I suspect many of us, though not a majority, are wondering what the hell happened. I suppose this has been building up for a long time, since at least the 1980’s. I remember the vitriol from the far right in the 1990’s, led by Rush Limbaugh, a personality to whom I was involuntarily subjected by my terminally pissed off grandfather. I remember the pure hatred for the Clintons. So, when Hillary won the nomination in 2016, I realized we faced a good probability of a Trump presidency. And, now we have an even stronger rejection of the Dems where, for the first time since the late 1980’s, a Republican presidential candidate has won the popular vote.
I don’t know if people were just willfully blind, or if the propaganda is just that good over at Fox and Worse. Or, maybe…Maybe we really just are a people who cannot shake our Puritan roots, where women are property, children are seen but not heard, and anyone who is not a Christian, cisgendered, heterosexual, and mostly white, but not entirely, since they need some form of cover.
I weep for all of the countries and peoples who will be affected by our selfish, self-centered, short-sighted decision on Tuesday. I just renewed my passport last year, but now I don’t know if I am going to want to travel, for as soon as I am outed as an American, even though I voted on the right side of history, Buy a world map now, so you will remember what the world looked like before Putin invades Eastern Europe. The Ukrainian people don’t deserve any of this.
So, we need to pull our big girl panties up and figure out a plan, and quickly. I did not have one, but I do have a Concept of a Plan™ which I will outline here:
- Stop buying stuff. I don’t mean groceries or gas. But, do stop and ask yourself if you really need it. The fastest way to get prices to come down is to send a clear message to corporate executives that we are done paying high prices and lining their mega yachts.
- Ditch insufferable MAGA friends. You don’t have to burn bridges but, if your friends insist on rubbing your nose in their win, then reassess the relationship. There will be some MAGA people you are forced to interact with at work, but for your personal sanity, make decisions about friends and family who voted to take your rights away. Why would you voluntarily spend time with people who don’t see you as a human being with basic rights and dignities? They already live in their own information bubble and are impervious to facts or information, let alone the opinions of others. Why shouldn’t you?
- Keep a journal. You are going to be told that things are not as you remember. If you document events for yourself, you will then be able to sort out who to trust, in part, based on who sticks to the truth. It can also helpful in working out your own feelings.
- Evaluate your own moral compass. If you do it right, you might just find you need to change some things. That’s okay. Actually, that’s good. Acknowledging that things are not perfect and you can improve yourself is healthy and productive.
- Live your life. Even though I put more thought into my personal safety than I used to (or than I think I should have to), I will continue to go out to eat, to sporting events, to live performances, and other things. Yes, I may note where the exits are, but that’s just because scared people in large groups are kinda dumb.
More later.