Of course, at the beginning of the month my focus was on the US election. On November 2nd I posted my essay, About the US Election, capturing my thoughts before the event itself. I wrote: But today I am far, far more more interested in the transition from Game A to Game B than a transition from Trump to Biden.
During the evening of November 3rd, as the results were coming in, I was in email contact with my friend Henk Wilms, making this a shared experience. Although we were on opposite sides, we had one point of agreement. We both saw our favoured candidate as the lesser of two evils. Neither of us is optimistic about the future no matter who wins. As the month progressed, as reflected in my Readings below, I continued to try to understand the impact of the 2020 election as best I could.
Pat and I made a visit to our dental clinic which we had not done during the coronavirus crisis. My dentist spotted some decay which was confirmed by an X-ray. A few days later I was back having a large filling replaced and a crown installed. This was the second crown that I have gotten here in Mexico. Both times I was impressed with the technology, more advanced than what I experienced in Calgary ten years ago. And the cost here is much lower than Canada.
In November I spent more time on Discord. I am now a member of five servers - Awakening from the Meaning Crisis, Game ~B, Rebel Wisdom, The Coffeehouse Academy and The Stoa. I spend most of my time at The Stoa where I am slowly building new relationships.
The ABC meeting in November discussed A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of Virginia Hall, WWII’s Most Dangerous Spy by Sonia Purnell. For the first time since launching the book club in 2016, I had not read the book. I was concerned that I might be bored by the discussion but was pleasantly surprised. The conversation was lively, informative and engaging. But I did not regret not reading the book.
However, I read KNOWING THE DEEPEST HAPPINESS - A Beginner’s Guide to Mindfulness and a Workbook by Dr. Larry John Barnhardt and added my book report to this website.
Collective Presencing continued to be a significant focus for me throughout the month. I captured my evolving thoughts in three articles - Guiding Questions, My Gift, Your Gift, Our Gift and Now What? This story continues to unfold.
I was unable to find a solution to our vehicle problem. Pat and I decided to park this problem off to the side for now. My vehicle will soon become illegal in Mexico and we will be unable to drive it.
Condominio matters continued to make too many demands on my time as I continue to contribute to a self-appointed transition team intending to install new leadership next January.
Finally, there was an extremely disturbing family matter this month. It will impact some lives for many years. I will say no more because of privacy concerns.
Readings
After the Election, Hitting Refresh by Bonny Brooks Nov 8
For politics watchers, the last few days have been a lucid dream... Amidst the numbers, the narratives. Like tin-pot soothsayers staring at tea leaves, we saw the shapes we wanted to see. Anti-woke fundamentalists said it was defund the police. Glacial-change libs insisted they would have gotten away with it, if it wasn’t for those socialist kids. Leftists said it was the centrists wot done it. On-brand-political-dicks said: Cry harder, libs. Libs cried.
An Outside Look at Election Fraud by BJ Campbell Nov 8
Unlike basically everyone, I don’t really care who won, nor do I really care what happens with the court cases and election fraud accusations that are going on right now. As someone who doesn’t care, I figured it might be instructive for folks who do care who wins to get an outside perspective on the case that the election was stolen. So if do you care who won, this article is for you.
Americans Didn’t Vote Against Trump, They Voted Against More Media Psychological Abuse by Caitlin Johnstone Nov 10
The establishment narrative managers are not terrifying their audiences with this word because they believe there is any danger of a coup actually happening. They are doing it because it’s their last chance to use Trump to psychologically abuse their audiences for clicks.
A Conspiracy So Vast… by Michael M. Rosen Nov 14
In an exclusive for Arc Digital, the left-wing conspiracy to install Biden as president is laid bare for all to see
Some thoughts on The American Election by Andrew Sweeny Nov 17
Instead, let us be stoics here and dare to look at the real. Firstly, we should acknowledge that Trump has had an interesting effect on the world, both negative and positive. Carl Jung might say he was a sort of trickster clown-the trickster clown being one of the oldest archetypes operating at the back of our unconscious mind. And according to Jung, the trickster is the forerunner to the savior.
Did American Democracy Really Hold? Maybe Not. by Jeff Greenfield 11/24/2020
It takes no great leap into speculation to show that Trump has taught his would-be successors very powerful lessons in just how to steal an election. Indeed, he’s shown that there’s already political and judicial structure in place that will make it far easier to pull off in elections to come, at least for Republicans, who hold most of the reins in state legislatures. Like the German military who saw the Spanish Civil War as a testing ground for the Luftwaffe, the GOP may come to see 2020 as the election that illuminated the path to seizing power over the will of American voters.
Reasons why the 2020 presidential election is deeply puzzling by Patrick Basham November 27, 2020
To say out-loud that you find the results of the 2020 presidential election odd is to invite derision. You must be a crank or a conspiracy theorist. Mark me down as a crank, then. I am a pollster and I find this election to be deeply puzzling. I also think that the Trump campaign is still well within its rights to contest the tabulations. Something very strange happened in America’s democracy in the early hours of Wednesday November 4 and the days that followed. It’s reasonable for a lot of Americans to want to find out exactly what.
Coronavirus: The Swiss Cheese Strategy
How Any Country Can Learn to Dance and Stop the Coronavirus
by Tomas Pueyo Nov 8
You’d imagine eight months into the pandemic most countries would know exactly what to do to stop the coronavirus. And yet here we are.
The Best and Worst Places to Be in the Coronavirus Era
by Rachel Chang, Jinshan Hong and Kevin Varley November 24, 2020
Bloomberg crunched the numbers to determine the best places to be in the coronavirus era: where has the virus been handled most effectively with the least amount of disruption to business and society?
The coronavirus has turned the NFL into a joke, and nobody should be laughing by Jerry Brewer November 29, 2020
The NFL was a joke Sunday, at a time when nothing about the coronavirus warrants laughter.
CONTRIBUTING EFFECTIVELY IN TIMES OF CRISIS by Roger Walsh 16.11.2020
This is not a time to play small. Our society is in turmoil, our planet plundered, our civilisation at risk. How can we contribute most effectively to help heal these crises?
Shaping Transformative Cultures by Julyan Davey Nov 25
I am on a quest to discover group cultures that could allow humans to live in harmony with life.
In the past few months, I have developed an idea called Transformative Cultures that I want to share today.
Sharing it excites me so much because I have growing confidence that this is the work that I was put on planet earth to undertake.