Silver Lining of a Second Trump Presidency

 The Silver Lining of a Second Trump Presidency

A stretch, maybe, but if there’s any silver lining to a second Trump presidency, it’s the sheer extent of public engagement. I am in awe. How else would we even begin to push back against the overreach of the wealthiest—those who define themselves by their wealth rather than their humanity?

We’re a country founded on the principle of self-rule—government for and by the people—and on the inalienable rights of everyone to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, with citizenship never a precondition.

And while, in reality, this ideal has fallen woefully short since our founding, we have lived through undeniable progress—from slavery once enshrined in law to the gradual recognition of women’s rights (though notably, the ERA has yet to be published in the Constitution, and women’s autonomy remains in dispute, as it’s dependent on state laws).

Moreover, while we haven’t yet fully embraced our duty as citizens, we have never been closer to a fundamental shift toward our ideals—precisely because of the Trump administration’s legally dubious overreach, with its brutally blunt aim to rewrite them.

So I encourage people to value their outrage—outrage at the wealthy, who seek to entrench their power, expand their privileges, and extract more from the economy at everyone else’s expense. And who are trying to rewrite our Constitution to bend it to their vision of society as laid out in Project 2025—because regardless of whether politicians embracing these policies are true believers, they see its implementation as worth its costs.

Let that outrage fuel you—wield it; don’t let it dissuade, paralyze, derail, or break you.

The most powerful thing anyone can do to resist oligarchy is to self-reflect:

Freedom means choice. So ask yourself, honestly: “What do I want to do that I can do?”

There’s no right answer to what you want to do—ever. Always—because we are free—you have choice.

At this moment in American history, kindness is the vaccine—against fascism, racism, misogyny, and patriarchy. Against the Trump administration and its weaponization of blatant cruelty and genuine harm to individuals as an intimidation tactic. Against the coalition of the wealthiest. Against the true believers of Project 2025, who seek to restructure America into a patrimonial patriarchy. Against Trump himself, whose focus is cruel, unyielding retribution and personal aggrandizement.

Kindness is the principle missing from our Declaration of Independence. That document articulates the ideals of equity of worth and fundamental rights—but it lacks the moral framework of a genuine goal to expand the quality of basic life and dignity for its citizenry, necessary to support our equity ideals.

Without this moral clarity—that governance is designed for all its people—we have failed to hold our government accountable. We now find ourselves floundering among norms and oaths that are hollow, without consequences, and easily corrupted.

Ironically, that’s what the 14th Amendment, Section 3 was intended to prevent—barring someone like Trump from governance again.

© Leslie Bianchi

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