I wrote yesterday that Donald Trump, our current Wizard of Oz, encapsulates all three Buddhist poisons: “His greed is relentless: crypto accounts, slush funds, businesses masquerading as diplomacy. His anger seems unending, especially at those who wouldn’t certify him as winner of the 2020 presidential elections and who have opposed certain of his bills in Congress; he has never heard of the word forgiveness. And ignorance, shorthand for how he sees himself as apart and separate from everyone else.”

It’s easy to say that this is personal to him; to some extent that’s right. But I agree with author and columnist Ben Rhodes: “Donald Trump is not simply a conductor of our national discourse: He is a mirror held up to the nation.” He reflects how our society sees itself. The mirror reflects values and what we care about.

You can immediately jump up: “Not my values, not what I care about.” But the Wizard belongs to all of us; he is part of who we are. Not the whole thing by any means, but a part for sure. The greed, the anger and ignorance—they’re a big part of our society. And it’s time for us to own that and not just get upset at the Wizard. I often think that the wealthy and powerful are glad for their Wizard because he distracts our eyes from what goes on behind the curtain, concealing their own stealthy shenanigans.

I thought back in 2016, 2020, and 2024: You can’t win a campaign by making it just about Donald Trump. It didn’t work in 2016 and 2024, and it barely failed in 2020 after his disastrous first term. You have to provide an alternative that’s bigger than him, not a vision matching a pygmy on stilts.

And that starts now. So yesterday I asked for donations to send children to summer camp. I won’t repeat it now, you can see it in yesterday’s blog, but it’s an example of what to do when you find yourself getting upset again. Each time you read of another slush fund or crypto opportunity that benefits Wiz and his cohort, do the opposite: Give. Not as you usually give, but a small piece more, something you don’t usually do.

And when the Wizard rages and insults (don’t you love his epithets at Stephen Colbert for his last appearance?), send kids to have fun at the beach. Start listening rather than losing your cool. If you have to get upset at something or someone, try for some lightheartedness. And instead of the Wizard’s constant Me! Me! Me!, how about Us! Us! Us! Tell me what and who you love, tell me your dream. I am not just little me, and the world is, thankfully, way bigger than I am.

I can contribute to that world in my own small, meaningful way, so that when the mirror is held up to our nation we don’t just see the Wizard and his shallow, nasty fakery, we see the very opposite. And the mirror doesn’t register fear, but rather faith and optimism in our basic goodness.

That’s my prescription for the next 2 odd years. Instead of expressing shock at how greedy the Wizard can be, do a generous act, a little something beyond what you usually do. And next time, when you get angry at the Wizard’s anger, express yourself with greater care and respect towards someone else and remember our common humanity. When I asked one of our committee members who came to Wednesday evening’s gathering with immigrants (read my last blog) how she is, she said she’s fine and furious.

“What are you furious about?” I wondered.

“You know,” she glowered.

An hour later she was busy chatting with a pair of identical twins about school and how well they’re doing, anger forgotten.

And finally, instead of the mantra Me! Me! Me!, refine your sensitivities to include more and more beings in your life, which is not just your own life but encompasses the lives of so many others. As the slogan goes: Reach out and touch someone.

This is my prescription for what to do over the next years. It can be helping immigrant children go to a safe, caring summer camp and relieving their farmworker families of anxiety over them, or some other way. Make sure it’s not what you usually do, but just a little more.

It’s how we show we’re not taken in by yelling and bamboozling. It’s a way we show what this country is about when a mirror is held up. And don’t think that the Wiz’s antics have more influence than our actions, there are way more of us than there are of him. Do your job, I’ll do mine, and next time that mirror is held up we’ll smile and nod in recognition: “Cool!”