2017 is a year I've started referring to as the Empire Strikes Back. Because it feels to me that there is a decreasing in size group of people who seem to think the only way to be is the way that they are and that way to be is narrow-minded, classist, racist, sexist, and bigoted. And what's worse is they do it all in God's name.
I have always been one for politics. I have been writing letters and contacting my representatives since I was a young child as my mother never really kept her opinion to herself. It was a strange thing to experience in hindsight as I look back at our home life. But that is a story for another time. My mother was in touch with our representatives so frequently they invited her to parties and fundraisers even though we had no money. Simply because they knew that she cared. I wish I had all my letters from way back when. I don't but I do have some from a couple of decades ago still. She was even on the news for things that she would stand up for a couple of times. I mean seriously, she was involved. Unfortunately, as her mental health declined so did her activism. But she never forgot to remind me to vote. I have voted since I turned 18 in as many elections as I could be available to vote in. I was less aware of them (such as smaller, local races) 20 years ago as I am now, but at one of my more recent caucuses I was the youngest person in our group who had been to the most caucuses and primaries. Things matter to me.
This passed year was no exception. Like many people I was horrified and shocked by the outcome of the presidential election and with each passing day having someone in power who doesn't seem to care about anyone but themselves is unsettling to say the least. Even this morning there are threats of nuclear war. This is the 21st century and this is what we wake up to these days. What's even more disconcerting is that their are others who think this is a good idea. People who support this person. To think that you could support the annihilation of another country or group of people is downright evil to me. I don't like using the word evil because I find it dramatic, cartoonish, and used to dismiss things that are more complicated than one emotion, but in this case I'd say it fits. If you think people deserve to die simply because they are different from you-you really need to spend sometime reflecting on what kind of human you are and if you do it in the name of God-well, I can't even begin to imagine the cognitive dissonance.
Because of this passed presidential election, my activist gene has kicked back into high gear. I went to protests, wrote letters, made calls, gathered people to participate, donated, and have done my best to support businesses that are inclusive(which often seems impossible, but I do try). I spend time researching anything I see people talking about and I quit Twitter because wow do I think that is HUGE part of the problem.
The one year anniversary of the astonishingly well attended Women's March Protest is approaching and I am seeing more and more about the Mid-term elections which are so crucial this time I can't even imagine what might happen if things don't change. For a while I saw no hope. I was quite frankly traumatized by the outcome of the election. The idea that so many people supported someone who thinks it's funny to harass and assault women, who is racist and makes fun of differently abled people, who sees anyone with a different skin color and looks at them as an enemy, who thinks our planet is a trash can-I was not in a good place.
However, I see more and more reasons to be hopeful and if anything came out of this garbage election it is that people are becoming more and more aware that the world is bigger and more diverse than they ever could've imagined. That on the whole, your average person wants the same things they do: to be healthy, employed, and not contributing negatively to the world-no matter what they look like and that has helped. Just like going to these events helped. Seeing so many people ready to fight for what they believe-it pulls you out of the dark place. Plus, there is something immensely empowering about genuinely exercising your rights. In America, people constantly holler about gun rights forgetting we have a whole bunch of other ones that are in my opinion a whole helluva lot more important. Without the others, there's no point in having a gun. Because what the hell are you defending then? The right to own a weapon? That is not what America is about and it's not even what the second amendment is about-and using your rights reminds you of that-using your voice and your vote reminds you of that, you're not fighting for your right to own gun, you are fighting for your rights to exist, thrive, and to belong to something much bigger than any one person.
And even though we seemed determined as a country to do every dumb ass thing every other country has already done and suffered the poor results of which easily could've been avoided, I do believe there is truth that America is the only country that was founded on a good idea.
