Good morning.
It’s the week after the election. Many of you are still trying to process the results of last week’s vote. Some of you are happy. Many of you aren’t. And some of you are shocked. I’d include the President-Elect in that category.
For the fourth time in our history, the loser of the popular vote won the Electoral College. But the system worked liked the Founding Fathers had envisioned. Now we have to sort our way through the outcome.
I’m not going to tell you how to feel. Nope. You have a right to your opinion just as much as I have a right to mine. I will say, though, that I haven’t seen America this divided in my lifetime — well, I am too young to remember Vietnam and the Civil Rights movement. But you know what I mean. You’ve probably read Facebook this week.
Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost our collective minds. It has become popular to paint people who disagree with us a broad brush. And people who disagree with us now are 100% evil. Gone are the days of Ronald Reagan and Tip O’Neill (two men who didn’t agree on much) having a beer together. Now it is all or nothing. I have a theory on why this is happening. We’ve had a steady diet of commentators on TV and radio vilifying people who don’t share their point of view for nearly a quarter of a century and now we’re shocked when Americans do the same. It’s like being shocked you have a mouth full of cavities after you eat sugar every meal. Sure, the sugar is tasty — but it’s not healthy over the long run.
Empathy has gone the way of the Dodo. Lord knows I’ve been called about every name in the book this week. I’m a big boy and can handle it — but it sure has made me lose respect for a lot of people. The best insult I got last week? “Your stupid.” Ironic and hilarious.
But I understand. People are hurt. They are mad. They are scared. I get that. That is why they have voted like they have. That’s why they are in the streets after the election protesting. It hasn’t been a bucket of chuckles since the Great Recession.
Like I said before, I’m not telling you not to feel. But let me share with you a quote I stumbled across this morning from Mahatma Gandhi: “Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
If you don’t agree with the election, organize, get focused and work the system to get your candidates in power.
If you think your side is being portrayed unfairly, don’t act the way you’re being portrayed.
Use your energy to change things, not just slam people on Facebook.
Talk to people. Get outside of your a la carte news bubble. Read opposing viewpoints. Read news sources you think are “biased.” Figure out the truth for yourself. Don’t have it spoon fed to you. And just because news isn’t spoon fed to you, doesn’t mean it is biased. It just might mean that your comfort zone is being breached. That’s not a bad thing. And please, stop using terms and talking points you hear the commentators use. That makes your arguments look weak. Very weak.
America faces some pretty tough challenges. The good news is that you have the power within yourself to make your world a little bit better. Accept responsibility. Take action. If you are worried, find a way you can make a difference. Imagine how great American really would be if we all did that.
Don’t be helpless. Don’t make yourself into a victim. Fight for what you believe in. Just don’t be a butthead. We already have plenty of those.
Be like the Sheep Dog and the Coyote from the Bugs Bunny cartoons. Fight like hell during the day, and then clock out and go home.