Bear with me; I haven’t lost my mind…yet.
I was thinking about everything last night and wondered if we have, indeed, finally reached rock bottom with this administration. I don’t think we have. We have definitely been sinking since Day 1 but, judging by the way he’s still being defended by his party, we haven’t yet hit the bottom. Given the availability of the political news, it’s hard to ignore what’s happening. The only logical conclusion is that we are in big trouble. This leaves me wondering what, exactly, needs to happen before action is taken and, just as importantly, who is going to take that action?
I think part of this situation is our own fault. I think we’ve become complacent in our lives as far as politics and government is concerned. It’s been pretty easy to sit back on our couches and criticize our politicians for decisions they make because we haven’t had to do much else. We can complain to each other about how our taxes keep going up and our food costs more, but we haven’t had anything major to concern ourselves with. We’ve gotten soft; we’ve been spoiled. I’m not speaking for everybody, of course. Some people have continued learning, speaking out, and representing us and, to them, I say THANK YOU because I have been negligent. I’ve trusted this job to others and assumed that everything will work out in the end. This is unfair to those of you that have been fighting for the rest of us. It’s been pretty easy to go along in our lives thinking everything is, for the most part, fine in our world. I think we can all agree that there are always going to be problems; however, as long as they don’t affect us directly, we can continue along pretending that those problems are minor and don’t always require our action.
This administration, this presidency, this party is waking us up to the reality that these beliefs are not right and that we, as people, are fully responsible for our own world…each and every one of us, not just some of us. This particular moment in the history of our country is waking us up to the reality that we cannot rely on other people to determine the fate and reputation of our country, to chart the course of who we want to be. We can no longer ignore the truth that there is still racism that affects people every single day of their life, that poverty is prevalent and that biases exist throughout our society in every way imaginable. There are people that feel entitled to advertise their racism and take action on their bigotry. This kind of person used to realize it was wrong and attempt to hide their beliefs. Now those people feel emboldened to act on them instead. This is a sad testament to the direction we’re going.
This is why I feel like we should thank Donald Trump. He has brought to our attention every single wrong thing that we used to pretend didn’t exist and is making us address it head-on. There is no more escaping the fact that there is bigotry and racism, that there is inequality in all forms. We have corruption in our government that needs to be addressed. We have laws and amendments that need to be rewritten. We have so much opportunity to improve things right now! I think we should take advantage of this moment to decide who we, as a people and as a country, want to be. We need to take a stand for all the good things and make sure that we keep fighting for them. We have to work hard to eliminate those things in our world that no longer belong there. We’ve been going along without too much effort but can no longer afford to do that. I’m not happy with the chaos and turmoil we’re experiencing, but this is a unique opportunity to address our problems head-on. The people bringing this ignorance, intolerance, and inequality into the public eye are actually doing us a favor by allowing us the opportunity to work together to become the country that we love and deserve.
We all need to learn about the issues and candidates and VOTE. That’s the least that we should do but there’s more that we can do when we’re able. I’m not saying that every single person can or should be actively involved. Some of us can join committees or take actions, some of us can write letters. Some of us can run for office or work for others that do so. Not everybody can afford the time or the effort to be directly involved in these activities; however every single one of us CAN make a difference every single day. We can pass along news or important information to those that don’t have time themselves. We can spread the word about opportunities to be involved. We can become the person that doesn’t tolerate ill behavior or words. We can be the person that cares and that exhibits the kind of behavior that makes a positive difference. Most of all, we need to represent the America that cares about other people, that stands up for the people that can’t stand up for themselves and that fights for good. We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines and assume everything will work out. We, each one of us, need to figure out what we can do to help make our country what we want it to be and what we deserve it to be.
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