Today is a polarizing day to be an American, and I, like many of you, fall on the side of disappointment. I sympathize with those of you who feel lost, ashamed or powerless. I empathize with those of you who share messages of gloom, frustration, or hostility. However, I encourage everyone not to lose sight of their civility, humanity, and poise. Please, don't heckle Trump supporters. These are the people whose minds we need to change. Nobody is going to change if their first experiences with an opposing viewpoint are accusations of stupidity and bigotry. Even if such claims are true, we have to show our opponents the same level of respect and consideration that we would want them to give to us and our opinions. If you don't like the outcome of the election, join an organization, start a protest, or talk to someone one with whom you disagree. Ultimately, resillience is what measures society in a time of hardship, and resiliency is what we must start showing today.
This is well put. A lot of people are in pain right now, and I understand being angry and afraid when someone who molested women and rallies hatred for various minorities, is legitimized as president. It's impossible for me to fully know that pain, because I'm in Canada now, and I'm white. So I'm not trying to deflect, but the election wasn't won
only because people liked his sexism and racism. We can't change anything if we accept that. We have to look at economics and governance, and what motivated voters besides the theatrics.
Trump's biggest gains were with working class whites around the great lakes and "rust belt", where he outperformed all previous Republican candidates. This is a region that's been deserted by its industry, as the American economy has shifted completely away from manufacturing, towards finance and service. People are understandably skeptical that Congress is able or willing to reverse that trend, since most politicians have to accept money from bigger lobbies just to get there. He was the most anti-Washington, anti-lobby candidate of the 2 nominees, so he won. At least I think that's the biggest reason.
We need to decide what should happen to people when entire industries leave them behind (or they get sick, or anything). I don't know how useful or appropriate it is to get all "join me comrades!" here, and this is just my opinion, but: capitalism is designed to exploit workforces until they no longer produce value. It also gives us a profit-driven news media that will never be incentivized for accuracy or context, but for entertainment. If we want to slow those processes, I hope the Democratic party will now move more to the left, towards more Sanders-like politics, rather than put forward another corporate-backed centrist candidate. FWIW, Sanders won the primaries in Wisconsin, Michigan, and New Hampshire, and given a full campaign he might have won Ohio and Pennsylvania too.
That said I wanted the first woman to become president, and if you do too, pay attention to people like Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Zephyr Teachout, Tammy Duckworth, and Catherine Cortez Masto to name a few. Also if you can vote, circle the heck out of Nov. 6, 2018, which is the next Congressional election, which will determine a third of the Senate and all of the House. If you're unhappy with the results today, that's the time to do something.
