Things To Consider Post-Election...
Some things to consider post-election:
* Feel how you feel. There’s nothing wrong with feeling how you feel—being human means you should naturally experience a wide array of emotions, good and bad. But then allow it all to pass. When emotions, either good or bad, don’t pass or you won’t allow them to pass, that’s when they create trouble for you.
* We need to deal with what is. For better or for worse, Trump is our president. Short of a complete overthrow of the government, he’s not going anywhere for at least four years.
*Young people, I know this is disheartening for you. I’m 40 years old and have voted in every election since I was 18. Sometimes this shit is fucked up and sad and disappointing. But you’ll get through it.
* Have bad things happened because Trump won? Sure. But bad things happened before he won and bad things will continue to happen after he is long out of office. Dickheads will always find an excuse to be dickheads. Stop making this the source of all "evil."
* Begin to break your sports team/us versus them mentality. It’s not helpful. It generates dislike between people of different circumstances/beliefs. If something was reprehensible for the right to do to the left or the Republicans to do when we had a Democrat as president, it doesn’t suddenly become okay when the situation is reversed.
* Stop sharing info and stories from poorly-sourced, bunk websites that fit your own echo chamber. For fucking reals, people. I saw people from both sides of the divide doing it before the election, and I’m still seeing people from both sides of the divide doing it after. It’s not helpful to anyone, not even your cause. Don’t do it. Don’t share it. Don’t believe it.
* Voting is a right. Like free speech and every other right, that means people will exercise it in ways you don’t like. You can feel however you feel about how they vote, but throwing a fit afterward and trying to shame and bully them based on how they chose to vote (for the candidate you didn’t like, a third-party candidate, or, fuck, even not at all) means you don’t actually support that right and are really more concerned about getting your way.
* There are all sorts of reasons people voted for Trump, if you want to look around your country and believe it’s full of ignorant bigots, I think that says more about you, then anything else.
*I know you didn’t want to pay attention in government class (I didn’t either, I took it senior year, I was ready to get the fuck out of the high school I hated so much and out of Columbus, and so I spent most of my time in that class getting the teacher to fall for “Ben Dover? Is Ben Dover here?”), but you need to understand how your government works. I saw this before the election (things like write-in voting) and I’m seeing it after the election (the electoral college is not new).
* The president is not a king. He cannot do whatever the hell he wants. There are checks and balances.
* In two years, there will be midterm elections. You should vote in them. You will have representatives up for re-election. Find out who they are now, message them now that if they support any sort of racist, homophobic, anti-Muslim, or ant-immigrant policy, you will do everything in your power to see them voted out of office (regardless of their party affiliation)
* If Trump does manage to get something awful passed, organizations like the ACLU will instantly have that shit in court. And the ACLU always needs money, you can donate now if you want: https://www.aclu.org/
* There are Muslims, immigrants, LGBT people, and people of color who are afraid to go anywhere right now. Some are afraid because of things that have happened in their town and some are simply afraid because of a pervasive climate of fear. Do you know someone like that? Instead of sharing your 18th meme today, why don’t you call your friend and see if they want to go out to get coffee or food or maybe they just want friendly company? Or maybe even organize something else informally?
