You know, I had a couple of cute, quippy entries I was going to put on next--short observations about the world, fun experiences, thoughts, etc.
But it doesn't seem to fit right now. There's a lot to process at the moment. Writing, though, helps me process.
Right now, I'm trying very hard to keep myself from making gross generalizations. Rationally, I know that I cannot make assumptions about the people that voted for Trump (though I can make statistical ones), but at the moment I just want to be angry. I need to mourn. I need to work through my acceptance of this new dystopian reality lead by Cheeto McSmall-Hands. That I still chose to include the previous sentence is evidence itself that I want to throw my fists in the ring and start with the name calling, too, revert back to the childhood self-righteous "It's not fair" or "He started it!" as though that would magically make a difference.
So right now, I don't know what to say. But I know I have to say something, if only to let these feelings out so I can move on. You see my conundrum.
As such, I'm only going to pull out a few main points that I keep coming back around to. I'm sure that when I've had a little more time to work through the rest, I'll have some different things to say and a different approach, but (other than disbelief and some anger) this is what I have now.
I think we have a lack of empathy as a country: We fail to see each other as people and instead see people as "other." This makes it easier to dehumanize them, through bullying, intimidation, unjust legal practices, profiling, etc. The more we dehumanize someone, the more we become certain that they just "deserve" to be treated that way. No one group is to blame for all of our problems, not even Trump Supporters. It's not about democrats being the devil or republicans being the devil--these are REAL people who have reasons for why they think differently. Demonizing someone might make you feel temporarily superior, but you can't hold someone down in a ditch without being the in ditch yourself. We need to remember our collective humanity in order to really listen to each other.
What we do affects the world: Our economy will have an effect on other countries. We cannot play King of the Playground to the point where everyone else decides they don't want to play with us and makes a new playground. We share the same space and there are some points where we have to work together. Additionally, with the internet, now, it's too late to make isolationism happen. Again, remembering that collective humanity in order to find the best way to move forward for all peoples.
I think we collectively refuse to take culpability: I'm trying to quash thoughts where I'm placing blame on a group of people, because they're definitely popping my head whenever I let my mind drift. There's going to be a LOT of finger-pointing for the next while, here. The problem is much more complex than 59 million people collectively on a whim deciding to vote for a man that is a bully (to say the very least--I have many, many more things I could say here). For better or worse (whichever your opinion is), we made this possible. We created an environment where political discourse broke down to a schoolyard fight.
The world is going to keep turning: Despite our best efforts, so far tomorrow keeps coming. And it will continue to do so. When it stops, it won't matter to us anyway. We are a fleck of dust in the ocean. Take a deep breath. Whether or not you are pleased with the election results, take the time to celebrate or mourn appropriately and then, well, tomorrow will still come--work toward making it the tomorrow you want. Or better yet, work on making it a tomorrow that helps us all.
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