Root and Branch

Photo credit: Spotebi

 

I've spent the last four years digging. 

I've been trying to understand Trump supporters, both the hard core ones and the every day folks. Not because of party affiliations or because I believe one side is better than the other, but because I don't understand their thought processes. How does one look past all the insurmountable flaws, lies, scams, and deceit and still see a leader of value? To my mind, this kind of thinking is illogical and dangerous, which is why I've been doing my homework.

I've been trying to understand the flaws in our political system, our media, how the two combined to create this current disaster, and the opportunities for improvement. I've spent an enormous amount of time learning and the most shocking thing I've unearthed is how many people gave up or never even attempted to educate themselves, understand, or get the facts.

But, I also understand. Growing is painful. Learning truths that go against what you thought you knew is confusing. Realizing you were wrong is extremely uncomfortable. 

It's also what good humans do, regardless. 

Avoiding all of the above only leads to terrible outcomes, like with the rise of Nazis or with the Milgram Experiment on obedience and authority figures.

I recently saw an excerpt that summed up the difference between Trump and Biden supporters in terms of how their various leadership styles and ideologies make people feel. If I could find the original, I'd repost it here, but it went something like this:

Trump supporters see a leader who embodies the notion of freedom; a freedom to be whoever you want and do whatever you want without care or consequences. His model tells people, literally, that you can do bad things without being caught or held accountable. He is the epitome of easy freedom.

Biden, on the other hand, says bend the knee. He says we have problems in our country and we need to solve them, put in the hard work. He says we need to apologize for our past mistakes and work harder to be better. He says we've been wrong. His model tells people we are not perfect, we have a long way to go, and that we need to acknowledge our faults. This is a stance that makes people uncomfortable. Being challenged and told you're wrong isn't pleasant or welcomed.

Here's the thing: America isn't perfect; it never was.

One thing humans are terrible at is attaching ourselves to notions and ideas. Those notions and ideas have roots that go deep. Even after we learn that some of our ideas are wrong, we struggle to accept those facts. It challenges us in ways we don't want to be challenged. It requires apologies and hard work and a jab at our egos to do the root removal - so we don't. 

Instead, we try to bury them. We shovel mound after mound of dirt over the roots in an effort to conceal their existence. In an effort to move on and not have to think about them, not have to do the hard work. We take the easy way out every opportunity we can.

But things with roots grow. 

They don't stay hidden. They don't die out. They find their way to the surface; they persevere in the face of our denial of their existence.

The only way to change and truly move forward is to roll up our sleeves and pull those old/bad/wrong ideas and notions out, root and branch. 

We cannot bypass the hard work. 

Willful negligence and denial will get all of us nowhere dangerously fast.

Fear is the enemy of freedom. Don't contribute to it; remove it.

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Here's what I bluntly want to leave you with as we close out this insane chapter in America in hopes that we all, collectively, work together for the better:

 - Party loyalty is dangerous; loyalty to humankind is better.

Each side wants you to be loyal so they can do whatever the hell they want without you truly paying attention. Don't be a willing pawn in their game; do your homework. 

I voted for Biden. That doesn't mean I think he's perfect, nor that I think all his previous decisions were perfect. It also, and most importantly, doesn't mean I will trust every single thing he says or be pleased with his actions at all times.

I am not loyal to him; I am loyal to humanity. I want what is best for all of us, not some of us. I will always vote in favor of humanity, not in favor of a particular party.

I will not run around with a flag on my car or a hat with his logo on it because, honestly, that's weird. He's not a rock star or a brand; he's the leader of our country. He will make mistakes. I will not overlook them and deny them. I will search out facts and I will trust the experts.

In four more years, I will vote accordingly and I will put a hell of a lot of effort into that vote. I hope you do, too.

 - Don't use your religion (or personal preferences) as a weapon against others.

I say this as someone who grew up in an extremely religious family, who loved going to church every week, and who was super close to her pastor's family. I understand, better than most, the bible. My grandfather was a minister. I have studied a variety of religions to better understand them and here's what I know: each group thinks they're right and everyone else is wrong, which is impossible if you know anything about the God everyone preaches about.

Everyone thinking they're right applies to personal preferences and perspectives, too. 

Just because you don't believe in abortion doesn't mean it's not the right answer for the woman who was raped. Just because you don't agree with homosexuality doesn't mean LGBTQ+ people should have to live in fear of their basic human rights being taken away. Just because you don't understand the Black Lives Matter movement doesn't mean there aren't Black people who deal with racism daily and deserve to feel safe in their neighborhoods, cars, and in general living their lives.

Listen to your friends, but also listen to people you don't know to widen your perspective. All of us live narrow lives. It's our responsibility to expand who and what we know so that we better understand this thing called life - and not just our own lives, but everyone's.

 - Hold yourself accountable.

Listen to a variety of media outlets. Don't fall prey to just one source of information because it's easy. Compare news stories, check for recurring themes, and always look for the facts.

Read news article from other places in the world so you can understand how the world views us. 

Understand that we are 1 country out of nearly 200. Our views are not the world's views. Understand that our first world country peers typically lean toward what we consider far left, but that's because many of their democracies are human centric: paid maternity leaves, some form of universal healthcare, better education systems, better prison reform, etc. We're like the youngster who can't keep up and has been embarrassing ourselves by throwing a fit when we get tired. We have work to do; it will not be easy.

Many people vote based on one major thing: taxes. However, most people don't confirm what really goes on after promises are made. Pay attention to how we get taxed, why, and who really benefits.

Republicans have long been considered the better party when it comes to taxes, but those tides have been changing for a while now. George W. Bush gave a tax cut that helped the wealthy, whereas Obama gave a tax cut that benefited the middle class. As for our current president, Trump's tax cut amounted to only .9% of GDP, where as Obama's was 1.5% in his first term alone. Trump's TCJA plan, which by all means sounded good, ended up favoring billionaires and corporations. 

Do. Your. Homework. Always ask yourself what the current president and party have actually done. 

This is a fantastic Business Insider article that sums up Trump's accomplishments and failures. For instance, it notes the TCJA plan as an accomplishment for being signed into legislature and cutting corp. taxes from 35% to 21%. However, it also notes the negative side to that action and how most of the promises made haven't been achieved and may never come to fruition. (For fun, you can also check your own tax bracket to see how much more or less you pay than major corporations. A lot of people now pay MORE than the companies that make fortunes off of us.) I appreciate that it also calls out how the booming economy he came into was from Obama, although he took credit. This is something most of us need to learn, which is that each president inherits the economy, either good or bad, from their predecessor and depending on how bad, has to work extremely hard to right side things again. Biden has a large task ahead of him; should he pull it off it will be remarkable.