Doubling Down on Regeneration
If you’re anything like me, over the past few weeks since Donald Trump’s sweeping election victory, you’ve been engaged in deep and prolonged reflection about what it means that such an obviously hateful, ignorant, and dangerous man won the US Presidency a second time, how bad the next four years are likely to be, and what to do in response. You’ve probably read and listened to dozens of takes from professional pundits, family and friends, and strangers on social media, and churned through the Stages of Grief from denial to anger, bargaining, depression, and maybe even acceptance.
At this point, it might seem like there’s nothing left to say. However, if we zoom out to consider a broader historical perspective, some things become apparent that wouldn’t be otherwise.
The central fact of our historical moment is that we are in the midst of an unprecedented global environmental, economic, and social polycrisis that threatens the future of civilization and all life on Earth. This would still be the case under a President Kamala Harris. Neither candidate was proposing to tackle climate change with the seriousness it requires, questioning society’s dependence on endless economic growth, or advocating for a regenerative revolution. The big difference between Trump and Harris is that Trump is almost certain to accelerate The Great Unraveling (to use eco-philosopher Joanna Macy’s evocative term) of all the systems we’ve come to depend on.
While a lot of time, energy, and resources will undoubtedly be necessary to stop the erosion of civil rights, protect the most vulnerable, and defend democracy during a second Trump administration, I believe it’s essential that we don’t neglect the equally important work of building alternative systems and cultures. In a context where racism and misogyny are spreading like wildfire, millions of people are being forcibly deported, and the Constitution is being trampled on, things like growing local food systems, supporting social entrepreneurship, and transitioning to renewable energy may seem less urgent and overly idealistic. Nevertheless, we need to find ways to engage in both resistance and regeneration simultaneously.
One reason that cultivating regenerative communities is so essential is because they represent what I believe is the most holistic, realistic, and desirable alternative to the status quo of the Industrial Growth Society, which is already causing a sixth mass extinction and pushing our planet towards catastrophic tipping points. Without a compelling vision of the future and enough living examples around the world to demonstrate its viability, I fear more and more people will continue to slide into despair and apathy who might otherwise be moved to action.
Unlike protest and policy change, regenerating ecosystems, local economies, and cultures of cooperation is slow and patient work. However, if we fail to develop sustainable and just systemic solutions now, we will make things more difficult for ourselves far beyond the next four years. Authoritarian strongmen who tell everyone exactly who to blame and promise they alone can fix everything tend to thrive in times when people feel hopeless and confused. If the majority continues to misunderstand the true causes of the Great Unraveling and doesn’t see a better option than trying in vain to preserve the past, we may end up falling again and again for charlatans like Trump.
Local and bioregional regenerative efforts, undertaken collectively, also have the potential to buoy our spirits, generate empowerment, and bring people together in a way that’s rarely possible at the national level. By incorporating values of hard work, frugality, neighborliness, and self-reliance, regeneration sidesteps political pigeonholes, and by focusing on the kind of community we want to create for ourselves and our children, it often transcends traditional divisions. Furthermore, given Trump’s plans to pull the US out of the Paris Accord, scrap investments in clean energy, and dismantle environmental protections, local and regional might be the only scales at which we’re able to make any progress on the climate crisis for the foreseeable future.
Following Trump’s first win in 2016, Transition Movement founder Rob Hopkins wrote a post titled “Before President Trump, fetch wood, carry water. After President Trump, fetch wood, carry water.” Its main point is basically the same one I’ve been making here: that regeneration is essential regardless of who is currently occupying the White House. However, eight years later, I believe this election is also a call to all of us who care deeply about the fate of humanity and our precious planet to level up our game, aim higher, take bigger risks, and double-down on our commitment to a just and regenerative world. There’s no more time for holding back. This is what life requires.
Will we succeed? Only time will tell. Our modern world is much too complex to fully comprehend all the variables, and nobody knows where tipping points in consciousness and culture might exist. In a moment of such uncertainty and possibility, we can’t afford to simply give up. Our ancestors, future generations, and millions of other species are both counting on us and rooting us on. Even if the forces of destruction ultimately overwhelm our efforts, at least we will have lived a life of great integrity and adventure, and can finally rest easy knowing we’ve tried our best.
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Don Hall has had the good fortune to serve the international Transition Towns Movement in a variety of capacities over the past 16 years. Initially serving for two years as Education & Outreach Coordinator for Transition Colorado, the first official Transition Initiative in North America and a statewide hub. Don founded Transition Sarasota (Florida, USA) and became a certified Transition Trainer in 2010. After six and a half years as Transition Sarasota’s Executive Director, he became Co-Director of Transition US in 2017 and Executive Director in 2020. Don currently serves as Training Coordinator for Transition Network and is the author of The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World (New Society Publishers, 2024). He also holds a Master’s in Environmental Leadership from Naropa University, a certification in Permaculture Design from the Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, and lives in Boulder, Colorado. For more information about Don and The Regeneration Handbook, you can visit his website at https://evolutionarychange.org.
