How You Failed The Future, And How To Fix It
An Open Letter to my friends, family, and neighbors who voted for Donald Trump
Pictured Above: The 40% of Trump Supporters — which you are not part of — that I think we can all agree need to be stopped. (Source)
I want to talk to my friends and family who voted for Trump this week.
I know that 60% of you are good, kind, hardworking people who don’t hate anyone.
Dislike? Sure. I dislike a ton of people too, you know? Slow drivers, people who say “soupçon,” and the starting line-up of the 2017 World Series Winning Houston Astros.
You’re mad as hell, and you know what? I am too.
We’re all living through an Affordability Crisis.
The Second Gilded Age.
60% of people live paycheck to paycheck.
A lot of us have to decide between groceries and medication each week.
People my age have to take care of their elderly parents and relatives, or their kids — or both! — on less and less money. All while the billionaires laugh their asses off.
And full-time, with benefits employment is hard to find and harder to keep.
Lucky us, right?
Plus, if living in an America held hostage by oligarchs wasn’t bad enough, we also have a Climate Emergency to contend with.
You should be mad as hell.
Because the Democrats? Well as I said here, they don’t support, or care, about poor people.
And whether we want to say it out loud or not, based on the precarity of our financial status, that’s more than half of us right now.
So, I totally get not wanting to vote for them.
I do.
I don’t agree with it, but that’s ok. If we agreed on everything, this world would be an awful, boring place.
Sort of like the future portrayed in “Demolition Man.”
But if you voted for Trump this week?
Along with the 40% of Trump Supporters that verifiably consists of racists, weirdos, Christian Nationalists, and other assorted far-right jackaloons?
You failed the future.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that you only failed it temporarily.
You see, the 40% I just mentioned?
Everyone knows you’re not one of them.
Right?
They are who they are. It’s a big country filled with hundreds of millions of people.
We have no shortage of candidates for The Freak Parade.
But you’re better than that. You voted because you were mad about the economy, and you want to fix it.
And we’re going to fix it together.
But first, I’m going ask you to do a few things over the coming days, weeks, months, and years.
Don’t worry. You’re already probably doing all of it already. But I want to stress it.
Just in case. Because I think you know shit is about to get real weird around here.
What are these things?
1. Use your head. If you find yourself automatically Noping out of conversations about President Trump, ask yourself this question: Why?
This is something I’ve noticed with a lot of Trump Supporters — Not you though, you’re too smart for this — Where you can rag on any politician, of any party, and everyone is cool with it.
But the second you mention Trump? “Oh, why is this a political thing?”
And the answer is? Because Trump was the president of the United States. And now he will be the President again.
So … What’s the problem with asking questions about any president and their policies?
Remember: We pledge allegiance to the flag and the republic, not the president.
2. Be careful about where you’re getting your news. I’m not saying don’t watch Fox. You can watch Fox. But I am saying, try to be mindful about where you’re getting your information from. Fox, CNN, MSNBC? They all suck as far as I’m concerned. I like PBS. C-SPAN. The BBC. The CBC.
You know why? It’s objective.
(Yes. PBS is objective. They spent years participating in corporate greenwashing, so I know what you’re thinking, and I want you to know I thought it too and it’s not as liberal as you might have heard.)
3. Defend Democracy when given the chance. This may sound silly, but if you live in a place like South Blooming Grove, they took away your public comment.
If you live in the Town of Woodbury, there’s now a time limit for how long members of the public speak at meetings where there are rarely more than 15 people in the room.
If you live in the Town of Monroe, you only get three minutes to speak, and as I just wrote about, they might even edit out your comments if they don’t like what they hear.
Everyone has a right to speak and to be heard. Everyone. Doesn’t matter who they are, where they came from, how often they pray, who they like, none of that matters.
This is the most successful experiment of a Democracy the world has ever known.
Wouldn’t keeping it that way for your friends and family be great?
So it’s going to be up to us to make sure those rights remain rights.
I’m not talking about Trump here either, by the way. Trump doesn’t run Monroe or Woodbury, but both Towns ARE run by people who are MAGA to their core. South Blooming Grove is run by religious extremists.
You know, the 40% you’re not a part of? That’s them.
We all need to look out for that behavior now.
People may see Trump doing Trump things and think, “Well, if he can do it, I can do it.” And that’s what we all, as a community, need to work together to defend against.
A democracy only works when we all play by the same rules and everyone is treated equally.
So that’s the third thing: Make sure everyone is treated equally and governed by the same set of rules.
Keep an eye on that 40%. They’re dangerous to a whole lot of people you know and love. And they’re dangerous to a whole lot of people who live in your community too.
It’s going to be up to all of us now to protect each other from that 40%.
I know I can count on you.
So, if you’re happy Trump won, I get it. You’re welcome on this boat.
Know that when I talk about Trump voters, I am not talking about you.
I’m talking about The Freak Parade, and the concerns about what those freaks and weirdos might have in store for ALL of us over the coming months and years.
You get what I’m saying. I have no doubt.
So let’s do this thing, and keep an eye on your friends and neighbors.
We all need to have each other’s backs now.