If the daffodils can make it, so can we
Amid the chaos of Trump's assault on America, there are reasons for hope
Plants collaborate, and they figure out how to survive. There’s something in that, right? (Photo by Chloé Leblanc on Unsplash)
Daffodils are poking up all around our neighborhood, and just in time: We all need a bit of cheering up. But beyond their usual happy report that spring is at hand, the little yellow trumpets this year seem to offer more than that — even, maybe, a suggestion of how we’re going to get through this Bleak Season of Trump.
No, a flower can’t wave a protest sign or work to un-elect a weak-kneed member of Congress. But plants communicate, it seems, both to other flora and to we fauna, and they create networks of collaboration that we might do well to emulate.
Botanists tell us that daffodils, for example, release organic chemicals that attract such pollinators as bees and butterflies, whose survival may depend upon that invisible invitation to pollenate. They’re also the garden’s security guards, producing lycorine, a bitter-tasting compound that is toxic to squirrels, voles and mice, critters that might otherwise devastate neighboring plants.1
Scientists have been studying this kind of collaboration among plants since Darwin’s time. Research has uncovered the presence of fungal networks in the soil that enable plants to share nutrients and send warnings about pests and diseases. They have found symbiotic electrical signals linking one wounded plant species to another. Two years ago, scientists at Tel Aviv University published a paper concluding that plants under stress emit sounds that are “airborne and informative.”2
All of which suggests an agenda for stressed Americans: Push useful information out into the world. Collaborate. Nurture and protect each other. Survive and thrive through even the toughest of seasons.
Lately there have been signs that the carnage of President Donald Trump’s first weeks back in office is reaching the awareness of even the most stubborn MAGA enthusiasts, piercing the shield of propaganda that Fox News and other right-wing media deploy to protect him. Meanwhile, among the still-shellshocked opponents of Trump, there is a rumbling of the kind of response we will need if we hope to prevent a multi-faceted disaster.
To be sure, nothing will undo the vast range of Trump destruction — the gutting of aid programs that have kept millions of people around the world alive, the abandonment of plans to fight devastating climate change, the loss of American leadership in the free world’s contest with repressive regimes, and, most recently, the economic turbulence that everyone knew would follow his reckless launch of a global trade war. The stock market seems to be in freefall. Heckuva job, Donnie.
All of that only begins to describe the chaos that a mentally troubled and morally deficient American president is bringing to a world that was already on edge. We’re also witnessing his attack on higher education, his repression of LGBTQ+ rights, his attempts to distort the truth of history, his manipulation of the tax code so that wealth inequity will actually grow. This week New Jersey’s Cory Booker delivered a 25-hour speech on the Senate floor, a heroic if ultimately symbolic effort to spotlight Trump-induced American ruination, and even in all that, he surely didn’t get all of it.
None of the tumult will diminish anytime soon, though, and some of it will change America and the world forever. It’s 576 days until the midterm congressional election, where we have a chance to restrain Trump’s impulse to devastation; it’s 187 weeks until we will get to vote for a new president. There will be plenty of hardship to tolerate between now and then, a lot of mess to clean up as we go along and, hopefully, some comfort to be extended to the people most hurt by what Trump is doing (with, let’s be clear, the shameful acquiescence of his party).
But there are rumblings of resistance in America. It will do us good to take note of them. Because as surely as the daffodils signal spring, these first signs of effective pushback remind us that we are not helpless or hopeless.
We have some choices to make and chances to take, and a fight to wage. But we have to pay attention.
Consumer confidence has been tumbling this year, and by the end of March the Conference Board reported that it hasn’t been this low since January of 2021 — the month, not incidentally, that Donald Trump moved out of the White House after his first term. We can only speculate where the figure will stand even at the end of this month, as we begin to take stock of the impact of Trump’s tariffs.3
More than money woes worry Americans, though. A national poll last month of 18- to 29-year-olds by Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government found that nearly two-thirds have more fear than hope about the future of the nation’s democracy. Fully 7 in 10 blame politicians for that; 6 in 10 mentioned the negative impact of money in politics. Notably, those proportions were shared alike by young people who considered themselves Republicans, Democrats and independents.4
But it’s not just the kids: Oxford University’s annual World Happiness Report, a survey conducted in collaboration with Gallup and the UN, reported last month that Americans’ happiness had continued its decade-long decline, dropping in the latest report to 24th, its lowest-ever spot among the 140 nations surveyed. The happiness of our citizens – living, let’s remember, in the richest country of the world, with security and comfort unparallelled in history – now falls below those in nations at war (Israel, no. 8), or fighting poverty and organized crime (Mexico, no. 10) or experiencing harsh weather (Iceland, no. 3; United Arab Emirates, no. 22).5
How do we explain the broad unhappiness of Americans? Mark Williamson, the head of the non-profit Action for Happiness, told NBC News that it likely arose from the “ongoing challenges around cost of living, economic uncertainty and political polarization.” He added, “We have also observed an increase in anxiety in the population.”
Really. Can’t imagine why we would be anxious.
Three-quarters of Americans say gun violence is either a major problem or a moderately big problem. Six in 10 say healthcare costs cause them “a great deal” of worry, the same level of concern that more than half of us say we feel about inflation, federal spending, the budget deficit and Social Security. Hunger and homelessness and the way income and wealth are distributed also worry almost half of us.6
Those statistics were reported only days ago, but it was before masked agents started seizing people off the streets and deporting them to foreign prisons, before Social Security offices started closing down, and right about the time that top federal officials used an insecure chat space to discuss an imminent military attack with a journalist on the line.
It will be interesting, then, to survey public opinion that takes into account the latest news, including Trump’s voluntary attack on individuals’ retirement accounts — which is an admittedly personal way to view the imposition of tariffs at a level not seen since the 19th century, when imports moved by steamship and factories relied upon the brawn of unskilled workers rather than the production of scientifically-engineered nanoscale circuits.
So yes, we have reason to be troubled. Fortunately, experts have suggestions for individuals who feel overwhelmed or helpless. They tell us to try relaxation techniques — meditation, deep breathing, spending time outside. We are urged to set boundaries for our work, so that we’re not overwhelmed by responsibilities that can lead to burnout. They suggest a healthy lifestyle, including getting plenty of exercise and taking time to eat well.7
And the experts say, especially, that we need connections. Maybe we find that among supportive acquaintances and family members, or perhaps through community service groups or a church. It’s not only for the music that I sing in a fine choral ensemble, by the way; it’s for the people in the group, too. Maybe you would find human connections in an organization doing political work — making your engagement both therapeutic and useful.
So we understand some of why we are upset, and some of what we need to do to combat that. But in this season of hope, there’s also this: Indications are emerging of the first cracks in Trump’s edifice of American chaos. Take heart.
In a time of distress, we can be grateful when we come across “small reasons for modest optimism,” as former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich described them in an essay he wrote a couple of days ago. Reich is as sharp-eyed and experienced an observer as we have in contemporary affairs, so his list was worth noting.
Among Reich’s reasons for optimism were the first votes cast in this Trump term, which didn’t bode well for the Trump-Musk team. On the day before Trump unveiled his disastrous tariffs plan, Wisconsin voters elected a liberal to the state’s top court over a Trump-backed conservative who got a $20 million cash infusion and some personal campaign appearances from Elon Musk. They also re-elected a Democratic state schools superintendent by a wide margin over a MAGA candidate.
There’s also the simmering resentment among ordinary citizens, not only in areas where Democrats predominate. The few Republican members of Congress who venture into public forums with their constituents keep bumping into angry crowds, and Democrats have begun to hold sessions in districts where the elected representatives are afraid to show their faces. Is that what is prompting a few Republicans to openly defy the president, notably in voting to overturn the tariffs on Canada?
And there’s a sense that the seemingly lumbering force of the opposition — including Democratic officials in Congress and elsewhere — is stirring, exemplified by Booker’s monumental speech. Reich notes that the notion that protests haven’t kept pace with what greeted Trump’s first term isn’t accurate, anyway: a study found that twice as many street protests had occurred this year as at the same point eight years ago. More than 1,000 protest events were scheduled this weekend, in all 50 states.
In all, there are plenty of signs that the slight majority of Americans who elected Trump – by just 1.5 points over Kamala Harris, let’s recall – is eroding. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted between March 30 and April 1 found that 43 percent of voters approved of Trump’s performance in office, and 53 percent disapproved. Let’s see how that number moves as Americans confront trillions of dollars of lost value in a bear market, and a prediction from the Federal Reserve chair that Trump’s tariffs will send up prices and slow down growth. And let’s see how that movement of citizen sentiment affects action Capitol Hill.
Nobody can be glad for the misery that seems to be moving more Americans toward a reckoning for Trump. But if misery there be, let us take a bit of comfort, anyway, in the fact that its cause is facing consequences.
And let’s join in making sure it happens. With a bit of self-care and collaboration, we can both sustain ourselves and engage in the fight that is necessary against the damaging excesses of Trumpism. There will be plenty of setbacks, but there are signs of growing hope and an emerging course for the resistance.
Which reminds me of those daffodils. I hope they last. Those of us who live in places like Upstate New York are familiar with “false spring” — the term we use when a spurt of warm weather fools us into thinking winter is over. It happens most years: Plants begin to bud, animals move about and humans put away snow shovels, only to be shocked by a return to days or weeks of cold. This year the chill has been hanging on; forecasters say we’ll still get down into the 20s this week.
But the warming is inevitable. And when summer comes it will seem all the more sweet for what we’ve endured. We’ll get there.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/plants-can-talk-yes-really-heres-how
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00262-3#secsectitle0020
https://www.conference-board.org/topics/consumer-confidence
https://iop.harvard.edu/press-releases/nearly-two-thirds-young-americans-fearful-about-future-democracy-america-harvard
https://data.worldhappiness.report/table?_gl=1*iy8509*_gcl_au*MTk4MDc1ODAyMS4xNzQzODAxNzY5
https://news.gallup.com/poll/658910/worry-economy-healthcare-social-security-surges.aspx
https://www.webmd.com/balance/features/what-to-do-when-you-feel-overwhelmed-or-helpless
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ENDNOTE
THANK YOU for reading The Upstate American, and for joining us in the conversation about our common ground, this great country. As we together navigate these challenging times, I hope you’ll join us again next week — or send me a message with ideas you’d like to see us address.
-Rex Smith
Heading out to the Hands Off protest at the Texas State Capitol in a couple of hours, to protest with a group of good friends. I don't really expect it to change anything but to strengthen our resolve. That's worth something. Thanks for a few bits of optimism.
We are all plenty tough enough. We can all do something!