What devastates me most about this election has nothing to do with my candidate not pulling through, I don’t care about that. It has nothing to do with voting Democrat and losing to a Republican; and nothing to do with leaning one way or the other party-wise. I’m not mad at the process. This has literally nothing to do with fiscal issues et al. While those are very important, and impact me as much as everyone else, that is not the issue that is causing me pain today.
So the majority got what they wanted, and that technically sounds good. We live in a country where the masses get to decide where our country moves. That’s democracy, and I’m proud of it, but that’s not my issue. This time around, the majority signed up for, socially speaking, a platform built upon hate, sexism, exclusionary tactics, xenophobia and a myriad of other bigoted and prejudicial beliefs. That bothers me to my utmost core. I was raised to include everyone, to not judge people based on their skin color, their belief systems, or sexual orientation.
Raised as a Jewish person, and knowing my history, it scares me that we elected a president that wants to register a religious group akin to Adolf Hitler registering Jews between 1933-1939. I fear for the Muslim people, who deserve nothing less than the freedom to live their lives, unhindered, as Americans. Treating them like scapegoats and criminals is incredibly reminiscent of an abhorrent historical landmark we should be learning from, not repeating.
For all people of color, of non-heterosexual orientation and women: This must feel like another major disappointment in a long line of major disappointments that you’ve had to endure again and again. I can’t really begin to truly know how you all feel individually or as a whole, but to me this feels like a death. I feel like something I believed in, loved, cared about, and trusted has died overnight. And maybe that’s the necessary wake-up call many of us have always needed: people like me, white, heterosexual men who believe in true progression, but have never really known the full scope of the consistently disenfranchised, get woken up.
Listen, I get it, eight years of a Democratic president normally gives way to Republican reign; that doesn’t bother me. But that isn’t the whole story in my eyes; This also has to do with a frightening majority reacting negatively to having eight years of an African-American president, who could not abide by a woman taking office, and longed for “the good ol’ times” when a white, heterosexual, “Red blooded American” male was sitting on the throne. It feels like we took 1 step forward, and then discovered a fun looking time machine, which we used to travel back in time 50-60 years to live in a time most of us never really experienced. And why the hell should we? Shouldn’t we be moving forward in time? Shouldn’t we be championing for more basic human liberties rather than repealing them?
Thanks for reading, if you read the whole thing. I will not be responding on social media to this or anywhere else for that matter. I have nothing defend and no want/need to fight. I also don’t care if my grammar/punctuation isn’t exactly on point. You can get fully bent if that’s the issue you hang upon. Congratulations to those that feel victorious and I’m sorry to those that feel beyond deflated, I empathize. I will now take a cue from Stephen King and get the fuck off Twitter, and the like, for a sabbatical to collect my thoughts. Take care, everyone.
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