What To Do About A Donald Trump Presidency?

Moving Out of The Country Because of Trump:

 

With the surprise win of Donald Trump as the United States 45th president, many people are looking at moving out of the country because of the unique risk Donald Trump poses.

With Donald Trump being named the United States new president, it strikes fear, disgust, and anger in many of our hearts.

Should I move to Canada? Should I move to Mexico?

Moving out of the country is exactly what Donald Trump wants. He wants progressives out because that gives him more power. If progressives leave, then there are less to dissent and vote against him and his distasteful cohorts.

No...

We must stay! We must stand up for our rights and what we see as our future.

It is not worth giving up everything we have built for the gamble of moving out of the country. It's not worth giving up our friends, families, reputation, and change that we have created. We must defend ourselves, our loved ones, our environment, and our country from the potential tyranny of a Trump presidency. We must protect our sacred country from the ravages of ego and greed.

The New Energy and New Wave of Progressives:

What is going to happen over the next four years is an extreme surge of energy countering the Trump administration. This energy will manifest as fear, anger, and outrage. It will likely be the most fear, anger, and outrage that the United States has seen in decades.

But this is where we should get excited! We must transmutate this negative upwelling of energy into something productive. It's good to be angry; but we must channel it into creating positive change we want to see.

Complacency and Passivity:

 

One of the problems with the peaceful progressives is that many think many confuse peace, love, and unity with passivity.

Yes, we must love one another.
Yes, we except minority groups.
Yes, we must do unto other as we would do unto ourselves.
Yes, we must value peace over violence.

But, we have to rise up and speak our minds. This is no time to be politically correct or to fear what your neighbor might think of your opinions. It's time to do something.

Many people are content in just sharing Facebook memes and trusting that other people are going to do the hard work of change for them.

We too often assume that someone else will pass a law in our favor, will knock on doors on behalf of us, will write the article that is in our minds, will develop the newest invention that will save the world. One of the problems with "team" mentality is that we can become complacent in our belief that someone else in our team will do the critical work. We must take responsibility in our own hands now. We must not assume that someone else will do the critical work that needs to be done. 

What Can Be Done About President Trump:

There are three ways to evoke change regardless of who is in power: Education, Innovation, and Law.

Education

The first and easiest way to cause change and to progress is to educate people. This includes:

• Spreading the word on social media
• Writing letters to the editor in the local paper
• Making youtube videos
• Creating/printing/distributing posters and flyers
• Going door to door.
• Advertising on tv, online and on billboards.
• Talking to friends, family and neighbors about the issues.
• Asking questions.
• Reading books and articles outside of mainstream media.
• Anything that has to do with words and imagery is education.

Innovation

Innovation is the invention of new products, services or methods to replace unsustainable things and to repair damage done by these harmful inventions of the bygone era. A perfect example of positive progressive innovation is Elon Musk with his Tesla electric car company. He is not waiting for someone else to develop the electric car. He is not waiting for someone else to develop improved battery systems. He is not waiting for other people to change the world because we have no time to waste. Furthermore, he is letting his patents be open for all to use and benefit from. This is what we need in the world of innovative change. Using your unique skills, knowledge, and perseverance you can create. Innovation is about creation and includes:

• Creating politically, environmentally and socially aware art, music, and performance. This bleeds over into the education category as well.
• Creating new methods using existing tools and supplies for sustainable agriculture, transportation, forestry, politics, social media, clothing, lawn maintenance etc. 
• Developing new substances and compounds to replace existing harmful chemicals such as pesticides, fertilizers, flame retardants, food preservatives, teflon (Polytetrafluoroethylene), refrigerants, plasticizers etc.
• Developing new machines and technology to automatically plant trees, to produce energy from our roadways, store energy from windfarm surplus, develop land sustainably, programming a website as an eco-hub tfor people to report environmental issues, etc.

Law

Many people feel hopeless regarding the law and the subsequent legal system. Many feel dejected and hopeless with this subject. Indeed, we have seen too many cases won by corrupt corporations. We have seen too many laws passed by greedy lobbyists. It is these absurd legal situations that do not have the best interest of the common people and environment that make us feel powerless.

But this is what they want you to think. The corporations and people who have lost their humanity want you to believe you cannot affect laws. They want you to feel hopeless because it is the hopeless that do not act.

The earth needs lawyers to counteract the lawyers from the "machines". Corporations and their lobbyists often have the best lawyers. Imagine if as selfless people with the interest of humanity and earth, we diligently studied law, passed the bar exam and fought against special interests. What if we as a new generation of lawyers could work alongside nature conservancy groups to fight mining, pipelines, and rampant over-development. What if we as a aggressive savvy lawyers could pass laws prohibiting the chemicals that are causing the mutation of our genes and creating the scourge of cancers.

It's time to stop imagining and start doing. If you are the type who can delve into subjects and retain information, then you would be wise to use your skills in the field of law.\

Good progressive laws and cases do happen, but they need diligent lawyers working for the good of the earth and of society. Education as integral to law as well because an overwhelming public can influence the courts and judges.

War Against The "Machine"

 

As progressive forward thinking people we value peace, love and harmony.
However, it's time to wake up to war that we are fighting. It is not a war against people or humanity; it is a war against inhumanity. We must fight against corporations who are driven by profits not people for this corporations have lost their humanity. We must rail against institutions that are influence by greed and corruption as these institutions have lost their humanity. Indeed there are people within these corporations and institutions that have lost their humanity as well.

Entities that lack humanity are machines. It is these machines that we are fighting against because machines have no respect for sustainability, our finite earth, or human rights.

With Trump as the new president, it's time to not be afraid of anger. It's time to become impassioned because the whole world and our children's future is at stake. Let's take our emotional state of despair, anger, fear, and confusion and redirect it into education, innovation, and law for the good of the earth and people. It's time to stand up. It's time to fight the machine. We live in a new era and we can only move forward not backward.

Fifteen Minutes A Day

The key to withstand Donald Trump and the subsequent changes that will happen is to step away from social media, the news, and technology in general. To step back inside ourselves and to become aware of our own thoughts and feelings. To think for ourselves and to act for ourselves. To reject outside programming. From this place of centeredness and personal truth we must do something that we have not done before. There is no time in delaying what needs to be done regarding education, innovation and law for the sake of sustainability and justice.

If you haven't begun speaking your mind...now is the time.
If you have begun drawing up a new invention...now is the time.
If you haven't begun researching the subject that's been on your mind...now is the time.

If you had the time to read this article then you have time to do something for progress. Start taking fifteen minutes out of your day in the morning or night to work on the world that you want to see.

It's time for action. It's time for passion.

Low Maintenance Gardening: How To Naturally Keep Weeds Down & Water Less

Often the bane of the gardener's life is weeding. Herbicides are harmful to you and the environment, so most organic gardeners pull weeds by hand. But there is a better way to control weeds.

Mulch.

Except for deserts, healthy eco-systems have a heavy layer of ground cover otherwise known as mulch. In Permaculture, we want to utilize the patterns found in nature for use in food production, so we use mulch.

You should pull most weeds before you cover with mulch because existing weeds might have the energy to "pop" through. Mulch is cheap and easy to find. In fall, people throw away tons of leaves; these leaves are excellent mulch (avoid oak and walnut leaves because they suppress growth). Ask people if you can take their leaves; most would welcome it greatly. Straw bales are used as Fall/Halloween displays and are usually thrown out or given away, ask for these at the end of the season as well. Black and white newspaper can also be used. Avoid bales of hay since they have many seeds.

Most "weeds" only have enough energy to grow a couple inches, if they cannot find light fairly quickly they will die. To plant things that you want, just make a hole through the mulch to the ground.

Mulch has other important benefits in nature as well as your garden. It absorbs moisture and prevents evaporation at the ground level. I was able to not water my garden for a week at a time. After a week the ground was still very wet. This was in the 100 degree heat of desert summer.

Eventually mulch decomposes and turns into humus (essentially compost). Humus is a nutrient dense, extremely absorbent material, that has reached maximum decay. Humus is one of the best amendments to the soil, and is the major ingredient in the most healthy and fertile of soil.

Mulch not only adds to the quality of soil but also maintains the quality by preventing wind and water erosion of top soil. In some areas it can take a thousand years to create one inch of topsoil.

Rocks can also be used as mulch. In extremely hot regions, white rock is used to reflect the sun's heat and prevent water evaporation. In cold regions, black rock is used to absorb heat and warm the otherwise cold soil.


Happy Mulching!


Growing your own food is an important part of Thrivalism.

Image Source: gardenpossiblities.com

Electrical Storage in Hydrogen

Windmills and other alternative sources of electricity, produce a surplus of electricity when there is low demand. When we think of storing electricity, batteries come to mind; the problem with batteries is that they are expensive, slowly lose charge, and have a gradual decline of efficiency. Our alternative is hydrogen storage.

When water (with an electrolyte like baking soda) is electrolyzed, hydrogen and oxygen are produced. Hydrogen can be burned; through burning, it turns back into pure H2O. Hydrogen is clean energy.

Hydrogen can be stored in three ways:

1. Liquid-Hydrogen can be cooled down to -423 °F, where it reached it's liquid state. It takes a significant amount of energy to achieve this, thus is inefficient to store energy. 
2. Gas-Hydrogen can be pressurized to a couple thousand PSI. Though it takes energy to pressurize H2, large amounts can be stored without further inputs. High pressure storage is ideal for stationary situations.
3. Solid-Hydrogen can be absorbed into solid materials called hydrides. Some of these hydrides can be warmed a small amount to release hydrogen. Hydrides are ideal for mobile storage, as in H2 powered vehicles. Unfortunately, a hydride that has a high rate of release at low temperatures (80-150 °F) has not yet been made, though there are hydrides that have a low rate of release at low temperatures.

Efficient storage of energy is important to Thrivalism. 

Image Source: trekearth.com

Image Source: nanopedia.case.edu

Body Language: Mirroring

We sub-consciously mimic (mirror) people whom we like and respect. If you see a person mirroring certain things you do, such as holding the head the same way, crossing the legs the same way, doing the same thing with their hands, having the same body position, etc., they most likely respect/like you (sub-consciously you would already know that). If you mirror people as well, they will also like you better. But certainly do not over do it by mirroring everything they do.

Knowing body language is an important part of Thrivalism.

Body Language: Freeze, Fight, or Flight

According to "What Every Body is Saying" by Joe Navarro, the "Fight or Flight" syndrome is not complete because it also includes Freezing (staying in place and not moving). In nature, sometimes Freezing is safest option when running or fighting simply would get you killed. It is commonly referred to as "deer in the head lights". While this freezing effect is obvious when someone seems too stunned to move away from danger, it is often seen in subtle ways when a person suddenly quiets down or speaks less and limits movement. Sometimes this is seen if another person comes into the room. This should make you wonder if there is fear or a feeling of sub-ordinance in the person who freezed.

Body Language: Pacifying Behaviors

A pacifying behavior calms a person down. Briefly touching the head in any way is often a pacifying behavior. Most often people will touch their nose, mouth, ears, or back of neck. If a person is not comfortable, is lying, or disagrees they sometimes exhibit these behaviors.

I was at a dock and saw another person come up to a man sitting down. The person said that their "boat stalled and needed to be towed, could you give me tow?", the man said in friendly way "sure, not a problem", but as the person left, the man rubbed the back of his neck, which is a pacifying behavior and shows he was not very happy he had to leave his steamed clams and go tow someone.

Knowing body language is an important part of Thrivalism.

Body Language: Leaning

In a conversation, if a person is leaning towards the other person, it is often a sign of interested and agreement.

Conversely, if a person is leaning away from the other person, it is often a sign of disinterest and disagreement.