The Trump administration could be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.

The coming days present a rare opportunity to reinvent yourself. No longer is the only march towards retirement. We all have been called upon to save the republic. Everyone has a job to do. Everyone faces the same critical test: Do we have what it takes to model courageous behavior in tumultuous and turbulent times? The Trump administration may be amazing, or it may be the Titanic of American presidencies. Each day forward we have a choice: to be a hero, or not to be.

The times they are indeed a-changing, again, and I for one have jumped back aboard the peace train. This is the first time since college, for example, that I’ve put my philosophy major to work, and being on the eve of marijuana legalization makes the timing somewhat poignant. Bearing a Trump administration on top of a LePage administration is like being born again. It’s a brand new world, and we are free to cut ties to the personality or values we have been carrying around for decades like ball and chain. We can be someone different or the person we used to know.

A political commentator can ignore President Trump only in her wildest dreams. This job demands an opinion about what’s generally perceived to be reality, so there is no choice about whether to respond to Trump or not; the question is how. Which, of course, reminds philosophy majors everywhere of Pascal’s Wager, that term given to the idea by a 16th century philosopher and mathematician that it makes sense to believe in God. If you believe and there is a God, you get eternal life. If you believe and accordingly act righteous and there is no God, you still get the benefit of wholesome living. Contrast that with not believing in God and being wrong: Eternal damnation is too high a price to pay to be a skeptic, according to Pascal’s Wager.

And so it is with the Trump administration and our reaction thereto. The political equivalent of eternal damnation can’t be good. There is no sense obsessively worrying about or ignoring Trump. The crying has to stop. Threats of nuclear annihilation, war with China, climate change, xenophobia, misogyny and all the other things at stake are huge, and these important issues are worthy of grave consternation. But concern alone is not adequate, nor is denial. These trying times of uncertainty call for a response – and therein lies our present opportunity.

The Women’s March on Washington was an excellent response to the inauguration of the 45th president, as were the related marches around the world that spontaneously combusted in remarkably positive ways. Size is what matters to Trump, so the total massive number of peaceful women and men marching in solidarity was powerful because it was huge and also because it was respectful.

There are other opportunities to act as well. You could learn how to hack Twitter and shut off Trump’s account, for instance, or you could follow and study the president’s tweeting disorder and create a new algorithm for Wall Street to predict and profit from his tweets. Take it a step further and you could donate the millions and millions of dollars you make to a worthy charity and then negotiate world peace.

Committing to stomping out narcissism in your own life and working to help others you love do the same is another potential reaction to the Trump administration. Change begins at home, right? Maybe we have an egocentric president who reflects the electorate that landed him in the White House. Maybe we are too self-aggrandizing and committed too much to self-enrichment. Maybe we talk too much about petty things and often act like 4 year olds.

There is opportunity to stop talking and stop tweeting and stop posting. We can listen to people who we previously ignored. We can ask questions of those we assume fall into predictable red or blue boxes. Trump blew up that lazy sorting model. Knowing someone’s party doesn’t mean you know someone’s response to what’s happening now in the world. It’s not yet clear what divides us. There is opportunity to set the lines on the field at different yard posts. Abortion does not have to be a litmus test in the ongoing conversation about equal rights. Democrats and Republicans do not have to be defined by extremists or insiders who claim the mantle. Everyone is free to argue every side of every issue and pull up a chair at every table. Speak now or forever hold your peace.

Trump and emerging nationalist leaders around the world are attempting to paint today’s battle line between globalism and jingoism. They say immigration and bad trade deals are the root cause of international disruption and despair, so there is opportunity to test that theory and proffer alternative facts about technology, war, mass communication, justice, emerging markets and understanding that better explain the progression of events. There is a call for people who believe in math, science, research and facts to speak up and support activists on the front lines and elected officials striving to chart a responsible course. Equally important and required in any fight of this magnitude are those with a sense of humor and courage enough to make jokes and laugh when times are scary. To not use the abundance of rich material in these dark and stormy days to make great comedy would be tragic.

Cynthia Dill is a civil rights lawyer and former state senator. She can be contacted at:

dillesquire@gmail.com

Twitter: dillesquire

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