What do you want to make a stand for and why?
This actually fits in perfectly with the writing I was planning to do regarding the state of the country, so I'm killing two birds with one stone.
Our country is quickly sliding into authoritarianism and oligarchy and it seems as though our constitution is an after thought rather than the document that has guided us for 250 years. I am seeing science being ignored for what the Christian right wants pushed. I am seeing distrust being sown for anything other than what the oligarchs and the Christian right think is correct. I am seeing people losing their jobs and money being cut from budgets without a thought. I am seeing more hate than I have ever seen in my lifetime.
Over the last 50 to 60 years, great strides had been made in equity for marginalized groups. Women were starting to break into careers that they never had been able to before due to their gender, and the pay gap between men and women in the same position has been closing. It seemed as though the color of your skin was less important than the quality of your character (though there is still so far to go there). Members of the LGBTQ+ community were starting to be able to live their lives openly with government protections to make sure that happened.
And then the last decade happened.
President 45 came into office and instead of decrying those who spouted hate speech, claimed that there were "good people on both sides". Instead of admitting that he was wrong in word or deed, he doubled down on his mistakes with "alternative facts". Instead of accepting differing view points, he proclaimed anyone who didn't agree with him as "fake news". He made fun of those who are different, gave cruel nicknames to anyone who didn't agree with him, mocked our soldiers, showed those who'd kept their hate hidden that it was ok to let that hate out once more. And those that agreed with that hate said that we who disagreed were snowflakes, that we were getting upset over mean tweets, that they were ok with cruelty because, in their minds, our country was becoming better, cheaper, more American. And those of us that disagreed were seeing the writing on the wall - the mean tweets were showing his character, that his America First policies were America Only policies, that his control would only weaken us on the global stage. And we breathed a sigh of relief when he was defeated after his first term. Even if he wouldn't accept it and helped to lead an attempted insurrection to stop Congress from verifying the new President.
For all that President 46 gave us hope, President 45 was still pushing us to our baser demons. President 46 helped put laws into place to protect the transgender community. While he did that, President 45 pushed the idea that trans women were just men wanting to get freaky in the women's bathroom. While the government was encouraging DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), he was loudly proclaiming that it was what was causing the division in our country, that it was making White Christian Men into a second class citizens. He backed those who thought having a book in school that showed a family with two dads was pushing sexuality on children. He fueled the hatred for anyone that is is not his power base.
We hoped, beyond hope, that he would not win a second term. Yet, thanks in part to the money backed by the richest man in the world, he was elected. It was by a very small margin - more people voted for someone else than voted for him. Still, he put forth the narrative that he won by an overwhelming amount, that he had a mandate from the country as a whole to make the country over in his image. And in the last four weeks, he's erased so much progress that we as a country had made, as well as turning our long-time allies against us.
The last four weeks has seen the creation of a group (headed by the richest man in the world and staffed by twenty-something computer programmers) that is supposedly doing an audit to cut all the fraud out of the government. The problem is, there isn't one forensic account looking at these books. This group is cutting programs as "fraud" without realizing, or caring about, the impact that it will have. Just like the President, this group is more interested in doubling down on what they think is right rather than accepting when they've made a mistake or taking things slowly enough to make sure that they aren't throwing the baby out with the bathwater in their cuts.
We have watched as people with absolutely no expertise in the field have been confirmed into heads of departments. Men (which is what they've primarily been) whose only qualification is that they are loyal to the President. And these "leaders" are gutting their departments in the name of rooting out the corruption. Policies that have been put in place to help the most vulnerable are being yanked out at the root, leaving those who depend on these programs without recourse.
We are seeing the dissolution of the Department of Education, supposedly because we don't need the federal government determining what our kids are learning. Which isn't something they do. But it will take away the teeth that require schools to follow a child's IEP.
There is a rise in childhood diseases that we haven't seen in a couple generations (measles, as one example). Instead of Health and Human Services encouraging vaccinations to keep this from spreading, the head of this department wants to review early vaccine schedules, touting long debunked theories linking vaccines to autism. And trying to find cures for other diseases will be more difficult since this same department is endangering funding for research grants around the country. They want to cap the overhead costs that a facility gets to 15%, not realizing that this overhead is just as important as the research itself. If the money isn't there to maintain the equipment or hire the support staff, many researchers will have to shut their labs, stop their quest for knowledge, and possible get out of academic research to go to industry instead. The talk of taking mental health drugs out of the hands of those who need it and instead putting those who are mentally ill, or neurologically different into "wellness camps" - which basically boils down to work camps.
We are constantly hearing about those we can't trust. We can't trust the media because they're bought and paid for by the left. They are being shut out and shouted over whenever they say something that the President doesn't like. We can't trust scientists because they are only giving results that confirm what the people paying for the research want. And they aren't allowed to update the facts when new information comes to light. Science should stay unchanging and rather than learning more about a problem, it just shows that scientists are on the take. Climate change is a big lie. There's nothing wrong with the world heating up, with the changes in the weather that the world is seeing (more flooding, more drought, more unusual weather patterns). And anyone that tries to say different is just trying to make money for the cleaner energy people. It's all so discouraging.
I am trying my best to fight against this misinformation, trying my best to remain calm and not hurl personal insults, even when those I am speaking to hurl them at me. It's very disheartening because no matter what evidence I bring forth, I am told that I either don't know what I'm talking about or that I'm bringing the information from a tainted source. I have yet to figure out the best way to get the people that need to hear this information to hear this information. I want to contact my congresspeople, but I live in an incredibly red state with Senators and Congressmen who are more interested in what the President wants than what their constitutes demand. I often wonder what the point is, when I know that, much like replying to comments in social media, it won't change anything. I want to let everyone know where I stand on various topics. But my family is (probably rightly) concerned that doing so will make us a target.
I can't sit back and do nothing. This writing may be a start for me. I've been looking at the 5 Calls website to possibly reach out to my elected officials. Phone calls are not my strong suit, so I may see if there's a similar program for sending emails. Even if my email is ignored, at least I can say I tried. And when mid-term elections come up, I'm going to campaign for those who will oppose the people who care more for looking good for the President than doing what they were elected to do - fight for their constituents.
This is important. Every one of my non-white, non-Christian, non-straight, non-gender traditional needs me to stand up with them. They make my life richer, my country richer, and the world richer. And they, like me, shouldn't have to worry about the expenses and logistics of leaving the country for somewhere safer. This country is ours as well and we need to fight to keep it a safe place for everyone here, not just the rich, white, Christian males.
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