Things are looking down. Just take a gander at how our prospects have taken a turn since the inauguration.

But the world is still in one piece, and now, before it splinters, is a good time to figure out how to turn this around. Where to start? How about with a gripping and oh so relevant piece from Roy Scranton in December 2015. His summary of where we were then hits even harder today. And while clearly not enough of us have taken his advice over the past year, now is the time. This sh*t just got real.

The outlook is gruesome, but Scranton implores us to own up to it. That’s tough, but it only gets tougher, as the next step is to see the world through the eyes of others. Sounds a lot like empathy, an ability and capacity at the center of the search at Darwin’s Gong Show.

It’s not pretty out there, and the prospects don’t look great, but follow the lead provided by folks like Scranton, and we shall advance the species.