#onedaftrant

Holy shit peeps depression + Executive functioning problems = a really fucking bad time. Holy shit this feels awful. Just... Bleh. Bleh doesn’t have the desired effect. Something more akin to “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH.” Yes, I think that fits better.  

I finally started watching Voltron: Legendary Defender. I’m only 5 episodes in and it’s a really good show. Also Shiro is hot. I want to be held in his strong arms. Also dem pecs, tho. Voltron is a really good show.

This election has been a testament to the power of feeling. In the face of truth, feelings won out. People felt the country was weak, people felt like globalism and multiculturalism was destroying society. People felt Donald Trump was a representative of the common man who held their interests at heart. Data told a different story, but many people trust their feelings more than facts. We aren’t good at figuring out when our feelings mislead us. We aren’t good at figuring out when our feelings delude us. This election has shown me the dangers of unchecked feelings. To save ourselves and build a better future, we need to observe and recognize our feelings and the biases we have. We cannot let misguided feelings make such important decisions. We can do it. Humanity is capable of amazing things, and we can be great, but only if we can recognize, acknowledge, and correct our capacity for horror.

For years now the conservative movement has gained power through grassroots. By starting small and building up they’ve established a firm hold over congress, and now potentially securing the three branches of the federal gov’t, with the potential to shape policy for decades to come. If we have any hope of stopping this, we need to adapt. We need to learn from them. Too often we think from the top down; we vote in presidential elections and sometime congressional, but that won’t be enough. Republicans are about to give a whole lot of power to the states, and if we’re smart we’ll use that to our advantage. By electing state and local representatives, and state governors we can use this approach against them. If they give states more power (which they will) then we need to use it, make our states bastions of modernity and progress. Make them regret their policy choices. For those few who wish to hide their bigotry behind state’s rights, we will rip that veil out underneath them. All the while making this place better for those of us who don’t fit the status quo.

Seeing the results of the election, and knowing the wave of anti LGBTQ policies that’s coming is one thing (a big, scary, terrifying, heartbreaking thing.) Right now what’s making it worse is that I have to go through the pain and frustration of this whilst putting on a happy face because I’m not out to my family. I really don’t want to deal with this.

I feel there needs to be a discussion amongst american progressives about how we got to this point. How did we let Trump gain so much momentum. What went wrong. Not just “They didn’t pick Bernie,” but a detailed, in-depth analysis of how Trump seems (because the electoral college still has to vote in the new president) to have secured the presidency of the United States. What did the democratic party do, how did they fail this badly? Since we could be in for some rough times, this knowledge could help us make those rough times bearable.

Welp, I voted. I’ve taken part in democracy. I encourage all of you to do so. Now time to be super on-edge for the duration of the day. Fingers crossed we don’t get an angry sapient yam as our next president of the United States.