Three billion years ago on planet Earth, a form of photosynthesizing algae evolved, which used water as a form of energy and produced oxygen as a waste byproduct. This resulted in the rise in the concentration of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, and the increasing oxygen levels was poison for most of the life-forms inhabiting the planet. Scientists have dubbed this event as The Oxygen Catastrophe.
Of course, this was one of Earth’s many evolutionary catastrophes which would make it possible for life (particularly human life) to evolve. Without the presence of oxygen, Earth would look similar to its neighbors: cold, barren, and lifeless. Throughout our four-and-a-half billion years, many species have come and gone, mostly based on their ability to adapt—those species that could not adapt to the changes ended up “Left Behind.”
As I watch what is happening in the Republican Party and their desperation to hold onto the White House, I can’t help but wonder if we’re watching another such process taking place before our very eyes: another evolutionary catastrophe in process. And this time it’s the now-conscious human species facing extinction—or at least those who have refuse to move on.
There’s a hypothesis being bantered around—stating that we’ve evolved about as far as we can with our physical bodies, but there’s the human mind which has gone mostly untapped. The hypothesis is, ‘the next level of human evolution is going to be our ability to recognize, tap into, and use the power of our mind (please know that I’m not talking about a New Age ideology of “energy”).’ We’re slowly beginning to understand and recognize our relationship with our planet, our universe, and our connection to them (it?).
The most obvious/probable result of this evolution is going to be how we view our “supposed” difference as a species. Our skin color, sexuality, nationality, who or what we worship—are all going to be “up for grabs.” The universe is becoming “personal.” We understand physics, and biology, but we’re also understanding that the life is diverse and somewhat unpredictable—making each one of us more unique than we’ve ever really considered ourselves before. A personal—yet shared—evolution.
As a result, I think we’re watching the toppling of fundamentalism at every level. The popularity of Donald Trump among fundamentalists has never waned. There is no line that Donald could cross that would make them love him less. He is their savior, their holy man, their purpose in life. Even though he’s toxic, they embrace him… because they simply cannot adapt to the direction evolution wants to take them/us. To that end, they deny Climate Change, they fight science in schools, they embrace conspiracy theories. They look for something/someone “outside” of themselves to save them (and we know that evolution doesn’t work that way).
We’re watching a group of humans unwilling to take the next step in evolution. Unwilling to recognize humanity, unwilling to acknowledge that skin color is irrelevant, unwilling to acknowledge that our survival depends on our willingness to face our own ability to save us or destroy us.
As the human species begins to understand itself, it becomes more tolerant; it opens itself up to and embraces these “differences” because it knows they’re not really differences. Our universe is expanding. Our understanding of the universe is expanding with it. We’re recognizing that the way we’ve been behaving toward each other is no longer working (actually it ever did in the first place). We’re trying to bring about that change in consciousness that allows for—and celebrates—those differences. We’re learning to rise above our animistic instincts. To that end, we’re discovering compassion.
Yet Donald Trump marches on, raising his following who wish that this were not so. They cannot evolve beyond fear, resistance, and their determination NOT to evolve. They’re not opposing “the new president,” they’re opposing evolution. They’re refusing to adapt. The word around them is producing oxygen, and they’re determined not to breathe.
Nevertheless, Nature/the Universe doesn’t care. As we’ve seen through our observations of the evolution of our planet, those species that won’t adapt… disappear. Our consciousness is changing rapidly, and this change is toxic to the Fundamentalists and Republicans. However, Nature could care less that they don’t like change; it’s moving on… with or without them/us. If they choose ‘without,’ Nature will remove them.
Like their evolutionary predecessors, these people have a choice. They can adapt, because change is inevitable, or they go the way of their predecessors. Either way, it’s up to them. For our part, there doesn’t seem to be any way that we can convince them to leave their ignorance behind. We can’t fight them. So instead, we move forward: we embrace change and let Nature take care of them. All we need to do is continue to focus on the change that we desire to see in our world. We move forward.
Trump supporters aren’t fighting “us,” they’re fight “Nature…” and at every turn. So maybe the answer at this point is to “turn them over to evolution.” They’re not on the wrong side of history, they’re on the wrong side of evolution. Maybe, just maybe, all that’s left for us to do is let evolution deal with them—while hoping that it understands that the rest of us actually want to adapt… and move forward.