The U.S. Election is important to all those seeking a better world

The significance of the upcoming U.S. Election spans beyond the borders of America and affects all those wanting a more positive future, writes Sophie Love.

IT’S NOT IMPOSSIBLE to overstate the importance of the U.S. Election this year. This is our Harry Potter moment. President Donald Trump floated the Dark Mark above us three years ago and around the world, the Right-wing elite grasped the opportunity to exacerbate their ideology. They have widened the divide between rich and poor, sown and reaped the seeds of hate and division. They have ramped up their racism, revelled in their mysoginy and bathed in the glow of their holier-than-thou Christian rhetoric.

It has been an experience of evil. Many of us have despaired watching this world rent in two, brother pitted against sister, neighbour against neighbour. Brexit, abortion, same-sex marriage, gender equality, refugees, Black Lives Matter and here, the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

At a time when our planet is crying out for healing in the face of cataclysmic climate change and the inundation of plastic pollution, we are pitted against each other. This is a pivotal moment — Trump has given us permission to speak our darkest hearts. We have seen, in close focus, the dark underbelly of society. It is time to wash it clean.

Trump's America: A ripe example of democracy in decay

Democracy appears to be on the brink of collapse in America, right now.

No, political correctness has not gone too far. We are on the cusp of change which includes all humans, irrespective of colour, race, creed, gender, sexuality and ability. And it’s about bloody time. Yes, we all need to learn to temper our thoughts, words and deeds, being mindful of the feelings of others. Who can decry that as a bad thing?

The Harry Potter generation (as Amelia Lester so cogently called them) will take up the call. Joe Biden is our Dumbledore, Kamala Harris our super-smart Hermione. There are millions of young people, led by the Parkland survivors, or who have witnessed police brutality and discrimination, who will make their voices heard.

This defining moment is redolent of the French Revolution. To the barricades, my friends! Our battle cry is the same – ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’ – for every man, woman and child, for every beast of the field and bush, plant and insect. We have to stop separating ourselves from nature, sealed off in concrete bunkers and shrink-wrapped food.

The coronavirus has brought into clear focus the innate inadequacies of our capitalist trickle down mentality. The rich are getting richer (at our expense), the poor brought to their knees. Only open-hearted policies of equality and compassion can save us now.

What happens if Donald Trump gets beaten in November?

President Trump is confident of another win at the next election, but polls show it could be time for him to consider a career change.

We have to come together – black and white, religious and not – to craft a world that is fair for all. We need global leadership, an end to politics of backstabbing and antipathy. We are standing on a precipice and we need the courage and clear thinking to launch ourselves into the unknown. We will not fall. We will rise up into a bright new future in which we can all shine and grow.

In this brave new world, we must all kneel in humility before Mother Nature and heed her increasingly desperate calls. We are nothing without this planet’s munificence. We have to stop looking for alternatives and tend to the home we have. We are witnessing the death throes of democracy, as tinpot dictators in every corner of the globe seek to aggrandise themselves and diminish our hard-won rights to hold governmental process to account.

We cannot be complacent as we cheer from the sidelines of this historic battle in the U.S. Our rights are being eroded here. Joe Biden says “this is a fight for the soul of America” — truly this is a battle for the soul of the world, for the future of man and womankind. Kindness must be the cornerstone of the new world order as we rise, phoenix like, from the ashes of autocracy and oppression.

Sophie Love is a farmer, writer and owner of the Avalon River Retreat, an accommodation destination on the mid-North Coast of NSW. You can follow Sophie on Twitter @TheNakedFarmers.