“Life Under Trump” dream from 2016

My wife had the following dream on June 8, 2016: “She dreamed that she was looking in a large encyclopedia. An article entitled ‘Life Under Trump’ had been cut from the encyclopedia but then paper-clipped back in. A person would borrow and read the article and then return it.”

I’ve come back to this dream often and marveled at it; it’s quite potent and efficient. It tells a large story with few words. The pivotal historical event that happened just prior to this was on June 7, when, according to Wikipedia, “The final major state primaries are held for the 2016 presidential election, with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump emerging as the presumptive nominees for the Democratic and Republican races, respectively.” By then, the probability that Trump would win was cemented. As students of future probabilities often observe, some events are “carved in stone” whereas other remain probabilities or possibilities.

So the carved-in-stoneness of Trump’s presidency was set by then. What’s notable is that no one of any credibility believed in June 2016 that Trump would win the election. For many, it wasn’t even a strong possibility. The dream suggests a couple of interesting aspects of the election. First, the “large encyclopedia”: this is suggestive of the so-called Akashic record books described in many accounts. “Life Under Trump” is not a title that evokes a Carnival cruise; whatever this Trump guy is going to do, it’s going to impact a lot of lives, and historically, that’s generally not good. It had been cut from the encyclopedia, but then paper-clipped back in. I personally interpret that to mean that whatever “life under Trump” will entail, it’s hidden—we’re not supposed to know what it is, overall. But we can glimpse it, individually. Whatever happens to us on an individual basis under Trump will not be understood, analyzed, or discussed during that time—only afterward.

On the subject of precognition, in 2018 Whitley Strieber wrote in a journal entry that “we are about to undergo a combination of climate and economic upheaval that is going to fundamentally change our world and our lives.” He promised to go into more detail about this but never did. Although Strieber often punts on important matters like this, I thought that it was irresponsible to make a vague prediction like this at that time and then say nothing more, if there was more to say. Any piece of information narrowing down what will happen, and when, might have helped a few people prepare. (I was already prepared.). When the economy collapsed in March due to the coronavirus, I immediately thought of Strieber’s prediction.

Now, having said this, I’m not totally saying that the coronavirus and the current economic upheaval is the event that Strieber predicted. (As bad as things are now, something worse may be coming.) However, if it is, then there will be environmental upheaval at the same time. Many of us have a mental image of climate change as a gradually worsening condition, like the frog in boiling water. But there are tipping points where systems collapse quickly, leaving no time to prepare or recover. We believe—hope, at least—that “technology” will be available to help us blunt whatever impact change brings. But as our collective response to the coronavirus is reminding us, our faith in the omnipotence of technology may be misplaced.