The Bully and the Bottom Line

First off, I want to offer a sincere thank you to those of you who have become paid subscribers to Active Peace on Substack. It means a lot to me and helps to keep the fire burning.

It’s obviously been a tough year of bearing witness to such a quick slide into our own version of fascist authoritarianism and all of the cruelty, destruction, and divisiveness that has gone along with it. It’s striking that in pursuing a messianic, imperialistic agenda, Trump/MAGA fascism pointedly exacerbates the real threats we face: climate chaos and environmental degradation, societal and economic divisions, racism, patriarchy, and violence.

I hadn’t heard others using the word messianic in the context of Trump before writing this, but a quick search reveled that I’m just late for the party. An NPR story referring to a meme depicting Trump as a messiah-like figure sent directly from God goes back nearly two years (1). And there is nothing new in the complicity of many Christian evangelicals in white supremacy and what they consider righteous violence. Kristin Kobes Du Mez summed a lot of that up in her 2020 book, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation.

When messianic is paired with imperialism it becomes all the more chilling, and the tie in with fascism becomes all the more clear. In a post from a year ago I offered this brief overview of fascist politics:

At the heart of fascism is a politics rooted in extreme ultra-nationalism and an “us versus them” worldview. Groups of enemies are needed in order to sell the only remedy offered—protection by a strong authoritarian leader.

Relentless propaganda sows the needed division, hatred, and fear. The “other” is demonized as dangerous and unworthy, and dehumanized to the point where extreme cruelty and violence can be used in the name of protecting “us” and the nation. In just this much, we see the incompatibility of fascist politics with liberal democracy rooted in the values of equality and fairness.

Once the authoritarian has taken control, then it’s all about staying in power. The information space continues to be poisoned by propaganda to such an extent that rational conversation is no longer possible. What’s left is tribalism, division, hatred, and fear (2).

The Bully

While it’s damaging and disgusting, the Trump/MAGA agenda is already doomed. It’s an agenda that pivots on the lie of a mythical past of white racial purity and supremacy, the inherent rightness of patriarchal norms, moral greatness, and god-given entitlement. Lying, bullying, and violence are essential in the mix, and I don’t know what you’ve learned over the course of your lifetime, but I’ve learned that these traits are not exactly gateways to a bright future.

Trump’s Latin American escapade is a fool’s errand that seeks to impose a future of domination and isolationism that harkens back to our imperial past—a past steeped in violent hypocrisy. But today there isn’t even the thinnest veneer of our interventions being about promoting democracy. It’s still basically the same old Cuba Syndrome: how dare a country in our own hemisphere not kowtow to the U.S.!

In an article exploring the estimated 634 assassination attempts on Fidel Castro’s life, attempts by the CIA and Cuban exiles, The Guardian quotes Wayne Smith, the former head of the U.S. interests section in Havana: “Cuba seems to have the same effect on American administrations that a full moon has on a werewolf. We may not sprout hair and howl but we behave in the same way” (3).

It’s important to highlight, as Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad do in On Cuba: Reflections on 70 years of Revolution and Struggle: “At no point in its post-1959 history did Cuba resist opening channels to the U.S. and finding ways to normalize diplomacy.” That seems to ring just as true for Venezuela today. It’s not about narco-terrorists or democracy, it’s not even anti-communist at the core, it’s all about regime change in service to U.S. domination. But imperialism always has and always will be resisted since it goes against the inherent human longing for dignity and self-determination. The world is steeped in that history, and choosing to live in an alternative reality doesn’t change it.

The Bottom Line

It seems to come down to raw power, and observers point out the difficulty of bringing down fascist regimes through democratic means. That’s an important topic worthy of study and reflection, and a book like Maria Ressa’s, How to Stand Up to a Dictator, is probably super relevant right now (4). But I have a different bottom line in mind.

My work in restorative justice has taught me that the bully carries something for the collective. The bully at school is carrying something related to dysfunction in the school system (and the broader collective). The bully becomes a kind of messenger alerting the system that something is out of alignment, and in our global and domestic contexts there is much that is out of alignment. There is, in fact, a convergence of crises, true existential threats, and this is the bottom line that matters most now.

I’ve written about what I and others call The Great Unravelling elsewhere (5). Suffice it to say here, as I see it, it’s the unravelling of beliefs and mindsets rooted in the illusion that we as humans are separate from each other, from the Earth, and from the spiritual dimensions of existence. It is the illusion of separateness that gives rise to the dominant paradigm with its degradation of the Earth and climate, nuclear weapons proliferation and perpetual wars, entrenched patriarchy and white supremacy, predatory globalized capitalism and gross inequality, and violence in all of its many forms. In a reality characterized by relationship and interconnectedness, it was never going to be possible to continue to operate so at odds with that inherent wholeness, hence the unravelling and the age of consequences.

For me, the urgency of aligning with the interconnected nature of reality is where I want to put my energy and attention.

Onward into 2026

For all the obvious reasons, fascism needs to be resisted. But at the same time, The Great Unravelling directs our attention towards a far larger agenda. It’s time to get serious about a post-fossil fuel future, with all that that entails. It suggests urgency in exploring local and regional self-sufficiency and resilience, alternative forms of local autonomy, environmental stewardship, and governance. Challenging? Absolutely, but rich with opportunity as the door opens to the weaving of new patterns, new stories, new ways of living our way back to wholeness and true belonging. The Great Unravelling does not mean the end of us, but the beginning of a remembering that it’s all about relationship.

That level of authentic, actionable remembering implies significant unlearning. On both the personal and professional levels, I anticipate a 2026 dedicated to continuing the process of unlearning the American Myth and decolonizing my own mind. This feels foundational to co-creating, before it’s too late, a future where we can not just survive but thrive. It can sound like a heavy bummer, but I already know that energy put into decolonizing my mind pays off in a felt sense of deep liberation that catalyzes connection, courage, and contribution. I’ll have more to say about that process in the months ahead.

It seems fitting to close this final post of the year with mentioning that, while it doesn’t officially begin until February 17th, in the Chinese system, 2026 is a very special Year of the Fire Horse. It’s a pairing that only comes about once every 60 years that amplifies the horse’s natural energy, independence, and passion, with the burning intensity of fire. It signifies bold action, dynamic growth, and innovation. It seems like potent and timely encouragement!

Everything has its own timing and season, and I offer my support for and blessings upon your highest intentions for the coming year.

Notes

1. This is the NPR story and this is the meme.

2. G. Scott Brown, The Shadow King Enthroned, Active Peace, Jan. 30, 2025

3. Close but no cigar: how America failed to kill Fidel Castro, The Guardian, Nov. 26, 2016.

4. Maria Ressa, How to Stand Up to a Dictator: The Fight for Our Future.

5. G. Scott Brown, Love and the Great Unravelling, Active Peace, Nov. 18, 2024.