I’ve read your post twice, and the passage I’ve include below, several times.
You and I are the flip sides of the same coin. I’m an optimist and hold out hope that people can change, that with broader dissemination of accurate information, we have a chance to expose the fundamental emptiness and greed of the movement co…
I’ve read your post twice, and the passage I’ve include below, several times.
You and I are the flip sides of the same coin. I’m an optimist and hold out hope that people can change, that with broader dissemination of accurate information, we have a chance to expose the fundamental emptiness and greed of the movement conservatives that own the Republican Party. Armed with that information, I believe people of good faith will do the right thing.
The racist core of the Party of Trump, on the other hand, needs to be vanquished to the dust pile of history and those who support it, indelibly marked with the badges of dishonor they have earned. They are dangerous and it is likely that many of them are associated loosely or intimately with right wing militias, aka domestic terrorists.
To one extent or another, we all wear blinders.
When I was a kid growing up in the 1950s and 60s, we got our national news from Walter Cronkite, with a sprinkling of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. Cronkite looked just like my grandfather – I trusted both of them completely. Our local newspapers had a point of view, but there was a fairly clear consensus and the primary sources of public information reflected that consensus. That is obviously not the case today and nasty little lies, and big fat conspiracy theories spawn on the web and are repeated on social media until they become “news” – the actual fake news – that is swallowed whole by some and used by craven politicians to seed doubt and fear into the minds of others.
I have said here before, and stand by the belief, that lowering the temperature and seeking reconciliation with our neighbors is vital. It is a slow process, painful at times, but someone needs to go first, and we have just won the most important election in recent history – so (IMO) it is our move.
My personal experience, which is not unique, has brought me into contact with people who supported Trump. Our conversations have been difficult, and with some folks I just haven’t been able to talk about political issues at all. But so often I’ve found that people have been holding beliefs based on bad information or lack of information entirely. And I must confess that I have learned things from these conversations - perspectives, fears, resentments and doubts - that my media sources haven’t fully elucidated. I genuinely believe that dialogue can help ameliorate the divisive situation in which we find ourselves today – and that the Biden/Harris election offers us a unique opportunity to do so.
Your statement here is powerful – and convincing – but I would observe that many of those who cast their vote for him did so out of fear. It may be hard for us to accept, but many people actually believed the lie that electing a Democrat would bring about a “Socialist” government, and in their minds, Socialism was just another word for Communism. They heard it repeated over and over again and they began to believe it, or at least fear it might be so.
“In 2016, there was always the possibility that 60M people were fooled, that they took it as a joke, that they thought he was an outsider, and would be good to shake things up. That he was a good businessman.
It is painful and horrifying that in 2020 71M people did it deliberately. They knew what he was and did it deliberately.”
As someone here observed, “today is a good day”. I intend to relish it, to get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow, work to realize the prospect of a united country – one person at a time, if need be.
I live in ruby red Idaho where the cult & militia are alive & well. Where Covid is running ramped thru our smalll community & staff @ our small, iculess hospital are anti maskers & many anti vacers live here.We have one super market that has not supported masks, has not put in special hours nor installed plexi glass shields. It is one thing to discuss & share different points of view but when the nuts & bolts of everyday life r impacted by the lack of concern for the common good, it is very much in your face no escape. If I were a young person, I might have a more resilient outlook but the 1 ½ hr drive over a mountain pass & now it is winter to shop where masks are mostly worn is difficult. I really doubt that these people will listens to reason & facts that those of us here have spoken, stood for, written about, will change in my life time.
I too am an Idahoan and I feel your pain and frustration. I am appalled at our state and local election result which seems to seek to keep us all in the dark - 50th in the nation in student spending, etc. I find it confusing that the people I know and deal with are overwhelming not bad people by all measures. I think it has to be the media (faux and social media) which for many people inIdaho is all they have. It is the big lonely out there and our “right to work state ($7.25/hr min wage) which is really our “Right to be Poor” keeps us all down. How do you get people to support that? - its like convincing them to eat their own arm. It must change we have an opportunity to put a crack in the wall to let the light in. I was slightly encouraged that Crapo appears to be supporting the democratic transition of power. The Idaho human rights task force and a vibrant active resistance movement working with local law enforcement are doing some good work. We need all the critical thinkers on board now. I hate to lose this fight at this point. We are the answer.
Next door in Montana we see similar anti maskers. Big money and lies made a republican sweep of the election up and down the ballot. Hospitals and schools will see funding cuts and resource extraction will be given free reign. We were so hopeful with Bullock and had good candidates for state leadership positions. We fought hard and still lost. Pain and frustration indeed. The only consolation is Biden and Harris in the Whitehouse.
I think that odd logic of the Trumpers is a repudiation of white liberals. If we say something is up, they say it’s down. If we say black, they say white. They are animated by fear of losing a way of seeing the world from its imagined, privileged center, but their animus is directed at us, so it adopts a mirror reverse logic to ours. And they have closed ranks and locked arms. I hope the Biden people have some insight into how to penetrate that psychology beyond bromides about coming together.
And there are seventy million of them. We must be very careful about what we do about those who poison their minds, recognizing that there are limits to First Amendment rights beyond not permitting screaming "Fire" in a theatre. To what exent should blatant, unproven, lies be given protection under the First Amendment without weakening that Amendment's vital role in preserving democracy.
Put the Fairness Doctrine back to use and the Right Wing Noise Machine will go silent in 90 days. You want to re-educate the 70 million morons? Turn off the noise machine.
It is imperative that “hate speech” is not protected under the First Amendment be codified. But how? Can we use Germany’s solution to Nazism as a model?
Yes ... but that would weaken the First Amendment. To my knowledge, the reprehensible statements of people like Alex Jones are protected by the First Amendment. Making them illegal opens the door to making other opinions, some of with which you and I might agree, potentially illegal as well. Congresses and administrations change. Amendments to the Constitution should endure. That's why, occasionally, even the ACLU supports the rights of bigots and terrorists.
Then hopefully the virus will only get more prevalent and more of the morons will flunk evolution's IQ test. (Are you intelligent enough to take in the available information and change your behavior in such a way as to increase your chances of survival?). the more of the white trash Trumpscum die, the better for the rest of us.
R Dooley - well said. I’m finding that when I hear comments from Dumpster Fire supporters/voters, I take a deep breath and pick one small thing to correct them on. Sometimes I’m staring with the words OUCH or GULP and then I issue a correction on what they said. I was so offended when someone labelled their governor as a Nazi. My response "OUCH - The Nazi’s killed over 6M people so she isn’t a Nazi . . . . But I see how you are frustrated with her as your governor” Also, a priority for me is to stop this Socialism or communism rhetoric. Too many people are conflating OR confusing them - our government is neither.
Calling Biden a Socialist or Commie makes me laugh. He is practically a John McCain Republican. But clearly we need vocabulary lessons for 70 million people.
I agree that we need some sort of truth and reconciliation, like in S. Africa. The inequalities (perceived or real) of our society are what trump has exploited so well.
I heard someone yesterday talk about how we need to heal the divisions because if we don't "they have won"....they being those who wish for continued division and unrest. I have a family member who is a tRumpster with whom I've had little to no contact for many years. Recently he reached out and said "Let's forget where we have been and start again, but not include talk of religion or politics." That's a place to start and I will try to now see if we can come to an understanding where we both stand.
Growing up in 50’s and 60’s I always heard from my parents, that ‘you don’t discuss politics or religion’ and ‘you can choose your friends but not your relatives’
Forget truth and reconciliation. Try the Trump traitors on whatever charges are available and imprison them. Conspiracy to commit treason works, since they all went along with Putin's Punk, so his treason is theirs.
It doesn't matter what they call it. Fear of Socialism is simply fear that hard working Americans (read white Americans) will be forced to pay for someone else's benefits that doesn't deserve it (read BIPOC, LGBTQ, etc)
Not all seventy million Republican voters believe that crap, but enough do to dominate the GOP's choice of candidates, especially in local and State political races. Nationally, it has to be a dog whisper. Locally, however, it is the margin of difference which keeps so many State legislatures Republican.
Deb, R Dooley, both good points of view. I am a worrier, too. At 67 years, that has not served me well. Some of the worst things that I ever lived through, never happened. At least not to me. Yesterday, I quietly celebrated...just to give myself a much needed break. Now, back to work, one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Together, all of us, with NO complacency, we can do this.
In response to Deb and R Dooley: Thank you both for succinctly stating both sides of the coin I find myself living with. I feel optimism and fear in equal measures. My fear stems from the knowledge that trumpism is a cult in every sense of the word, and you can’t lead someone away from a cult with just presenting factual information. They must be deprogrammed, and it is a long and difficult process. I have a cousin who has “bathed in the kool-aid”, and I don’t see any path to change her thinking. Some examples of recent Facebook posts to her hundreds (possible thousands) of followers: “ turn off ALL NEWS except what comes from the white house, that is the only source of truth there is”, “I challenge all of you to turn off fake news, only listen to white house news”, “do not fear that Biden has won, God has ordained 8 years for Trump in the white house, and God is never wrong”.
She and her followers are anti-vaxers, are staunchly AGAINST wearing masks, and she steadfastly refuses to wear a mask. She has had cards printed (there is a website that offers a selection of cards) that encourage, and “give people permission” not to wear a mask; she passes these cards out whenever she is in public to people she sees wearing a mask. She proudly posted that she was asked 5 times to wear a mask while voting, and she refused all 5 times. Her followers all praised her, and vowed to order cards to pass out as well. This behavior is LITERALLY responsible for the sickness and death of THOUSANDS of people. They have been “told”, and yet they continue.
These are just a few examples of what “we” are up against in the coming months (and years I fear). And there are literally millions of people who think and believe the same way. How do you de-program millions of people??
So while I am most assuredly doing a happy dance today, and am both hopeful and cautiously optimistic about the future of America, I am also feeling fear for dark days ahead.
That’s good for your cousin’s group to be excluding Fox and QAnon media and instead limiting themselves to news from the White House, because the trump administration’s denial and manipulation of facts is going to end on January 20, 2021.
“De-programming” people is a matter of education at many levels in many forms—one-on-one interactions with a seed planted of alternative, but to most people, rational fact, to absence of the toxic inflammatory propaganda, to lived experience that calms fears.
Ellie, you are very insightful and perceptive. I think you are right. I've seen many people come around not only in their perspective, but in the very assumptions with which they view the world in the context of your 2nd paragraph, which is a beautifully succinct synopis of how WE can gently de-program the people with whom we come into contact. Indeed, we can start with ourselves, by addressing the negativity that so many of us have fallen into.
I can claim some authority in this, as it was an intrinsic part of my job as a professional facilitator and advisor working with disparate groups on a number of high visibility issues. The very first time this happened, I had been given a group that everyone else had given up on. (I was the newbie, and they figured it couldn't get worse. To my bosses' surprise, I fixed it.)
The real key in your paragraph is where I started: "the absence of...toxic inflammatory [language]", and working with the group to establish an accepting atmosphere. This is why I repeatedly ask people to leave that kind of thinking and talking behind. It is a self-fulfulling prophesy that gets in the way.
Hopefully your cousin's behavior will lead to her getting the virus and making America great again. I personally would have no problem at all with all the anti-maskers catching it and dying. We're overpopulated with morons now that Survival of the Fittest doesn't work in modern society, so evolution needs all the help it can get.
Sadly, this is exactly the kind of negative and demeaning attitude that will make the task of creating a functional dialogue in America more difficult. It's ugly and disrespectful, and contributes nothing of value to this discussion and certainly nothing to the greater need our society needs of learning to speak together.
Yours is a beautiful attitude and state of mind, which I commend. Having felt disallusioned by the inner feelings of my (supposed) friends/acquaintances, I will need to search for my inner gods to try to reach out. It will be a challenge that I hope I can achieve. Meanwhile, for the moment, we celebrate.
RDooley thank you so much. I feel exactly the same. One person at a time if need be. The mountian to be scaled here is fear. Thank you for seeing it. All of us who do, supporting a narrative of moving forward, can help catalyze healing.
Thank you, R Dooley, Kathy Warren, Jacob Lippman, Patricia Andrews, and Laurie for articulating an empathic but optimistic response. I would take it a step further, that it is incumbent upon us to not endorse feeling “doomed.” Fear among the masses is the objective of those fostering tyranny and fascism. All feelings have legitimacy, but how we respond to our feelings is a choice.
With 71 million trump voters among us, we ARE in a both/and reality. Yes, we must keep eyes wide open and be wary, but reason, decency, and fairness have now regained the upper hand of power in our government. Moreover, with issues of gun violence, climate change, sexism, and racism, we are now more woke in our consciousness. Don’t give away your power. Hope is a survival skill.
Take 2: Ideas for dealing with feelings of anxiety, depression, and/or despair:
1. Feelings are valid. Do channel feelings of hear into healthy fear that keeps us alert to real and present dangers.
2. Mitigate feelings of anxiety by taking a few moments to close your eyes and focus on your breath.
3. Mitigate your feelings of depression by moving around, get your circulation moving, walk out where you can be with life affirming plants and trees in open air. Breathe.
4. Put yourself in the world of others who survived serious danger--read, watch movies, TV series...
5. Act on your power of one. Plan how to respond to trumpists in your world by planting a seed of reality. Support the US Senate runoff in Georgia with postcards, donations, registering voters.
It was so hard to get started this Monday morning, so much news happening.. I was getting overwhelmed, but went immediately to your posts, read them all and reset my 'headspace'. Thanks again for the life line. br
Well said! wise! a great plan for moving forward with 'Intention' in the only moment we have....the Now! Thank you. Much appreciated. A lot of deep, complicated ideas and emotions swirling around in the posts. I needed someplace simple to start. Thanks for the guidance/for spelling things out!
Good morning, Deb:
I’ve read your post twice, and the passage I’ve include below, several times.
You and I are the flip sides of the same coin. I’m an optimist and hold out hope that people can change, that with broader dissemination of accurate information, we have a chance to expose the fundamental emptiness and greed of the movement conservatives that own the Republican Party. Armed with that information, I believe people of good faith will do the right thing.
The racist core of the Party of Trump, on the other hand, needs to be vanquished to the dust pile of history and those who support it, indelibly marked with the badges of dishonor they have earned. They are dangerous and it is likely that many of them are associated loosely or intimately with right wing militias, aka domestic terrorists.
To one extent or another, we all wear blinders.
When I was a kid growing up in the 1950s and 60s, we got our national news from Walter Cronkite, with a sprinkling of Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. Cronkite looked just like my grandfather – I trusted both of them completely. Our local newspapers had a point of view, but there was a fairly clear consensus and the primary sources of public information reflected that consensus. That is obviously not the case today and nasty little lies, and big fat conspiracy theories spawn on the web and are repeated on social media until they become “news” – the actual fake news – that is swallowed whole by some and used by craven politicians to seed doubt and fear into the minds of others.
I have said here before, and stand by the belief, that lowering the temperature and seeking reconciliation with our neighbors is vital. It is a slow process, painful at times, but someone needs to go first, and we have just won the most important election in recent history – so (IMO) it is our move.
My personal experience, which is not unique, has brought me into contact with people who supported Trump. Our conversations have been difficult, and with some folks I just haven’t been able to talk about political issues at all. But so often I’ve found that people have been holding beliefs based on bad information or lack of information entirely. And I must confess that I have learned things from these conversations - perspectives, fears, resentments and doubts - that my media sources haven’t fully elucidated. I genuinely believe that dialogue can help ameliorate the divisive situation in which we find ourselves today – and that the Biden/Harris election offers us a unique opportunity to do so.
Your statement here is powerful – and convincing – but I would observe that many of those who cast their vote for him did so out of fear. It may be hard for us to accept, but many people actually believed the lie that electing a Democrat would bring about a “Socialist” government, and in their minds, Socialism was just another word for Communism. They heard it repeated over and over again and they began to believe it, or at least fear it might be so.
“In 2016, there was always the possibility that 60M people were fooled, that they took it as a joke, that they thought he was an outsider, and would be good to shake things up. That he was a good businessman.
It is painful and horrifying that in 2020 71M people did it deliberately. They knew what he was and did it deliberately.”
As someone here observed, “today is a good day”. I intend to relish it, to get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow, work to realize the prospect of a united country – one person at a time, if need be.
I live in ruby red Idaho where the cult & militia are alive & well. Where Covid is running ramped thru our smalll community & staff @ our small, iculess hospital are anti maskers & many anti vacers live here.We have one super market that has not supported masks, has not put in special hours nor installed plexi glass shields. It is one thing to discuss & share different points of view but when the nuts & bolts of everyday life r impacted by the lack of concern for the common good, it is very much in your face no escape. If I were a young person, I might have a more resilient outlook but the 1 ½ hr drive over a mountain pass & now it is winter to shop where masks are mostly worn is difficult. I really doubt that these people will listens to reason & facts that those of us here have spoken, stood for, written about, will change in my life time.
I too am an Idahoan and I feel your pain and frustration. I am appalled at our state and local election result which seems to seek to keep us all in the dark - 50th in the nation in student spending, etc. I find it confusing that the people I know and deal with are overwhelming not bad people by all measures. I think it has to be the media (faux and social media) which for many people inIdaho is all they have. It is the big lonely out there and our “right to work state ($7.25/hr min wage) which is really our “Right to be Poor” keeps us all down. How do you get people to support that? - its like convincing them to eat their own arm. It must change we have an opportunity to put a crack in the wall to let the light in. I was slightly encouraged that Crapo appears to be supporting the democratic transition of power. The Idaho human rights task force and a vibrant active resistance movement working with local law enforcement are doing some good work. We need all the critical thinkers on board now. I hate to lose this fight at this point. We are the answer.
You have a major religion there in Idaho that is best understood by removing the second "m" from its well-known name.
Next door in Montana we see similar anti maskers. Big money and lies made a republican sweep of the election up and down the ballot. Hospitals and schools will see funding cuts and resource extraction will be given free reign. We were so hopeful with Bullock and had good candidates for state leadership positions. We fought hard and still lost. Pain and frustration indeed. The only consolation is Biden and Harris in the Whitehouse.
I think that odd logic of the Trumpers is a repudiation of white liberals. If we say something is up, they say it’s down. If we say black, they say white. They are animated by fear of losing a way of seeing the world from its imagined, privileged center, but their animus is directed at us, so it adopts a mirror reverse logic to ours. And they have closed ranks and locked arms. I hope the Biden people have some insight into how to penetrate that psychology beyond bromides about coming together.
And there are seventy million of them. We must be very careful about what we do about those who poison their minds, recognizing that there are limits to First Amendment rights beyond not permitting screaming "Fire" in a theatre. To what exent should blatant, unproven, lies be given protection under the First Amendment without weakening that Amendment's vital role in preserving democracy.
Put the Fairness Doctrine back to use and the Right Wing Noise Machine will go silent in 90 days. You want to re-educate the 70 million morons? Turn off the noise machine.
It is imperative that “hate speech” is not protected under the First Amendment be codified. But how? Can we use Germany’s solution to Nazism as a model?
Yes ... but that would weaken the First Amendment. To my knowledge, the reprehensible statements of people like Alex Jones are protected by the First Amendment. Making them illegal opens the door to making other opinions, some of with which you and I might agree, potentially illegal as well. Congresses and administrations change. Amendments to the Constitution should endure. That's why, occasionally, even the ACLU supports the rights of bigots and terrorists.
Then hopefully the virus will only get more prevalent and more of the morons will flunk evolution's IQ test. (Are you intelligent enough to take in the available information and change your behavior in such a way as to increase your chances of survival?). the more of the white trash Trumpscum die, the better for the rest of us.
R Dooley - well said. I’m finding that when I hear comments from Dumpster Fire supporters/voters, I take a deep breath and pick one small thing to correct them on. Sometimes I’m staring with the words OUCH or GULP and then I issue a correction on what they said. I was so offended when someone labelled their governor as a Nazi. My response "OUCH - The Nazi’s killed over 6M people so she isn’t a Nazi . . . . But I see how you are frustrated with her as your governor” Also, a priority for me is to stop this Socialism or communism rhetoric. Too many people are conflating OR confusing them - our government is neither.
Calling Biden a Socialist or Commie makes me laugh. He is practically a John McCain Republican. But clearly we need vocabulary lessons for 70 million people.
I agree that we need some sort of truth and reconciliation, like in S. Africa. The inequalities (perceived or real) of our society are what trump has exploited so well.
I heard someone yesterday talk about how we need to heal the divisions because if we don't "they have won"....they being those who wish for continued division and unrest. I have a family member who is a tRumpster with whom I've had little to no contact for many years. Recently he reached out and said "Let's forget where we have been and start again, but not include talk of religion or politics." That's a place to start and I will try to now see if we can come to an understanding where we both stand.
Growing up in 50’s and 60’s I always heard from my parents, that ‘you don’t discuss politics or religion’ and ‘you can choose your friends but not your relatives’
Family - the gift that keeps on *living*!
When we can't talk politics and religion we are suppressing it until the next time.
Forget truth and reconciliation. Try the Trump traitors on whatever charges are available and imprison them. Conspiracy to commit treason works, since they all went along with Putin's Punk, so his treason is theirs.
It doesn't matter what they call it. Fear of Socialism is simply fear that hard working Americans (read white Americans) will be forced to pay for someone else's benefits that doesn't deserve it (read BIPOC, LGBTQ, etc)
Not all seventy million Republican voters believe that crap, but enough do to dominate the GOP's choice of candidates, especially in local and State political races. Nationally, it has to be a dog whisper. Locally, however, it is the margin of difference which keeps so many State legislatures Republican.
Deb, R Dooley, both good points of view. I am a worrier, too. At 67 years, that has not served me well. Some of the worst things that I ever lived through, never happened. At least not to me. Yesterday, I quietly celebrated...just to give myself a much needed break. Now, back to work, one foot in front of the other, one day at a time. Together, all of us, with NO complacency, we can do this.
In response to Deb and R Dooley: Thank you both for succinctly stating both sides of the coin I find myself living with. I feel optimism and fear in equal measures. My fear stems from the knowledge that trumpism is a cult in every sense of the word, and you can’t lead someone away from a cult with just presenting factual information. They must be deprogrammed, and it is a long and difficult process. I have a cousin who has “bathed in the kool-aid”, and I don’t see any path to change her thinking. Some examples of recent Facebook posts to her hundreds (possible thousands) of followers: “ turn off ALL NEWS except what comes from the white house, that is the only source of truth there is”, “I challenge all of you to turn off fake news, only listen to white house news”, “do not fear that Biden has won, God has ordained 8 years for Trump in the white house, and God is never wrong”.
She and her followers are anti-vaxers, are staunchly AGAINST wearing masks, and she steadfastly refuses to wear a mask. She has had cards printed (there is a website that offers a selection of cards) that encourage, and “give people permission” not to wear a mask; she passes these cards out whenever she is in public to people she sees wearing a mask. She proudly posted that she was asked 5 times to wear a mask while voting, and she refused all 5 times. Her followers all praised her, and vowed to order cards to pass out as well. This behavior is LITERALLY responsible for the sickness and death of THOUSANDS of people. They have been “told”, and yet they continue.
These are just a few examples of what “we” are up against in the coming months (and years I fear). And there are literally millions of people who think and believe the same way. How do you de-program millions of people??
So while I am most assuredly doing a happy dance today, and am both hopeful and cautiously optimistic about the future of America, I am also feeling fear for dark days ahead.
That’s good for your cousin’s group to be excluding Fox and QAnon media and instead limiting themselves to news from the White House, because the trump administration’s denial and manipulation of facts is going to end on January 20, 2021.
“De-programming” people is a matter of education at many levels in many forms—one-on-one interactions with a seed planted of alternative, but to most people, rational fact, to absence of the toxic inflammatory propaganda, to lived experience that calms fears.
Ellie, you are very insightful and perceptive. I think you are right. I've seen many people come around not only in their perspective, but in the very assumptions with which they view the world in the context of your 2nd paragraph, which is a beautifully succinct synopis of how WE can gently de-program the people with whom we come into contact. Indeed, we can start with ourselves, by addressing the negativity that so many of us have fallen into.
I can claim some authority in this, as it was an intrinsic part of my job as a professional facilitator and advisor working with disparate groups on a number of high visibility issues. The very first time this happened, I had been given a group that everyone else had given up on. (I was the newbie, and they figured it couldn't get worse. To my bosses' surprise, I fixed it.)
The real key in your paragraph is where I started: "the absence of...toxic inflammatory [language]", and working with the group to establish an accepting atmosphere. This is why I repeatedly ask people to leave that kind of thinking and talking behind. It is a self-fulfulling prophesy that gets in the way.
Hopefully your cousin's behavior will lead to her getting the virus and making America great again. I personally would have no problem at all with all the anti-maskers catching it and dying. We're overpopulated with morons now that Survival of the Fittest doesn't work in modern society, so evolution needs all the help it can get.
Sadly, this is exactly the kind of negative and demeaning attitude that will make the task of creating a functional dialogue in America more difficult. It's ugly and disrespectful, and contributes nothing of value to this discussion and certainly nothing to the greater need our society needs of learning to speak together.
I meant I hoped that it wasn't true. Too bad you flunked reading comprehension.
Yours is a beautiful attitude and state of mind, which I commend. Having felt disallusioned by the inner feelings of my (supposed) friends/acquaintances, I will need to search for my inner gods to try to reach out. It will be a challenge that I hope I can achieve. Meanwhile, for the moment, we celebrate.
RDooley thank you so much. I feel exactly the same. One person at a time if need be. The mountian to be scaled here is fear. Thank you for seeing it. All of us who do, supporting a narrative of moving forward, can help catalyze healing.
Thank you, R Dooley, Kathy Warren, Jacob Lippman, Patricia Andrews, and Laurie for articulating an empathic but optimistic response. I would take it a step further, that it is incumbent upon us to not endorse feeling “doomed.” Fear among the masses is the objective of those fostering tyranny and fascism. All feelings have legitimacy, but how we respond to our feelings is a choice.
With 71 million trump voters among us, we ARE in a both/and reality. Yes, we must keep eyes wide open and be wary, but reason, decency, and fairness have now regained the upper hand of power in our government. Moreover, with issues of gun violence, climate change, sexism, and racism, we are now more woke in our consciousness. Don’t give away your power. Hope is a survival skill.
❤️
Take 2: Ideas for dealing with feelings of anxiety, depression, and/or despair:
1. Feelings are valid. Do channel feelings of hear into healthy fear that keeps us alert to real and present dangers.
2. Mitigate feelings of anxiety by taking a few moments to close your eyes and focus on your breath.
3. Mitigate your feelings of depression by moving around, get your circulation moving, walk out where you can be with life affirming plants and trees in open air. Breathe.
4. Put yourself in the world of others who survived serious danger--read, watch movies, TV series...
5. Act on your power of one. Plan how to respond to trumpists in your world by planting a seed of reality. Support the US Senate runoff in Georgia with postcards, donations, registering voters.
6. Keep hope!
7. Do something you love, something creative and easily doable: gardening, cooking, playing, singing, writing, art...we all have different gifts.
It was so hard to get started this Monday morning, so much news happening.. I was getting overwhelmed, but went immediately to your posts, read them all and reset my 'headspace'. Thanks again for the life line. br
Ellie, you are a jewel.
Well said! wise! a great plan for moving forward with 'Intention' in the only moment we have....the Now! Thank you. Much appreciated. A lot of deep, complicated ideas and emotions swirling around in the posts. I needed someplace simple to start. Thanks for the guidance/for spelling things out!
Well said. Thank you.
Thank you! Yes one person at a time.