So the news have sunk in, and we're apparently not going to get a Groundhog Day style miracle, and the world will have to keep on turning
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Oh, sweety. I honestly don't know what to say. Because a lot of what I can think of saying is just based on hope and, perhaps, naïvety. And I might well be wrong.
But the thing is, I don't think there's any way of changing things for the better that's exclusive of people who voted for Trump, or would vote for AfD. The further apart these groups are drifting from "us", the less they can be reached. Othering and dehumanisation and demonising don't make anything better, no matter which side oneself happens to be on (and no matter how demon-like aspects of the other side may be looking).
I also have the hope that if exposure to the other side (if there was any, either on Tumblr or here - after all, our communities tend to fill up with the like-minded anyway, and lines have probably been drawn for a full year) may not have made a difference in advance, it may make a difference now that the pre-election heat dies down. In theory at least, now will show how much was just rhetorics, and how much is very real concerns; and maybe sentiments of fear like the ones you voice on behalf of others will now no longer be seen as "bah, they're just trying to make my candidate look bad" but as "wait, she honestly is worried about that". Some people are only realising right now how deep that rift really is, I think, and maybe something good will come out of that. It's only a fool's hope, but, yeah.
I'm very much relieved you're aware that Trump and his supporters are human. I remember 8 years ago when one of my dA acquaintances was so disappointed in the aftermath of the elections that she posted very seriously about the End of Days and Obama being the Anti-Christ. It was embarrassing to read then, but it's even more embarrassing to read that kind of thing from people you actually agree with! ;) In that light, if you want to think of a Middle-earth analogy, maybe we should more think about Fingon being willing to communicate with the "other side" in spite of all those burned ships. Because maybe once the others realise that their grand leader was largely made up of bling and rhetorics*, reconciliation might be possible. (Hopefully without anyone losing a hand first. Well, the analogy only works so far.)
Avoiding these topics or even those people for right now, or even for a while, is a different matter. That's just reasonable. You can't heal while someone constantly picks at the scabs. But sending folks away (and it wasn't you who reblogged that post after all - something must have happened somewhere ;)) will send them off for good; they won't be coming back in a couple of months going "Hey, are you still mad at me?". I don't have any smart ideas, either; I'm just convinved that excluding people for good is not going to work.
I hope your walk helped! And I seriously hope we come up with other solutions, because, indeed, we have the AfD to worry about. *hugs*
- - - *with abject apologies to Fëanor, but it had to be said!
But the thing is, I don't think there's any way of changing things for the better that's exclusive of people who voted for Trump, or would vote for AfD. The further apart these groups are drifting from "us", the less they can be reached.
Othering and dehumanisation and demonising don't make anything better, no matter which side oneself happens to be on (and no matter how demon-like aspects of the other side may be looking).
I also have the hope that if exposure to the other side (if there was any, either on Tumblr or here - after all, our communities tend to fill up with the like-minded anyway, and lines have probably been drawn for a full year) may not have made a difference in advance, it may make a difference now that the pre-election heat dies down. In theory at least, now will show how much was just rhetorics, and how much is very real concerns; and maybe sentiments of fear like the ones you voice on behalf of others will now no longer be seen as "bah, they're just trying to make my candidate look bad" but as "wait, she honestly is worried about that". Some people are only realising right now how deep that rift really is, I think, and maybe something good will come out of that. It's only a fool's hope, but, yeah.
I'm very much relieved you're aware that Trump and his supporters are human. I remember 8 years ago when one of my dA acquaintances was so disappointed in the aftermath of the elections that she posted very seriously about the End of Days and Obama being the Anti-Christ. It was embarrassing to read then, but it's even more embarrassing to read that kind of thing from people you actually agree with! ;) In that light, if you want to think of a Middle-earth analogy, maybe we should more think about Fingon being willing to communicate with the "other side" in spite of all those burned ships. Because maybe once the others realise that their grand leader was largely made up of bling and rhetorics*, reconciliation might be possible. (Hopefully without anyone losing a hand first. Well, the analogy only works so far.)
Avoiding these topics or even those people for right now, or even for a while, is a different matter. That's just reasonable. You can't heal while someone constantly picks at the scabs. But sending folks away (and it wasn't you who reblogged that post after all - something must have happened somewhere ;)) will send them off for good; they won't be coming back in a couple of months going "Hey, are you still mad at me?". I don't have any smart ideas, either; I'm just convinved that excluding people for good is not going to work.
I hope your walk helped! And I seriously hope we come up with other solutions, because, indeed, we have the AfD to worry about.
*hugs*
- - -
*with abject apologies to Fëanor, but it had to be said!
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