If I were writing a book right now it would be called “Dismay.”
I’m dismayed that my candidate did not win the presidential election. But I am equally dismayed at the thought that so many of my fellow Americans voted for a convicted felon who vowed to “lock up” those he views as enemies. Who said he’d be a dictator on “day one.” A man who said on the stump he was going to “protect” women “whether the women like it or not.”
Who are you, fellow voters?
Americans like to say—in a wide variety of circumstances—“we’re better than that.” Guess what. We’re not.
Of course, I accept the outcome of this election. Logically, in the legal sense, with my left brain. Emotionally, it’s going to take a while.
I’m working on it. I am relying on my favorite mantra, “Go with the universe.” Matt Gaetz as attorney general? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. heading Health and Human Services? Let’s see how that works out.
I feel like I’m distancing myself, and watching a not very well written farce play out on a stage.
This is probably a healthy thing to do.
I saw the presidential race as a battle between good and evil. But I’ve since learned that, to many voters, the price of gas is more important than the future of our democracy. That being asked to call a person “they” instead of “she” is more important than insuring America is doing its part to deal with climate change. Donald Trump has promised to deport millions of immigrants. I guess some people think that’s reason enough to return to office the guy who suggested that we drink bleach during a pandemic.
OK, deep breath. I don’t like the price of food right now. I get it that many people who rent their homes are in precarious positions because of high housing costs. Despite my liberal leanings, I even understand the backlash against what the right likes to call “woke.”
The widespread fear and hatred of immigration, I must admit, puzzles me. I agree that the system has problems. I can see how some border towns bear an undue burden. But we need immigrants. Here’s one simplistic, yet important reason: they fill jobs in meat-packing plants, nursing homes and agriculture that Americans don’t want.
The fact is that two of Trump’s biggest plans, the deportation of migrants and the imposition of tariffs on foreign goods, are likely to hurt middle- and working-class Americans.
Somehow, the Democrats could not get that message across. Suddenly, we are perceived as elitist. It’s mind-boggling. I am sitting here worried, as a person in her 60s, about the future of Social Security, Medicare and vaccines. Elon Musk is Trump’s new best friend, and it’s the Democrats who are elitist?
I am trying to understand all this and, so far, failing.
My husband and I own our home. We have comfortable retirement incomes. So far, so good, as far as health. I am grateful for what I have. But I am certainly not immune to inflation. I get mad, too. I stood in the grocery store recently transfixed by the price of olive oil. It was outrageous.
My reaction: I looked for a cheaper source. I did not run out and vote for a would-be dictator.
A huge factor in the campaign was disinformation. Need I say more than “pet-eating migrants”? I was a school librarian for 32 years, and labored mightily to help students improve their critical thinking skills. Imagine how I felt when I heard a TV pundit say that, in focus groups, people consistently asked “what’s an authoritarian?”
I wept.
Just the other day, people in a Facebook group for people interested in frugality wondered why some members were worried about higher prices after January 20th. One said glibly that she couldn’t wait for prices to drop to 2016 levels, which she apparently expected to happen 10 minutes after the inauguration.
I resisted all temptation to type, “Lady, do you remember prices during the pandemic?”
Oh, well, it is what it is. Thanksgiving, the best holiday (because it features stuffing), is next week. Christmas is coming. The Jacquie Lawson digital Advent calendar, which I download annually, is set in Paris this year. It will be a welcome distraction. Ooh-la-la.
I will resolve in the New Year to see what I can do to further the cause of climate protection, which is my most important issue. I will be on alert for other opportunities to fight the good fight.
I’d like to do something about the price of olive oil, but I don’t see that happening.
By the way, olive oil is not elitist. It’s good for you. And given the future of health care in the Trump administration, prevention will be key.
I will focus on the fact that my state and the region I love, New England, are firmly blue. I will appreciate my haven of sanity. I will continue to applaud my neighbors for choosing good over evil.
I see you, my friends, and what you have done. What’s next? What can we do to protect our democracy?
Maybe write a chapter called “Hope.”
__________
I welcome email at lizzie621@icloud.com
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