On October 30th, the Chicago Cubs had about the same odds of winning as Donald Trump.
Both are now more likely than ever to pull off the unthinkable. It's only been three days... and there are 7 more.
As someone who is rational and believes that evidence should be the deciding factor when arbitrating truth, I strongly believe that a Donald Trump presidency would be a tragic disaster of incomprehensible proportions. It would be no less than the death of the American experiment.
So what does a rational person do in times like these? With one week to go before this game of American Roulette plays out, I would like to examine the options available to the sane minority if Donald Trump does emerge victorious.
That these options closely mirror the stages of grief should come as little surprise.
Important note: I do not encourage, recommend, or in any way condone violent acts of any kind in response to this election. Peaceful transition of power is essential. We must fight back in other ways.
1. Ditch society
Cash out every penny, sell the house, and migrate to somewhere in the Western US (Montana?) where one could live "off the grid" as a subsistence farmer. This has a nice ideological agrarianism ring to it, and I certainly wouldn't mind living somewhere where I can see the stars at night. However it's not a realistic option for most families who simply couldn't afford do this, or who wouldn't be fast enough learners to pick up farming fast enough to make it through the first winters. And you'd need a lot of books to maintain sanity.
2. Income tax strike
If we all were to do what Donald Trump already does and not pay federal income taxes, it would grind the Federal government to a halt. The IRS couldn't possibly audit, prosecute, and jail 200 million working people. Now, most jobs sequester a significant amount of salary as withholding (that's why you sometimes get a rebate). But this is mostly optional; there is no federal mandate to withhold, and you should be able to opt out. I'm not sure this would get him out of the presidency, but it should would neuter his administration. This would take massive grassroots community organizing, and I'm not super confident we could pull it off.
3. Work strike
We could all just stop working. That would also send a message. We still can't have an economy without workers. In fact, without agribusiness and shipping, most of us wouldn't be able to eat for very long... This is dicey, and best served by striking only those industries that are not directly essential (entertainment, service, bureaucrats, finance, etc.).
4. Expatriate
My wife and I are expecting a child due within weeks of inauguration. I'm not necessarily thrilled about having my second son born in Trump-land. I'm not sure which countries would accept my family as political refugees, but with enough persistence we could probably find somewhere to go. Similar to #1, this is probably impossible for most lower/middle income folks, so it's really more akin to abandoning your compatriot than making a strategic retreat.
5. Secede
I've been a low-key proponent of California independence for a while now. The benefits of being a part of the United States are really starting to be outweighed by the costs, and on it's own California would be one of the world's great nations. The major downside to this would be that removing the golden state would leave the rest of the country hopelessly unbalanced at the national level. The only hope would be if other states secede as well, perhaps forming coastal alliances that together would be more populous than the remnant states. This would be very bad news for the "pocket" progressive areas like Austin, Miami, Atlanta, New Orleans, etc. which would find themselves governed by increasingly fascist rule.
6. Acceptance
Accept that humanity is doomed; that we will never achieve a peaceful harmony with nature or ourselves. Accept that the common fate of all intellectual life is to destroy itself before it can reach the stars. Accept that not just our bodies or our societies, but humanity itself is mortal and will, in the grand scheme of things, perish soon. And try to enjoy the little things in the vanishingly brief time we do have.
Bonus! Foment a military coup d'etat
The leaders of the US armed services are people too, and the vast majority of them are incredibly talented and brilliant. Trump has repeatedly called them out as failures and knownothings, claims that have no basis in reality. If the joint chiefs of staff were to refuse to accept the election results, they could impose martial law in DC to prevent Trump from taking office. The ration thing would be to empower (gulp) the US congress to select a different President, or force Trump to resign and relinquish the presidency to (double gulp) Governor Pence. I have no idea how citizens would encourage such a coup, but that's for December I suppose.
