this election makes us all more active. We have to fight this. We have to.
Mike Davis, angry skeptic: For the first time in my life, I’m trying to find a way to up my activism. I’ve been reading so much now, more than I’ve ever read so I know more. So, I can gain control. I’m a big believer that when you have a conversation with someone you don’t agree with, you need to be prepared. I’m also liquidating myself from the stock market. It feels sickening to profit off what is going on. With the market going up after Trump won. That should tell you where corporate America stands. Plus, I’m heavily researching living off the grid options.
Dan Duling, Echo Park playwright: The 2016 election and the ugliness leading up to it left me devastated, awake in the middle of the night ever since composing rants I’ll never post, struggling to cope with a sense of outrage, embarrassment, and hopelessness that intensifies as 2017 looms. I’ve already become more politically active than I’ve ever been, signing petitions, making calls, all the while knowing it’s not enough. Most of all, I worry about the attacks on a free and fact-based press, on FACTS as something of value. If called to march, I will (and can’t imagine it won’t be required.) Bottom line, I will not be quiet; I will NOT normalize; I will not validate the orchestrated destruction of American democracy. If I hold out a single hope it is that the Republicans, famous for their inability to actually DO ANYTHING, will fumble along pointing fingers of blame, postponing, enriching their already too rich backers while making grand gestures but not actually getting anything done. But that’s a very faint hope at best.
Gary Dumm, cartoonist/writer: I’ll be redoubling my artistic efforts to make up for my complacency and overly optimistic hopes about the 2016 election. My activism in 2017 and beyond will be in the utilization of my art in loyalty to preserving the environment and the fundamentals of American democratic institutions. The new president, whose words and cabinet hires appear in stark contrast, if not direct opposition, to those fundamentals, will have to prove his loyalty or even his interest in them to me.
Chaim Dunbar, husband, performing artist and creative activist: I am co-producing and co-hosting a talk show called Food for Thought that brings together people with opposing political and world views over a meal at restaurants and dinner tables around the country to show that Americans of all political persuasions can come together and break bread while having civil conversation.
Mark Gozonsky, high school teacher, writer: I’m working with an action group formed by Educators 4 Excellence to support students and families currently covered by the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Act . That’s because so many of my students face an immediate threat of deportation. I’m also working with my seniors on developing the Los Angeles Museum of Ohio, so we can better understand our country east of Vegas. In general, I’m seeking like lots of people to make alliances and sustain energy for the many waves of action the times require.
Evan Halperin, resister: As a concerned father, I intend to spend my precious free time organizing the resistance to Donald Trump. Working with the Resistance Party, my goal is to impress upon people the need for constant pressure on our president and media to hold Trump accountable. Leadership should no longer be based along party lines, but instead, preventing our country from becoming a beacon of white nationalism and hate.
Garth Hammers, classic car sales: I’d like to find a way not to bury my head in the sand and not to just be someone yelling with a sign in my hands. I think we need to get organized.
Philip L, LA city employee, I don’t have a well-thought-out life strategy or orientation towards this thing we’re gonna be dealing with starting in a few weeks. Interestingly enough, I’m not afraid. Maybe I should be because as unprepared as I am for what lies ahead, Donald Trump is a billion times more unprepared. And the truth is, I’m actually pretty well prepared. We’ve been doing a lot of disaster planning in my office, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see a side of my colleagues I didn’t know existed. We’re all committed to resisting this and to making Los Angeles a model of decency, inclusivity, and forward-thinking values. Progress only occurs through struggle and pain. In the end, Donald Trump may very well end up being the best thing that ever happened to LA and California more generally. I’m cautiously hopeful.
Mark Miller, cautiously optimistic writer: I plan to become more political and politically aware in terms of supporting candidates who oppose Trump and his policies, and causes that do the same—environmental, the arts, etc. Some of my activity will, of course, need to be on a wait-and-see basis because Trump hasn’t acted on the issues yet and once he does, we won’t immediately know the results and their time frame. For example, I assume he’ll be torpedoing Obamacare, which would affect me, but the questions are what will replace it, and when? Just about everyone I know is depressed about Trump’s election, so obviously I and my friends and family don’t speak for the Heartland! Still, I’m hoping that at least some of Trump’s policies will benefit America and Americans other than the very rich and business owners—but I’m not counting on it.
Jeremy Robins, filmmaker, educator, and director of the Echoes of Incarceration Project, in Brooklyn NY: In 2017 I’m planning to: 1. get much more involved in political action than I ever have, 2. spend more time getting out of my media bubble, and 3. start hosting monthly pizza gatherings of politically active friends to talk, debate, divide up research projects, and keep each other motivated.
Antonio Sacre, 10th best storyteller in his family: Listen, first to understand, count to three, then speak. (For my career, my marriage, my kids, my cat, and my friends. And strangers).
Eric Schwartz, singer/songwriter: One thing I intend to do is to do a whole bunch of art about Trump and what is going on. Just continue to hold his feet to the fire, will be a bit of a gadfly. Also, brandnewcongress.org is interesting. It’s a campaign to run 400+ non-politician candidates for Congress in 2018. It would be great to flip the house. The more that can be done to hold the Republican stranglehold to two years the better.
Cheke Whitfield, actor: I found nothing to vote for this year, so I took a hands off the wheel approach months ago. I still feel that way. The election results aren’t going to impact my daily life. All I can do is handle what’s in front of me. What happens at the top will happen regardless of what I do. The president doesn’t matter; I matter. Individuals matter. Families matter. The people matter. That’s the way it’s always been and that’s the way it will continue to be on January [twenty-first.] This election and the pitiful choices we had only make that reality clearer to me than ever before.
To other good men and good women: what, if any, changes or actions are you planning to make to deal with America’s new political landscape?
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Photo credit: Getty Images
Thanks for the response Dennis. Although I would have liked a reply about illegals and the wall, and why the left think that attempts to stop the flow of illegals is deplorable. There hasn’t been a spike in hate crimes because a, the data is not collected, and b, because what data is there is not classified the same by all agencies. Here’s link to a good article, and no it’s not a conservative. It’s just looking into the allegations. https://qz.com/843834/are-hate-crimes-really-on-the-rise-in-america-heres-a-guide-to-the-data/ And finally, I have no idea how how my taxes go in wealth distribution to the 1% Club. Other… Read more »
Funny Mark, how the right didn’t seem to care about illegal immigrants until the issue came home to them in a personal way or tried to profited from it. Governor Peter Wilson did not complain about illegal immigration when he was a US Senator and use his position to stop immigration raids on lands own by big farming corporations. He then complained about illegal immigrants when he was governor about it when he was looking to get elected as US president.
No it’s not funny. This is what all of them are doing to us. Jerry Brown has millions of illegals propping up his farms. There’s more than enough blame to go around. You just like to blame everything on the conservatives and the Republicans. I blame them all but consider Democrats to be the most hypocritical of all of them. And that’s going some.
No, it is the Republicans who are the hypercriticals of them all. You are the one that like to blame liberals for everything. If Governor Wilson did not want illegal immigrants, then why didn’t he go after them when he was governor even it mean incurring the wrath of big farming corporation?
It’ll be interesting to see how your fears are played out by his actions. Right now you’ve got night terrors and you’re worrying about something that may or may not happen in the future. That’s absolutely irrational. Let me ask you about why you fear the southern border wall. Tell me why. Because I can’t come up with a reason why not to keep our sovereignty. What is it about allowing thousands of illegals in. We have no xenophobia for legal immigration, but we do have a series issue with illegal immigration. What is it about wealth redistribution that pleases… Read more »
Hi Mark, thanks for reading and responding. 3 items that lead me to be fearful: Wealth distribution – yes I work hard, but the benefits looks as if they are going to go to the top 1 % or to a small fraction of the 1 % in the coming years. I’ve read that the 13 cabinet members who have been nominated are worth more than the lower 33% of the entire country. Wealth always gets redistributed, but I disagree with this route. 2. There’s been a spike in hate crimes since the election. And I fear that lots of… Read more »
Yeah Mark and conservatives have no problem in denying newborn babies good medicine care, good education, and good paying jobs once they leave the womb. Conservatives state that they are for humanity; however, they go to great lengths in destroying the environment and throwing people out of work in order to increase their bank accounts and stock options. You want to talk about illegal immigrations, then you need to look how corporations help contribute to it by using illegal aliens to undercut wages, unions, lbor laws, environmental and safety laws. Many people had night terrors and unfounded fears when Obama… Read more »
Dear Ggggg, thanks for both passionately and rationally. Speaking of undocumented workers…I live in California which as you know produces a lot of our food and if we suddenly removed every undocumented person from our state as well as across the nation, we’d either starve or pay skyrocketing prices for the pleasure of eating. Those who want to build a wall, conveniently forget that undocumented men and women do a large percentage of the backbreaking agricultural work that puts food on our tables at affordable prices. Wonder who’s going to plant and harvest the food for 330 million Americans if… Read more »
Dennis, the prices of food has gone up whether we use illegal or legal immigrants. Look at the price of cereal. When I was a kid, cereal boxes were half the price of what they are now and were filled to the top. You look at cereal boxes and they are only 75% fulled. A 10 pound of potato costs nearly 4 dollars. The price of food going up if we removed illegal immigrations. Oh really? In Australia, the fast food workers at places like McDonalds are reasonably well paid, but you do not see the price of a McDonald… Read more »
Not at all saying it is okay to use undocumented workers as slaves. On the contrary I am for people who have been living here and working here to have a path. A reasonable path to citizenship. And then be able to organize and fight for a living wages and safe working conditions.
If they want to stay here fine; however, if they are here as only temporary seasonal help, then they need to be sent back to their countries as stated in the contract. The reason why they can’t organize and fight for a living wage and safe working conditions is because the corporations and wealthy people brought them in to undermine living wage and safe working conditions. If they are not allowed to organized and fight for good labor benefits, then what makes you think it is any better for American workers to be allowed to organized and fight?
Dennis, many Americans would like to grow their own food in their backyard or on their front lawns; however, many cities have actually passed laws to stop that sort of thing. In addition, many Americans would like to go into farming; however, due to the thin profit margin endured by small farmers, they can’t make a go of it so the government needs to get involve in giving them some kind of subsidy including the Universal Basic Income. In Europe, the national governments there protect their small farmers. We could get people from the jail to harvest food so they… Read more »
I have never supported anyone hiring illegals and Congress should have stopped that a long time ago. And no, that’s not true that conservatives have no problem denying newborns medicine etc. That’s a silly comment. And getting a good paying job is not a right at all. Take a look at any socialist nation. Basically welfare is given to all. Even Sweden just changed their experiment because they found there was no incentive to work. And let’s not talk about the soviet union. Lots of regular people people got great paying jobs don’t they! Jobs have mainly been lost to… Read more »
No, Congress let the previous presidents ignored our laws and have let those prior presidents ignore congress’ authority. Reagan, Bush, Sr., and Bush, Jr., sure as heck failed to uphold the laws of our contry far more than Obama. No it was hard core conservatives like Bush, Jr., that have divided the country and they have succeed. No. what the Republican Congress did to the country actually weaken us like not putting America back to work. Many American corporations had also ties to the mob as well. The coaling mining companies in Luzerne County, Pennsyvalina where the Kids for Cash… Read more »
They were not brought in by farms and corporations. They came here in the shadows and the farms used them and they willingly did it. But I still want to know why you think it’s acceptable to let anyone in and have this path to citizenship? If you’re suggesting open borders you’re horribly naive. I didn’t call you names. I said your statement was silly. Which it is. And all these years of both a democratic President and Congress, as well as Republican, yet not one of them saw a need to do universal health care. Your argument is weak,… Read more »
Many of them were brought in by farms and corporations. I did not say give them an open road to citizenship nor did I suggest open borders. Of course, it is ridiculous that we have open borders to send jobs overseas instead of protecting our jobs plus allowing corporations to bring in skilled laborers on V1B visas because they won’t invest in and hire American workers. Yes, you did personal attacks like you always accuse me of doing so. Obama saw a need for universal healthcare; however, the Republican fought him at very turn. Even the Republicans recognize the need… Read more »
Mark, one quick comment. re: the tax code. Yes, you and I don’t benefit from them. But those with extreme wealth do. As President Elect bragged about. He doesn’t pay taxes and is proud of it. I guess that makes the rest of us who abide by the law and pay our taxes…what? Good citizens or chumps?
But Dennis. They Are abiding by the law. They’re not doing anything that is illegal. Those are the laws and you don’t see Democrats in Congress looking to change that anytime soon. They’ve had plenty of opportunities to talk the talk much less walk the talk. But not a peep.