After a storm, there is a period of sifting through the rubble . . . of whatever is left behind. When it’s a major storm or a disaster – say a tornado or hurricane or flood or fire – it’s the stuff of our lives – our homes – that we’re sifting through. It’s intensely personal.

What many of us are going through now, post-election  . . . is sifting through rubble of a different kind. It’s the stuff of our minds, our imaginations, our notions of what our world IS and who our neighbors are. It’s also personal, for sure. But, in this case, it’s also collective.

So as I . . . sift . . . I thought I’d share some of the pieces I find.

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One of the things that most . . . eats at me (in both the days leading up to the election, and certainly now post-election) . . . is this big question: How can I live in the midst of so many people who see the world – who respond to the world – in a way that is so very different from the way I see the world? What has happened to us? How did we diverge in such extreme ways? And is there any hope of finding some sort of middle ground again?

Yesterday, I read this essay written by one of my favorite authors, George Saunders. It’s from The New Yorker, and is part of a series they’re doing on “reflections” after the election. So far, I haven’t read any of the other “reflections.” Right now, I’m avoiding all post-election expert analysis. I don’t care to read anyone’s opinions on what-went-wrong. I’m not interested in finger-pointing. And I’m really not ready for any “reflections.” But. I was intrigued by this essay from George Saunders, so I decided to just dip my toe in and see what he had to say. (NOTE: Bonny let me know this article is behind a paywall. If you can’t read it, but want to, let me know and I’ll get it to you another way. Sorry for the inconvenience.)

It’s five “thought-experiments,” each with a series of questions to consider or think about or discuss. That’s all. No action steps. No plans. No blame. Just . . . things to think about . . . in a picking-through-the-rubble kind of way.

I found it fascinating, and I thought some of you might be interested, too. Especially if you’re constantly asking yourself (like I am) . . . What is WRONG with people?

And if you’re not ready to dip your toe into the post-election “pool” yet (or ever), that’s okay, too. The essay is here for you to check out (or not check out) whenever you’re ready (or not).

It’s just some of the rubble I’m sifting through.

“Is it possible that, these days, heavily agenda-laced ideas from afar glow within each of us with such power that we mistake them for our own? Possible that the way we receive information, and the form in which it arrives, is causing certain issues to assume an exaggerated importance in our lives, out of proportion to 1) the extent to which these issues actually affect us and 2) what we might be able to do about them? Isn’t this frustrating, because it makes us feel that our influence ought to be vast, but it isn’t? Is it possible that we have come to feel responsible for too much, for everything, even things outside of our control, and that this makes us feel like gods who have been unfairly disempowered? Isn’t it depressing, feeling like a demoted god? Doesn’t it fill us with despair, which might make us less effective if a time comes when we actually can do something, and might also mess with the enjoyment we should be feeling re the rest of our lives?”

— George Saunders, from Five Thought Experiments Concerning the Underlying Disease, The New Yorker, November 7, 2024