And as the days of Donald Trump pass by -- and not fast enough to suit my tastes, thanks -- I'm still left to wonder. Is #DerTrumpenfuher the symptom or the disease?
The more I think about it, I think he's just a symptom. We have become divided, radicalized. And Trump didn't make us this way. But he damn sure made it fashionable, acceptable. Remember Charlottesville? "Very fine people...on both sides. On both sides." Calling South American and African countries, "shithole countries". Excuse me? The truth is, he couldn't have come to power if there weren't pockets of secret racists all over the country. And they were powerful enough to get him elected. They voted and they rioted and they caused harm and death. A few of them even fell on their own swords. For a man who praised them for it.
Donald Trump didn't even try to reach out to anyone but his base. He talked only to them, he performed only for them. And the rest of us, if you weren't under the Trump Godspell, you were ignored and marginalized. We pointed fingers at each other, spewed vitriol at each other, and he egged it all on. With hashtags of #NotMyPresident and #LoserTrump, his base took that personally and returned the name calling of #OwnTheLibtards #RadicalLeft. All the while ignoring their own #RadicalRight. And it just became a cacophany of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
There's the truth of it. No one listens anymore. No one talks. No one is allowed to have a dissenting opinion. We live in a cancel culture. We live in a radicalized culture of power mongers. And I'm just as guilty. I've stopped listening. I've stopped talking. I've stopped trying to understand. And I need to learn to open up again. I need to begin that process. I've gotten too damned comfortable in my bubble of friends, who listen to what I say and agree wholeheartedly. Once upon a time, my friends list wasn't like that. I had dissenting opinions, deep conversations.
Remember Lincoln's adage? "A house divided against itself cannot stand."
It's time to try to understand why someone believes as they do about that man and then talk it through. You don't have to agree, you just have to listen. You just have to reach the middle. We can work together, even when it means compromise. And that's not a bad word. If we have the same goal in mind, to help the people of this country, then we can make it better. We can do this.
But will we. Or is the prophesied new Civil War about to land on us?
~SBH~
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for adding your comments and opinions to Soap Box Hero. All opinions are welcome, even those I don't agree with. I like a good discussion. All comments are moderated, to be sure that the discussion is kept polite. Any comment that is insulting or demeaning to another commenter will be deleted. If you can't disagree politely, you can't disagree here.
As long as your comment meets the above, it will show up within 24 hours. Maybe sooner.
Again, thanks for adding your thoughts to the blog. Please come back often and join in other discussions. You're always welcome.