I really enjoyed reading your blog and I think it’s great that you’ve put these thoughts into words. But, respectfully, I don’t feel you’re seeing the complete picture. (Although that’s perhaps unreasonable of me to expect: judging from your description, I don’t suppose you’d find it any easier to relate to my life than I to yours). But let’s give it a go.
I feel that there is something that could find its way onto your list on things you can do. It’s sort of about EMPATHY really.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but try putting yourself in the shoes of a Trump voter. Perhaps the type of person who’s not particularly well-educated. A blue-collar worker who lives in a “rust-belt” city, whose work-opportunities have gradually evaporated because manufacturing has been off-shored, or whose wages have gradually been deflated because of the unrelenting influx of cheap labour. Or perhaps someone who’s been told that their long-held values, for example their religious beliefs, or their beliefs about self-sufficiency and self-reliance, or even belief in a right to bear arms, that these values are invalid, immoral or illegitimate. You may not share those values – you’ll probably never understand them (because you’re from a different culture) – but that doesn’t mean that they’re any less deeply-held, meaningful or valid than yours.
The fact is that Trump DIDN’T nefariously steal power from anyone. He DIDN’T stage a military coup. He DIDN’T inherit power from his father. But he DID win an election, fair and square. And he won that election because he was in tune with the concerns and the value-system of a vast swathe of the electorate, the people I just described. The people that support him aren’t all evil.
It’s perhaps EASIER to jump to the conclusion that Trump is all the things you’ve decided he is. But you have to do more than just do that: you have to identify and articulate your own, better solutions to improve the difficult lives of the people I just described. It’s not enough to simply condemn, wave a placard or sign an e-petition. Respectfully, that’s lazy, it’s way too easy. Instead, you have to make your case – a better case than Trump’s – and then WIN the argument (and that’s way more difficult).
I’d definitely switch off Twitter and facebook (because of the temptation toward confirmation bias) and invest the time in trying to understand – with a genuinely open mind – the affected people. Don’t assume that, because we share a language, that you therefore automatically understand the culture. Try and have some EMPATHY toward these people, their lives and their belief systems. That should be number 7 on your list. Then, stick your neck out and identify your solutions for the challenges such people face. Make a case that stands up in its own right. If you’re really serious about doing anything, do this, and get people to support you and follow it through.
I don’t mean to be rude. It’s just that I see all these posts all over the web by people who think that they have a monopoly on virtue and goodness. And that their view of what’s good and decent “trumps” everybody else’s. It’s worth popping yourself into other people’s lives/culture and trying to understand that this is not the case.
