Whatever Happens, See You on November 6

We don’t know what’s going to happen on November 6. We know that even if the better candidate wins, part of the population will not accept the results. We know that if the more dangerous candidate wins the very fate of the Republic is at stake. And that the more recent of us migrants will be the ones to hurt first.

I do not like to be an alarmist. And I will not be one here.

I just know it is important for us to keep coming together. In good times, in bad times, and definitely in uncertain times.

So I am inviting you to join me. And other people with big hearts. For 90 minutes of fellowship and reflection on the day after election day.

We will gather online at 4PM East on Wednesday, November 6. Please click here to register. We will send you a calendar invite and other event specific communications.

I have elders that I honor, and when one of them asked me to do this, I replied with an immediate “yes.”

You see, I was already planning to write you a note. It was not about the election. I was going to title it:

What is Essential and Most Important.

It was a note about how to relate to our descendants. About considering what is essential. What is most important. About how to be human, together, upon this sacred earth.

So that we can know it. Live it. And transmit it.

Transmit it to our children. And their children, and their children’s children’s children.

I am not an alarmist because we have 70,000 years of ancestral wisdom breathing through our cells. Because we have songs. And we have stories sung long before the written word. Because we have been birthed by living earth. And our kin is the more-than-human world.

Because we know that there are places where wisdom is held.

You and I might still be learning. But collectively we know. We know who and how to be when it gets really hard and it feels like things are falling apart.

And how we have to be is together.

Whatever happens.

No matter what.

Jamie Wheal wrote a recent piece about Doomsday Preppers, and this paragraph stood out for me:

In study after study, religious moderates and secular humanists around the world share a desire for stability and prosperity. Most people, across cultures, just want to live in peace and see their children get a chance for a better life. That desire unites us. Atheists, Muslims, Christians, Confucians, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, and hipsters—all just want a shot to die in their sleep, happy and surrounded by grandchildren.

It’s always been this way.

A lot of people are going to be scared on November 6. And we will likely be among them. There will be action to take. There will be fights to be fought.*

But that’s not why we are coming together on November 6. We are coming together not just because there are essential truths to stand for. But because there are essential truths to live our way into.

Things do what things do.

Things come together.

And things fall apart.

And all through this process there is truth.

And there is something human. Something simple we all want. Those of us at risk. And those of us who are scared.

And even those who spew the vitriol. Because when you look behind the hate, all you are going to find is fear. It’s fear. So much fear. They are shouting that they are scared. They are shouting that they are afraid.

We don’t always get what we want. But we are still alive to want it.

We want to live in peace. We want to see our children grow. We want to see them get a chance for a better life.

We want to live a meaningful life. Which rarely means an easy life.

And we want a shot to die in our sleep. Happy and surrounded by grandchildren (even if they are other people’s children.)

This is what we have in common.

Treat them like family

Wheal tells the story of how five of the richest people on the planet called in Douglas Rushkoff. They wanted to figure out what to do in case of collapse. Rushkoff is one of those guys who has been named one of the “world’s most influential intellectuals” by MIT. He knows a lot about things like collapse. (And we are not just talking about elections here.)

Here is what is absolutely baffling about that meeting -

The real question that the top .01% were asking was this:

“How do I maintain authority over my security force after the event?”

Sit with that one for more than a second!

“How do I maintain authority over my security force after the event?”

Wheal breaks this question down in his piece. But here is what is most relevant for us right now:

To his credit, Rushkoff challenged their assumptions. In response to their blunt questions he answered that the best way to maintain the loyalty of their private security forces was to start treating them really well, like family, starting now.

And to not stop there.

He suggested they do the same in all of their current businesses on this side of The Event. The more effectively they could do that, he suggested, the greater the odds we could all keep the wheels on civilization in the first place.

That’s what Rushkoff had to say to these five men of the .01%

Start treating people really well.

Treat people like family,

Starting now.

There is lots for us to do. And there is a lot we cannot do. But this is something we can practice. We can keep coming together.

We can come together with our fear and our faith. With our joy when there is joy. And with our grief when there is grief. We can come together with the courage to change the things we can. And with acceptance when there are things we cannot change.

Through these thresholds we find wisdom. Love. Meaning. Strength. 

A connection to 70,000 years of a deeply human way. A way to live with life and its terms.

Come together. And know that we are not alone.

Claim the wisdom of the elders. The power of the ancestors. And the care of this sacred earth.

I look forward to seeing you there.

Register & Share

Ashé


 * If you already know that what we have to do is fight. And if you are willing to do it. There are myriad organizations ranging from protection to resistance. From long-term planning to rapid response. Here are a few things I’ll say about fighting:

  • Don’t wait until November 6 to plan and prepare

  • Social media posts are never going to be enough

  • Find the right people, I’m based in Boston, so blue state folks have to be figuring out what to do beyond our homes.

  • I am privileged to work with the State Infrastructure Fund, a non-partisan national body focused on civic engagement and voting rights. Here is a link to their grantees.

Gibran RiveraComment