Transition

Lots of people are taking this opportunity to say something, so I'll chime in.

• This election involved a lot of anger. Anger is a powerful motivator, but it is also an extremely destructive force.

• Nobody was motivated to vote . Although the overall turnout was better than I dreaded, the final tally involved about 38% of the people currently living in the country; neither Trump nor Clinton managed to get even 20% of Americans to cast a vote for them.

• People are made very uncomfortable by change, and I think many people made an implicit vote to "stop all those changes".But of course change does not stop.

• People don't understand why their health care costs are so high, and continue to rise. Politicians said the solution was the A.C.A. Politicians said the problem is the A.C.A. But for the past 15 years, every year has seen double-digit price increases in healthcare, so manifestly both groups are wrong. No wonder people don't trust politicians, and, in their anger, use words like "corrupt", "liar", "rigged", which aren't at all the right words, but express a very valid and real frustration.

Yet let me say this; in fact, let us all stand up tall, throw our heads to the sky, and bellow this from every rooftop:

Just 10 weeks from now, for the 60th consecutive time in an unbroken 240 year span, the United States of America will conduct a peaceful transfer of power to a new, freely elected government.

This is our gift to the planet, something we can ALL take pride in.