TLDR: Trump is the result of our inability to respectfully discuss our opinions. I included a how-to section for those wishing to change the world.
What did people expect would happen after this election? For eight years opposing opinions have been shouted down with cries of “Racism!” “Sexism!” “Homo-Islamic-Etc-phobia!” Voices were smothered because of their gender, race or sexuality. Even reasonable questions about policies and actions of the previous administration were met with deaf ears, hostility, and jeers of “Elections have consequences” from the beginning.
How is Trumpism any surprise? Some of it is an over correction. People who were marginalized for eight years jumped up to support the first person to really say, “I see you, and I care.” The tone of the Obama administration toward the opposition created Trump and his followers as surely as if they had custom designed them.
If you want something, you must start doing it yourself. If you want cooperation and respectful discourse, you must use it first and consistently. If you want your rights to be protected, you must protect the rights of those with whom you do not agree. Think on your actions over the last eight years. Do you want Trump and his supporters to treat you exactly the way you treated them, conservatives, and the tea party? If not, start treating everyone the way you want to be treated.
The change will not be quick, it will probably take all four years at least to begin repairing the damage done to our country’s political discourse.
Think of an abused animal, will it immediately come to your hand just because you’re not the one who kicked it? Well, conservatives, tea partyers and Trumpers have been kicked, maybe not by you, but that doesn’t mean they will trust or respect you enough to really have a dialogue with you immediately.
You can start today. Just find someone you know doesn’t agree with you and sit down with them. Ask them why they feel and vote the way they do. You don’t have to say anything. Just listen. Be polite. Be sincere. Really Listen. Do not just think of how to respond while their mouth is moving.
After they’re done, if you want, you can just say “thank you for talking to me” and not bring it up again, or, you can think about what they said and come back to it later and say “I’ve been thinking about what you said about _____. I feel differently about it because _______.”
You have just begun what may be a successful exchange of ideas on a topic. You may learn new information that changes your opinion. You may change their opinion.
CHANGING YOUR OPINION AS NEW INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE DOES NOT MAKE YOU WEAK OR STUPID. IT MEANS YOU ARE A MATURE, THINKING PERSON!
Who knows! Be open to change and respectful. Research your own opinions and those of others. You may be surprised.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
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