![{Donald Trump 's] crude speeches are exactly what angry sectors of the U.S. loved, and they elected him—twice,](https://bohemian.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/14/2025/03/Open-Mic-3-696x464.jpg "Open Mic on")
I am from Minnesota, and my dad took me canoeing in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness as a boy. Eventually, as an adult, I became a guide. I learned about the peatbog slow burns that could keep the embers of a forest fire smoldering underground for years until surface conditions were so ripe that the peat reignited and erupted into huge conflagrations.
Donald Trump kicked up the cultural sparks and started what I believe is legitimately called our Trumpster fire, surfacing live embers into an environment ready for a fiery backlash amongst aggrieved sectors of America, clearly acting out of the rage Trump spoke. It evolved into a political rally culture featuring racism, sexism and hatred of those who came to America seeking refuge—often from the wars overseas that the U.S. either started or fueled. His crude speeches are exactly what angry sectors of the U.S. loved, and they elected him—twice.
What is charred beyond all recognition? What have we lost that cannot be remedied? And how do we put it out?
Like any major wildfire, the first order of business is to begin containment. This will largely be the responsibility of civil society, both using the inside game—e.g., lawsuits, voting, lobbying, running for office, letters to editors—and the outside game—e.g., boycott, protest, nonviolent civil resistance.
We are seeing promising signs all over the country that people are beginning to both step up with inside game actions and even outside game actions. Key will be strategically integrating, sequencing and amplifying those actions.
Literally, the only actions that can slow progress toward putting out this Trumpster fire have been and will be violent actions. The idea behind integrating the inside game and outside game in a town, a state or nationally will be to do so to achieve greater and greater wave-amplification, so that the outcomes of actions can operate at peak effectiveness. Any violence tends toward the opposite—wave cancelation.
May the political and cultural rains ultimately extinguish this Trumpster fire for the good of us all. Then the long replanting and nurturing can begin restoration.
Dr. Tom H. Hastings is coördinator of conflict resolution BA/BS degree programs at Portland State University.
