Sad, angry, furious, in shock, dumbfounded, numb, depressed and so it goes... So may of us are and have been experiencing these very uncomfortable feelings these last couple of weeks, as we try to get our minds and emotions around the appalling prospect of a Trump presidency. I have delayed putting my initial response into a post this long because I simply could not face it, and I know I am not alone. The mind processes the information furiously but finds it difficult to come to a place that seems in the least tolerable to be. Is this the last nail in the coffin of our hopes for a liveable, let alone thriving, future for our children and grandchildren? What does it mean for us personally? Do we need to make yet more radical life changes than we may have made already, as a matter not of personal choice, but of absolute moral imperative? For make no mistake - this is not an event that a very aware person can accept with equanimity - it demands an active response, which may put us in places that we would prefer not to be for our own safety and comfort. I can see no way of avoiding that insight if we are to choose not to curl up in the foetal position and block it out as best we can. And as integralists we cannot do that if we are to retain any integrity and self-respect. It is a Martin Luther moment: 'Here I stand - I can do no other'.
My sense of integralists is strongly that predominantly we are much the more comfortable operating as mostly spectators and commentators on the world than activists. I submit that while this may be our tendency it will have to change for many of us - we can't afford such a luxury. What form that should take is much the more difficult question. It could be organised civil disobedience, more active participation in whatever local or online pressure and advocacy groups we belong to, maybe even standing for political office. There are many possibilities. Whatever we do, though, we cannot do it alone. We all need each other perhaps even more than before. My call therefore is that we communicate, form common visions and plans and carry them forward.I see many signs that this is already happening in many places. There is no other tolerable response as far as I can see. Australia must not become (or maybe continue to be...) a meekly compliant servant of a neo-fascist master or, worse, a willing henchman. The current government shows every sign of that, and it must not be allowed to continue. To the barricades, citizens!