When you’re done reading this you’ll feel one of two ways, either totally relieved that I said what I’m about to say because it’s how you’re feeling too, or angry because you think you’ve just been lied to.
What you’re about to read has been forming, atom by atom, since November 8th, 2016. I’ve tried, and failed, to pull together thoughts, opinions, and beliefs and express them in a way that isn’t like taking a Louisville Slugger to a hornet’s nest.
Maybe that’s just me. I’m not ‘calm’ about ‘basically anything’ .. or so I’ve been told.
In a political climate that feels either like an increasingly massive and searing dumpster fire or the best roller coaster ever that lets you shoot an endangered animal at the end, depending on where you identify politically, we’ve been tricked into fighting each other. So maybe I’ll start a fight today, and maybe it will be a fight that I never know is happening because the person I’m fighting with just quietly disappears from my life but, inside, they’re still fighting with me.
So why now, why is this the time? That’s a fair question.
This week I saw no less than three people post this:
All people I like, people I respect. And seeing it from three different people over the course of just a couple of days broke me a little bit.
Don’t get me wrong, I see stuff like this all of the time. Daily, in fact.
I know the times are divisive, friends, and I’ve had to make some choices about who I let get into my feed and how I let it make me feel. I could unfollow all of the offenders, I know, and my little news feed could be a pristine haven for progressive, lefty ideas. It could be nothing but people who think the way I do and say the same things.
And, don’t get me wrong, I have eliminated Facebook ‘Friends’ who were never really friends in the first place. For example, there’s a guy roaming the world who was my ‘Friend’ online until he argued with my 16 year old daughter… and lost. I can’t stress enough: there’s a guy in the world, IN MY TOWN, who posted something offensive, was called out by my TEENAGE DAUGHTER for it, and then ARGUED WITH HER. An adult. Argued with a child. And all because whatever grotesque belief he was espousing was more important to him than being a good human to the child of his best friend from high school (my husband).
(Before you ask, I can’t remember what the argument was about, but I assume he said President Obama was a Muslim from Kenya, which is an actual thing he still believes as far as I know. I do remember, though, her argument being extremely cogent and well organized and how incredibly proud I was of her.)
So, yeah, I dropped that guy like a hot rock.
But I can’t just do that with everyone, right? And it’s not some namby-pamby little liberal snowflake’s desire to have a bunch of ‘Friends’ online. Part of it is my attempt, however weak, to keep my opinions well rounded, to not sink into an echo chamber of people yelling the same thoughts at each other and pointing fingers and the rest of the world for not joining our ‘side’.
But that’s only a fraction of reality that my (also fractional) logical brain wanted to cite first.
The main reason I won’t cut off people on ‘the other side’ is because I love some of those people and, as far as I know, they love me too. And if they love me, they can’t hate everyone that thinks like me, and that gives me hope.
Which brings me back to that image. Here’s my honest take, for better or worse.
I’m part of a group of people in the United States, and around the world, that would be happy to see the current president impeached. Not so Nancy Pelosi can take people’s guns, not to force them to deny their religion, none of that. That’s all wrong.
In fact, I’m going to be so bold as to say that ANYTHING that starts with ‘The Democrats want to... ‘ or ‘The Left thinks that…’ or, especially ‘The Libtards will tell you…’ is always wrong. Now, it may be fair to say ‘SOME Democrats (lefty-libtards-snowflakes, etc.) want to take your guns. I don’t know. I haven’t MET those people, but they might exist. Just like it’s possible that there are Republicans (people on the right, conservatives, etc.) that are itching to FINALLY get down to the real Handmaiden’s Tale shit. I haven’t met that person either, but they might exist.
I mean, why not? There are people, like my husband, that love the BeeGees. That doesn’t make any logical sense to me either (expect for How Deep is Your Love), but I know they’re out there. Reasonably, though, I know it’s not EVERYONE.
The truth is this: An entire political party can, and does, tend toward a general line of thinking, but the people that comprise that party are creatures of nuance. That’s why my Republican friend and my Queer-Lefty-Liberal-Resister friend are actually best friends. Not all Republicans hate The Gays, and not all of The Gays hate ALL Republicans.
This is all something I needed to have said before I get to the point of what really, really hurt me about that meme, ok?
It’s propaganda like it that pits Us against Them, and that’s what this Presidency - and multiple decades of increasingly trashy politics - has been about.
We pride ourselves on being rational, even brilliant animals, having transcended the base and grotesque to perch, as angels, on the precipice of Heaven. Pull the camera back, though, and we’re really devolving into the same pigs fighting over the same scraps and drawing blood to survive.
That’s not how this needs to be.
The time is well past for us (all, Democrats, Republicans, Independents.. Yes, even Jill Stein) to pull together and remove the people who benefit from the kind of division that makes us tear at each other’s throats and keeps us gleefully unaware that our planet is dying, full time jobs don’t pay the bills, and all the while the rich keep getting richer at our expense.
So yes, tell me how politicians have always been corrupt, how your vote doesn’t count, how MY President was WORSE than YOUR President and on and on and on. In the end, as the song says, it doesn’t even matter.
It’s a huge undertaking, I won’t lie, but we deserve better than being forced to fight each other for their entertainment, friends. We deserve moral, intelligent, brave people to lead us, and to walk beside us into the future.
His Take:
Politics. I hate this subject. I used to love it. I loved to have a friendly debate or discussion about the subject. Most of them ended with one of us saying “aaaahhh, well.” before the conversation went in a different direction.
Today, conversations about politics don’t end that way. I’d like to think it’s because we’re smarter and that every discussion ends in a stalemate. No such luck.
Instead. We get hot. Mad. Angry. We yell and scream at the top of our lungs, and eventually stop being friends because “they just don’t make any sense”. YEARS and YEARS of friendship-tossed to the side of the road like an empty Dairy Queen cup. Have we done this to ourselves? Kind of. Sort of. But, not really. We’re largely influenced by the biggest waste of time in the history of human history-social media. But that’s not where our influence ends. A lot of it also comes from television as well as actors, comedians, singers, all sorts of entertainers. That fact makes me scratch my head, because what does Hollywood know that we don’t? When you get your first paycheck from the entertainment industry, do you have to go cash it at some secret bank where they have The Illuminati in the basement and they inform you on every political answer ever? Then why do we act like they do? Hey, I have no problem if Bill Politician has Stevie Wonder play at one of his Mayoral rallies. Those things are packed and far from pleasant so what’s wrong with giving the audience a nice mini-concert.
But, when you live, die and vote by what Stephen Colbert says? I’m not really sure if you being loose in society is a good thing. These are entertainers, people. Sure, there are some of them that can make really convincing arguments, but they’re still entertainers. Would you want Taylor Swift doing your taxes? Then why would you take it to hear when she tells you who to vote for. How about Larry the Cable Guy delivering your baby? I think my point is proven. Some people in show biz have been able to keep themselves relevant by getting into the political game. Do you really think Alyssa Milano became a political “genius” when she went from the “hot girl” age range and crossed over into the “hot DA” phase of life?
How about you take a couple hours, the same time as a movie, and visit some candidates sites and learn what they stand for and what they’re about. Maybe do some reading. Then make up your own mind about what kind of politician that you vote for instead of taking advice from somebody based on what they do for a living.
Realistically, if we based political endorsement values on what people do for a living, I think it would be doctors, mechanics and plumbers.
Think about it
-Without a doctor, you aren’t going anywhere.
-Without a mechanic, you aren’t going anywhere
-And without a plumber, you aren’t going anywhere.
Comments
Post a Comment