Ten Days Later, What Now?

Prepping for 2025.

It’s been ten days since that election. Like many of you, I am tired. Trump winning took a lot of the wind out of my sails. I’ve been pulling back, thinking, going back in and have seen my emotions go through many ups and downs over the last week and a half. I’m pissed, then scared, contemptuous and resigned all in the space of a few minutes.

But here’s what I know: MAGA wants us to believe they just achieved a total victory. They want us to believe there is no way back to sanity. They want us down and demoralized. But we don’t have to play their games. We have agency.

Action is the antidote to our malaise. We’ve had ten days to wallow in our feelings. Now it’s time to make a plan for fixing what they broke.

Here’s where things stand right now:

Donald Trump is ahead of Kamala Harris by under 3 million popular votes, a margin of 2%. There are still millions of votes being counted. California is only reporting 89% of the vote total right now. Trump has received just about the same number of votes he got in 2020. He didn’t grow his base of support, but he did manage to get his support more efficiently distributed. When the counting is done, Trump’s margin will probably be around 1.5%.

Republicans are looking to have a three-seat majority in the Senate. Two would have been better, making Susan Collins of Maine and Amy Murkowski of Alaska crucial votes that Republicans would need to appease.

The House is shaping up to have a very slim Republican majority. With Trump raiding House Republicans for posts in his administration it is possible some of those seats could flip to Democratic control if recent Democratic overperformance in special elections is anything to go by. Trump won’t be on any special election ballot so the people that only come out when Trump is on the ticket will likely sit home which could be enough to swing those seats especially after the last couple days of Trump cabinet picks.

This is what I plan to do over the next days, weeks and months.

1) Find groups that will support those on our side that are in danger of getting the hurt the most during a second Trump administration. The ACLU is a good place to start. Look for local groups and volunteer with local non-profits. People are going to need help if Trump is able to get all he wants.

2) Get a passport or make sure your passport is up to date. You will probably never have to use it, but it’s good to have it just in case.

3) Prepare any retirement accounts to weather higher inflation or even a recession. Trump’s proposed economic policies have a very good chance of pushing us into the recession Biden avoided. Find a financial planner you trust and get professional advice about how to protect your assets.

4) Get off X. We need to stay in contact with one another but we don’t need to support a platform owned by the premiere American oligarch that supported Trump. X is a cesspit of white/Christian nationalism, groyperism and all around bad actors.

5) Find alternative social media. There are a lot of X alternatives popping up. One of the newest is Jack Dorsey’s BlueSky. I created an account there yesterday (@liberalcynic.bsky.social) and a lot of X refugees are starting to filter in. We can’t turtle up and completely disengage. Stay informed and find like-minded people to associate with. There are millions of us and I’m convinced we still outnumber them.

6) Be kind to one another. We’re all hurting right now. Everyone processes that hurt differently. Give each other the grace to work things through.

Our country has a fever right now. But what do fevers do before they break? They get worse and sometimes make you feel like you want to die. But then they break. This fever will break too. There will be rebuilding to do afterwards but we can handle that.

There’s a lot to do. But after fighting Trumpism for nine years and watching him win his second term with (maybe) over 50% of the popular vote is very demoralizing. Take the time you need to heal and gather your strength.

And remember, you’re not alone.