I’m just gonna say that this is a warning that I’m writing about politics and not funny bookish/life/garden stuff. If you don’t want to continue, that’s cool.
Am I alone in the fact that the election results on Tuesday sent me reeling? I mean, we went from probably a contested Republican convention to no other candidates in the race in a period of 24 hours. It doesn’t help that my worst nightmare has come true.
I’m feeling very torn about it all. I’m a huge believer in the democratic process and, although I usually have a candidate that I like, I support everyone’s right to their own convictions. I don’t usually care who you vote for, as long as you vote. Cancel me out, that’s cool. Majority wins, and that’s how it should be in this political system.
Except that we are now facing the fact that Donald Trump is the official head of the Republican party. He’s bad in ways that I don’t think anyone fully understands, not even me. It’s frightening to see the people he’s surrounding himself with, his blatant disregard of the American constitution, his hatred toward minorities and women, and his own personal behavior (including the one where he’s like “we had no idea that was happening so it’s obviously not our fault.” Really, Trump? You have no idea what’s happening in your own organization and you think running a country is something you can do?)
Alright, rant over. That wasn’t the point of this whole thing, anyway.
The point is, I’m not sure what I should be doing right now. That’s the real issue. I don’t think I should be telling you who to vote for, and I don’t usually think that “vote for x because she’s better than Y” is a good argument.
I also believe that social media functions as an escapist space for a lot of people. I value that my Facebook feed is all literary puns, cat videos, and stupidity.
On the other side, I am a firm believer in the fact that a person who is silent in the face of tyranny is complicit in it. And I deeply believe that Donald Trump is attempting to usher in a regime of tyranny and intolerance. Which means that there is responsibility there.
So… stupid Facebook or political Facebook? Tell you who to vote for, or don’t? Does choosing to be silent make me a silent supporter of racist bigotry and idiocy? Does choosing to post all the awful things I find make me an angry, vitriolic person?
I don’t know. I’m still figuring out what is a reasonable course of action in an unreasonable time. I’ll let you know if I come to any conclusions.
Casey E. Hamilton 