His speech reminded me of times when a student begrudgingly reads words written by a teacher for a school assembly or program. It was painful to watch, but I'm sure I wasn't the only one who had a sigh of relief after the speech, relief that he didn't begin another hateful, demeaning rant against people and American ideals.
Trump times are tense. Trump times are calling all of us to have an extra-job which is the Trump watch, protesting against Trump, writing against Trump, researching his words to see what is true and what is not, paying for a thorough investigation of his seemingly unethical, and perhaps illegal, ways, and more. This President is a lot of extra work for every American, and. . .
. . .rather than working for us, he's working against us by making fun of our ideals, speaking with prejudice and hate, inciting violence, staying silent when unAmerican troubling events occur, ruining global relations, harming the environment, sensationalizing a few events/ideas, and disregarding our fundamental rights such as Freedom of the Press.
Rather than working to uplift the poor, strengthen our infrastructure, build better global relations, protect our rights, educate all, and bridge our divides, he leads rallies and policy-making that further divide us and promote hate.
What's an American to do at this time?
As I wandered the grave halls of the Holocaust Museum recently, I noticed how many of Trump's actions mirror Hitler's early efforts to rid Germany of those he hated. Turning neighbor against neighbor, using prejudicial statements against whole groups of people similar to Trump's "fake-news" cries, questionable deportations, bans against what people can do based on culture and religion, the regular use of lies, and rallies--yes rallies that incite more hate, division, and prejudice.
Like many, I keep wondering why people attend Trump rallies. What is it that they find uplifting and supportive with Trump? For the Trump supporters I know, what they want is greater opportunity, less oppression, greater military support, and financial gain. The Trump supporters I know have the following traits in common:
- They've experienced oppression from elite groups due to their learning challenges, family situations, and/or personal troubles.
- They have experienced financial troubles.
- They live outside of the traditional norms--their interests, lifestyle, and choices are often snubbed by the elite.
- They do not have interaction with peoples of multiple cultures, religions, race.
- They are threatened by the changing face of our country, and desire a return to the "old days" - a time that they perceive as a time of greater freedom and peace.
I don't know a lot of Trump supporters, but I suspect that many who support Trump are angry, and his hateful, demeaning, and disrespectful rhetoric affirms their anger, and gives them hope that he'll bring the changes they want.
How does America reckon with this hateful faction in ways that help to turn the tide away from the disrespect and divide that President Trump continually supports towards a better, more modern United States?
First, I think we need to talk about education. How do Trump supporters feel about education? What do they think is a good education? When confronted with the facts and figures about the positivity of a quality education, what do they have to say?
Next, we have to talk about religion. While many Trump supporters claim to be Christian, Trump's acts continually do not mirror Christian ideals. There's a real disconnect here, one that needs to be dissected, relayed, and understood. If we were truly following Christian ideals as a country, our first effort would be to lift all who are impoverished out of poverty. Next, it would be to rid our country of any hate for our neighbors. After that, we would forgive all criminals and change the criminal justice system. To truly follow Christian ideals, would mean a radical change for our country, a change where the wealthy would be paying almost all of their billions to lift up those in America who suffer. Trump's lifestyle and life choices do not reflect Christian ideals, and the truth of it is that most people's lives do not exemplify Christian ideals. To truly live as a Christian, is a radical, humble, and selfless lifestyle.
After that we have to think about our planet, and how we live. We have to face the facts that we need to change our ways to protect our planet. Perhaps a President who supports that would spend his vacation biking to Bedminster rather than using the fuel to fly his big jet, or visit national parks and fly to Alaska to witness first-hand the changes in geography due to climate change.
Yesterday, a Boston Globe editorial suggested that Trump had lazy habits when it came to study, research, and understanding the grave issues he leads. I think it may be true that we're all a bit lazy at this time since the world's innovation, relationships, and planet are changing so quickly that it's difficult to keep up unless we do commit time to read, work together, and understand these changes. Instead, many are satisfied to accept the few facts and figures we learn on television, rather than to truly read, research, and learn what's actually going on. Even our President seems to rely on Fox News rather than the many experts we have in this country--experts who have spent their lives researching issues of importance, depth, and controversy, and experts that the President can easily gather to learn about the issues of the day with depth and clarity.
We can't go back in time to "Make America Great Again" because that America no longer exists--that was an America with far fewer people, far less diversity, less interconnection, less technology, and fewer global ties. We are a more populated, diverse, and interconnected country now, and this means that we have to "Make America Great for All" is a better mantra than a backward-looking statement that sounds good and appeals to our senses, but isn't true and won't work. "Make America Great Again" is like saying to an individual, "I'm going to make you 18 again--I can do it," but you can't-- we can't go back, and we have to go forward with greater collaboration, intelligence, imagination. We can do it even if President Trump doesn't agree and works against us. It means we have to work for it though.
We can't go back in time to "Make America Great Again" because that America no longer exists--that was an America with far fewer people, far less diversity, less interconnection, less technology, and fewer global ties. We are a more populated, diverse, and interconnected country now, and this means that we have to "Make America Great for All" is a better mantra than a backward-looking statement that sounds good and appeals to our senses, but isn't true and won't work. "Make America Great Again" is like saying to an individual, "I'm going to make you 18 again--I can do it," but you can't-- we can't go back, and we have to go forward with greater collaboration, intelligence, imagination. We can do it even if President Trump doesn't agree and works against us. It means we have to work for it though.
