Get up and get to work.

Hey, everyone. Get up and get to work.

We have the means to make a more meaningful difference in our immediate communities than any President could. This peaceful exchange of power shifts the responsibility back to us as individuals to make things better. In a way, it was always on us.

There’s a real message in the results and it is not markedly different than the one Sanders was warning us of: There are too many people in this country who feel left behind. Trump may have been an act of self-sabotage, but who cares?

We wanted the responsibility of raising up our fellow men and women and it was never Trump or Clinton or Sanders who was going to do that anyway. It comes from us, from the way we take care of each other. My most sincere liberal friends wanted to do this before last night and would have done so anyway.

Anyone with a clue knows Trump isn’t going to fix anything with his “policies.” But a large number of people feel like they need to do something radical to improve their standing. Do you hear them? Do you really care? Even if you think their complaints are overblown, they are unquestionably sincere. The poor whites of the rust belt, where I now live, are dying earlier and earlier. Opiate addiction is rampant. Hopelessness is rampant. They need help. The first people to give them their dignity and hope back will have a friend for life. Do you expect Trump to arrive with counselors and nurses? Me neither. There’s a chance to make a real difference.

Does that mean we let anyone target our minority and marginalized allies? No way. Those thugs who have made the last 18 months unbearable? They still need to be fought down. There’s a chance to make a difference.

Look around you. There’s work to do everywhere. Clinton’s loss is a wake-up call. So get up. Get to work.