Hang in there …

At times I’ve referred to myself as a Pollyanna – you know, the person who always finds the bright spot in a situation, one whose cup is half-filled rather than half-empty. Since Trump won the election, I’ve found it difficult to hold onto that side of myself.

But today I wrote the following in response to someone’s Facebook post. I wrote it to encourage them and I’m now finding a small glimmer of encouragement for myself. Here’s what I wrote:

I’m encouraged to see demonstrations and other protests gaining traction. I’m also encouraged to see a few leaders like Bernie Saunders, Governor Pritzker and others rallying people. I’m encouraged by those who are writing about Trump, Musk, Rubio, Hegseth etc – some almost daily – and gathering thousands of followers. I’m encouraged that countries like Canada as well as groups like the EU are taking action. I’m encouraged that the stock market is falling. I’m encouraged that unions are organizing. Now that I list all these, perhaps there is a tiny flame of liberty that will gradually grow to a roaring fire of dissent.

Let’s not forget that Trump did not win the popular vote. Millions voted against him. Let’s not forget that millions of others sat on the sidelines. Both groups represent Americans who did not – and do not – want Trump to be their president.

Many will call me naive.

But like others, I need a glimmer of hope to keep going. I can’t ignore what’s happening. I can’t look away. I can’t stop writing about the dangers Trump and his minions represent. But I can grab on to hope, because that will help keep me going.

Here’s another spot of encouragement. In a recent Globe and Mail article – Canada’s largest newspaper – titled ‘Donald Trump is hijacking the tariff strategy his party wrote – and Washington, and Wall Street, are in turmoil’, the columnist writes:

“Scores of policies were proposed in Project 2025’s 900 pages, including a tariff strategy for ‘fair trade.’ The author of this section, Peter Navarro – the architect of Mr. Trump’s first-term tariff plan – argued that the United States desperately needs to strengthen its manufacturing and defence industrial base. To help do that, he called for aggressive tariffs on China, as well as reciprocal tariffs on every other trading partner.”

But Navarro didn’t account for Trump’s ego (I refuse to use his title) and his tendency to escalate when things don’t go his way. Navarro and the Project 2025 disciples didn’t imagine that Canada or the EU or other countries would respond as forcefully as they have. These responses represent a major threat to large American businesses because, as the chart below illustrates, those businesses are multi-national and depend significantly on revenue from outside the US.

Consumers around the world are boycotting American goods. American consumers have established rolling boycotts of companies known to be big Trump supporters like Target, Amazon, Walmart, General Mills, McDonald’s. Share prices are down … hopefully they will continue to do down as consumers find alternatives.

Will multi-nationals take action against the regime? What about the big tech leaders like Zuckerberg (Meta), Bezos (Amazon), Altman (OpenAI), Pichai (Google), and Cook (Apple)? What kind of pressure can they exert? Will Trump care?

As I said above, a few glimmers of encouragement.

Back to historical fiction next week.

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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.