Stepping back and thinking of how this came to be
Marikology challenged me to write every day for Nano. I know I'm eleven days in, but I've been on vacay, so it's been hard to keep consistent with anything. It was just a wonderful idea, picking election season as my vacation time! Honestly, there wasn't much alternative since that was just where my gig-light weeks fell, but it was a terrible realisation that didn't hit me till I bought the plane ticket.
I'm a person who votes and, for the most part, puts it away. I have a facebook where I encourage patrons/people who like my singing to friend me and I prefer to keep it politics free. Some friends/family on both sides have tagged me in things and I tell them politely to message me instead as I like to keep my timeline free of it and only about things that make me happy. I mailed my ballot in and I hoped that would keep me safe. Not so much.
Every night and some days was filled with Fox News blaring and my dad trying to convert me to his way of thinking. Now, I'd already done my absentee ballot by then, because I really wanted to make sure that was in so I could tell him it was a fruitless endeavor, but he ALWAYS seems to determined to "evangelize" me or whatever. He does the same thing with the Atkins diet fervor, though, so I am prepared to resist/dismiss it (no one will ever break me of my abiding love for bread).
Dad and I have a lot of differences, obviously. I am definitely a lot more progressive than he is and I think the blue collar workers, of which he is one, have been duped for decades now into believing the Republican Party cares about their struggles getting ahead. I think the entire party is out of touch with most of the populace and, after this election, would have to reassess their platform and rebuild trust. Maybe they could be a bit more like the Libertarians, limit government without policing peoples' bodies and bedrooms.
After Clinton won, they would all go back to the drawing board and start realizing that throwing their lot in with the evangelicals, xenophobes, and other assorted crazies was further distancing them from most of America. I was already preparing on how to talk to dad after. I mean, my dad is a republican, but he has voted outside at times, and he's never been racist in the least, though he might have trouble confronting his own privilege. He and I have always had an unspoken understanding to focus on things we agree on and not to let things turn into a fight. I told him I can't stand his candidate and wasn't voting for him, but that he was free to disown me. He has disowned me several times in the last year or so. He pretty much starts our phone calls by disowning me.
All kidding aside, he does listen to me. And we can talk about things we disagree on to a point. I was sure, after Clinton won, that I would be able to help him see it wasn't the end of the world for him. I mean, look at all the republicans who've been in office. Have they done anything to help him or people in his position, really? Maybe this would be the moment we can see eye to eye.
You can imagine my shock and disappointment when the results came in.
My dad might be doing victory dances now, thinking everything wil be better for him, his insurance will be more affordable (he's just middle class enough that it's been barely manageable for him) but I know that will change when he and all the other people duped by Trump, duped for so long by the republican party, realize that Trump is not anti-establishment, that he just wanted to be president to make his mark in the history books and he cares for nothing except his own glory.
We've elected a reality star as president. This feels like a fever dream.
A month or so back, Cracked had a good breakdown of how this came to be:
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/
Michael Moore also has some thoughts on how to deal with this (he also predicted this would happen back in July):
https://www.facebook.com/mmflint/posts/10153913074756857
I also like this article:
https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/the-other-side-is-not-dumb-2670c1294063
I think we should all engage "the other side" in conversation, ask questions, get them to think about why they believe what they do. It might turn out that we can start to understand that most of us want the same things and all we disagree on is how to get them. If anything good can come of this, I hope it's that our deeply divided nation starts having an honest conversation about how we got here (in the hopes that we don't end up here again).
I'm a person who votes and, for the most part, puts it away. I have a facebook where I encourage patrons/people who like my singing to friend me and I prefer to keep it politics free. Some friends/family on both sides have tagged me in things and I tell them politely to message me instead as I like to keep my timeline free of it and only about things that make me happy. I mailed my ballot in and I hoped that would keep me safe. Not so much.
Every night and some days was filled with Fox News blaring and my dad trying to convert me to his way of thinking. Now, I'd already done my absentee ballot by then, because I really wanted to make sure that was in so I could tell him it was a fruitless endeavor, but he ALWAYS seems to determined to "evangelize" me or whatever. He does the same thing with the Atkins diet fervor, though, so I am prepared to resist/dismiss it (no one will ever break me of my abiding love for bread).
Dad and I have a lot of differences, obviously. I am definitely a lot more progressive than he is and I think the blue collar workers, of which he is one, have been duped for decades now into believing the Republican Party cares about their struggles getting ahead. I think the entire party is out of touch with most of the populace and, after this election, would have to reassess their platform and rebuild trust. Maybe they could be a bit more like the Libertarians, limit government without policing peoples' bodies and bedrooms.
After Clinton won, they would all go back to the drawing board and start realizing that throwing their lot in with the evangelicals, xenophobes, and other assorted crazies was further distancing them from most of America. I was already preparing on how to talk to dad after. I mean, my dad is a republican, but he has voted outside at times, and he's never been racist in the least, though he might have trouble confronting his own privilege. He and I have always had an unspoken understanding to focus on things we agree on and not to let things turn into a fight. I told him I can't stand his candidate and wasn't voting for him, but that he was free to disown me. He has disowned me several times in the last year or so. He pretty much starts our phone calls by disowning me.
All kidding aside, he does listen to me. And we can talk about things we disagree on to a point. I was sure, after Clinton won, that I would be able to help him see it wasn't the end of the world for him. I mean, look at all the republicans who've been in office. Have they done anything to help him or people in his position, really? Maybe this would be the moment we can see eye to eye.
You can imagine my shock and disappointment when the results came in.
My dad might be doing victory dances now, thinking everything wil be better for him, his insurance will be more affordable (he's just middle class enough that it's been barely manageable for him) but I know that will change when he and all the other people duped by Trump, duped for so long by the republican party, realize that Trump is not anti-establishment, that he just wanted to be president to make his mark in the history books and he cares for nothing except his own glory.
We've elected a reality star as president. This feels like a fever dream.
A month or so back, Cracked had a good breakdown of how this came to be:
http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-reasons-trumps-rise-that-no-one-talks-about/
Michael Moore also has some thoughts on how to deal with this (he also predicted this would happen back in July):
https://www.facebook.com/mmflint/posts/10153913074756857
I also like this article:
https://medium.com/@SeanBlanda/the-other-side-is-not-dumb-2670c1294063
I think we should all engage "the other side" in conversation, ask questions, get them to think about why they believe what they do. It might turn out that we can start to understand that most of us want the same things and all we disagree on is how to get them. If anything good can come of this, I hope it's that our deeply divided nation starts having an honest conversation about how we got here (in the hopes that we don't end up here again).