We, the losers

The only satisfaction that accompanies the triumph of Donald Trump is that this time being a loser will not be a lonely experience, as it is sometimes when you only lose against local national-populists. Most of European leaders, tens of millions of American citizens (among them all their best intellectuals and academics) and all the decent media in the world, were against the winning candidate. A dark period is in front of us, and the obligation of anyone with a minimum degree of dignity is to start the fight for the democratic defeat of Mr. Trump as soon as possible, as we defeated Berlusconi in Italy not that long ago. Some will blame Hillary Clinton, the center left and the intellectual global elites. I wonder if the victory of Hitler in Germany was also accompanied by the same blaming game. Of course we have to think seriously about how to defeat the national-populist monster, but it will be easier if all those in favour of freedom and justice feel that they are in the company of many. This time it is not "we, the people..." but "we, the losers..." How the same society can elect a high quality leader like Obama one day and replace him with Trump four years later will remain a mystery. I guess the new president will not keep claiming now that the system is rigged. These are sad days, but life continues and at the collective level never ends. We should not content ourselves with the idea that we sided with the decent people when this happened. We must also join the millions that are willing to peacefully and democratically fight in making sure that this will be a short exception or a costly distraction in the route to a better world. As Krugman says, it is time to rethink, but not to surrender.