The Trumpeting.
Keep Your Head Straight.
As you can see from my photos yesterday I was in Disney for Election Night and the nights immediately after. At first this was frustrating. I wanted to be simultaneously watching news and online.The next day however, as I began to see reactions and stories roll accross my phone, I was glad I was in a place where I had to focus on family and the world that presents itself to me as is, not as news and facebook present it.
Now that I am home I want to say that now more than ever it is VITAL to be aware of how your information diet effects your mind. There is 318 MILLION people here. Shit happens. But when news outlets are searching for stories that will trigger either your anxiety and fear or your righteous rage, it will feel like a lot of shit is happening to you personally when it isn’t. Over the last 20 years the country has gotten safer, but people feel it is more violent and dangerous because as violence goes down, reporting goes up. By hundreds of percents.
I know a lot of you don’t want to be told to calm down. You feel like its an attempt to rob you of your voice and your agency. But I am not telling you not to panic because there is no danger. I am telling you not to panic because there IS.
At very least racists and bigots are emboldened by Trump and in some rare cases are acting out because of it. But have you noticed that there are not a lot of minorities loosing their shit right now? That’s because racism wasn’t invented last week. People have been doing the shit they are doing now all along. You need to stand up against it when it happens to you, and you need to stand up against it when you see it happening to someone else. You do not need to loose your mind on facebook and spend hours feeding the pandemonium of panic.
The first rule should be to have a CLEAR idea of what is ACTUALLY happening.
This means taking a measured dose of the news each day from a variety of outlets that actually can back up their stories with facts. It means realizing that there is a slant to EVERYTHING and that you should take that grain of salt even when reading the most reputable news.
It also means being aware that there are people making bank all over the world by generating fake news and memes to feed whatever view you support and deepen you further in it.
Jon Stewart used to call Fox and Right Wing Media “Bullshit Mountain” but now the left has its own “Bullshit Mountain” to deal with.
And its really not hard to poke through it. Take a minute to fact check what you post and what you are reading. I have been seeing a LOT of stories with examples of racist and sexist acts that have no source. I have been seeing quotes from Trump that he did not say… I mean, come on people, the man says more than enough crazy stuff without you making up shit for him 
🙂
Again. Act Locally. Look at your world that is still standing. Stand up to the bigots when you come across them, and just live well and move forward when you don’t – that more than anything takes their power.
Organize. Prepare. Protest. Run for Office, Respond. But don’t Panic.
Who To Blame….
You know who I blame for the result? Pretty much everyone that you can imagine. Thats because things like this don’t happen because of one factor you can blame. There are many factors at play. Lets take a look at who I DON’T blame:
BERNIE OR BUST: Yeah, you guys are showing the polls that “prove” he would have won. You may be right. But if last Tuesday taught us anything its that polls can be wrong, and considering we don’t know how his Socialism would have played in the election, we will never know. One thing I can tell you is that I don’t blame you guys for the loss. Yes the failure to rally around the winner hurt her, but it was her job and her supporters job to win you over – not your job to do it just because.
3RD PARTY VOTERS: Yeah if EVERY 3rd Party voter voted Hillary she would have won FLA and probably PA too, but lets be real – that was never likely. I know many strident Republicans that voted for Hillary that would more than offset that. So, there ya go. It was the DNC’s job to get your vote, not your obligation to give it.
JAMES COMEY: Ok, this guy just has to go. I mean that shit at the end of the election was pretty well indefensible. But again, I don’t think that was the deciding factor.
so who do I blame?
ME: Not me personally. People like me: Democrats who supported Hillary because we thought she would make a great President even when we knew she was awful at running for office. The thing about these four factors is that you can’t really control what other people do, but you can control what you do.
So what am I gonna do?
1. Not Post Political Memes. Instead I will have discussions. A meaningful discussion with 3 people will have greater impact than 50 memes.
2. I am going to do more to understand the decline of the economy and how it is effecting people.
3. Temper classism. I believe Class, more than Race or Gender had more to do with the result. Mocking middle america does no good.
4. Sell my ideas rather than just insist that they are right….
On Selling Ideas
When someone calls me a SJW, I don’t take it as an insult. I am proud to be for Social Justice. Same with PC. As far as I can see things are PC when common courtesy and respect are demanded by people that have not traditionally be offered it.
And honestly the strides made in Social Justice over the last 60 years have only happened because people faught for them. HARD. So what I am about to say is not something that many of you are going to agree with, but I have to say it.
We need to do a better job of selling our ideas and reigning in the nuttiness.
Normally I do not comment on such things because I live in the privilege trifecta: I am white, straight, and male. Please dont take this as me trying to lead in movements that are and should be led by women, LGBT people, and people of color. I am however stating what I see from where I am, and giving some sales advice.
1. When people take it to far: demanding that ONLY Tibetans practice Tibetan Buddhism, close yoga classes because of cultural appropriation,suggest police should not shoot even people that are shooting at them, insist that all men are rapists, and so on it HURTS the cause you are fighting for because it gives people a reason to dismiss your point entirely. Loss of privilege is uncomfortable because it feels like loss of power – don’t give people a reason to dismiss Social Justice as a bunch of nutty extremists.
2. Loss of privilege feels like loss of power, and morally speaking you are right: you shouldnt have to cater to, and worry about the feelings of white men who feel put out by other people simply taking the rights that should be rightfully theirs anyway. Morally speaking thats correct. Practically speaking, if you want support from those people, you have to take this into consideration. You SHOULDN’T have to, but you do if you want to change minds. I am not saying bend over backward. I am not saying yield ground. I am saying that as right as you are, self-righteousness itself is never attractive or convincing. Talk with people. Explain stuff. Have a meaningful PM exchange rather than public flame war.
Basically folks: get better at selling ideas to the people you need on your side. Don’t let availability bias delude you into thinking most people are on the same page as you.
The Trump Voter.
Last one for today. But I want to speak both about and to people who voted for Trump.
TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY OF TRUMP VOTERS: Please realize that in every election people are doing internal math. They are choosing one of two candidates that they think will do the best job. Yes, Trump said many racist things, but that does not make every Trump voter a racist, any more than my voting for Hillary makes me in favor of Drone Strikes.
The fact is that AT LEAST 10% of the people that voted for Trump voted for a guy names Barack Hussein Obama in one or both of the last two elections. These aren’t racists. These are people who are living in areas of decline, with little economic hope, and feel that Washington as well as the College Educated have left them behind. They felt that Trump was speaking to them and Hillary was not. Here’s the hard fact – they are right about that.
So just like log cabin republicans, black republicans, and anyone else that does the math and decides to ignore rhetoric on social issues in favor of an economic message, or foreign policy message, or even just a vague hope for change – they voted for Trump because for them – that was the lesser of two evils.
Shake hands. Congratulate them. Get on with life. Chances are you both really are looking for the same things: safety, prosperity, and opportunity.
TO TRUMP VOTERS: Congratulations. There are a lot of people who voted for Hillary that were also ready to jump on her and keep her just. To deter her from things we feared she might do, and hold her to things she promised.
I am asking you to do the same. If polls are correct MOST of you voted Trump because you held your nose, and looked past a lot of the racist and misogynistic things he said. Right now, many bigoted people are feeling emboldened by his win – this is something that no one can deny. Your candidate is sending mixed messages – telling bigots to stop, and supporting the gay marriage ruling, while also appointing known racists as advisers. I ask that you stand up and hold your candidate accountable to what he says he will do: stand up for the rights of all people. Push the bigots back into the shadows.
If Trump does this, and actually makes the country more prosperous for EVERYONE – he won’t need their vote in four years. He will have the overwhelming support of a thankful, if slightly confused and bewildered, nation.
