Well our injured democracy has survived another election. It was such an emotional day. We harbor big hopes for our personal visions and hold secret animosities when our friends post something we don’t like.
The country denounced the president and his party; the state hung tough for the Republicans.
Ferocious feelings flowed, and the sun came up Wednesday.
Division sells. In politics, religion, race, sports, etc. The bigger the rivalry, the higher the ticket price. An enemy can make the heart beat faster than a friend. Nothing gets the blood pumping more than a fight. And defending what we have chosen (or been trained) to BELIEVE generates the greatest intensity in us humans.
Why is this?
Why all the death and destruction and broken relationships because one group or individual is SURE their side is correct? We humans are likely too animalistic and simple to be repaired, but that can’t allow us to feel a resignation that causes inaction or hopelessness.
Because it does seem that every generation gets a little more compassionate, a little more gentle. I am sure we will continue to overreact occasionally over some small conflict or slight where we feel disrespected, but I do hope we do our part to pass a broader, more nuanced understanding of life down the road to the next group of humans.
One thing I do know is that most of us do not hate up close. We gotta get off our devices and reconsider our divisiveness. Go be with people, face to face, and see how they are just as beautiful and flawed as ourselves. And maybe learn to forgive ourselves, and others, when we blow things out of proportion.
Roughly half your friends in Alabama voted against you Tuesday. Oh well. It’s still all our responsibility to make a better world to live in.
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