It’s 8:06pm on November 11, 2024. I’m writing this out on my phone in bed, which is where I’ve spent most of the past week due to my body being a garbage bag (again.. and again and again)
I started pondering this meme I saw recently which really hit a nail for me:

After election results were announced earlier last week - I had several weird interactions with ppl in my surroundings. But to be honest- these weird interactions were an extension of the past year’s weird interactions with everyone, and by another extension - the whole pandemic. One client at work said: “wow did u hear? So shocking” to which I could only say “you didn’t see this coming at least for the past year??” She said no and it made me so sad I felt it in my bones. One person even messaged a loved one, someone who has always been outspoken in their criticisms of american government/politics, accusing them of putting black & brown folks and queer & trans folks on the chopping block for criticizing Harris as a candidate. Quick reminder that of course trump, but also neither Biden nor Harris have ever cared for these lives. But I guess some people are too distracted by colors such as red or blue to investigate who they are truly voting for because for them, politics seems to happen once every four years (???)
I’ve seen a lot of persecution of the left- blaming them for another trump term. Maybe if the cognitive dissonance here wasn’t so tragic, I would laugh at the absurdity of their comments. But it’s not funny. And it wasn’t the past year either. Nor since the pandemic started. Nor since the birth of this ugly “country”. Why would you blame the very ppl who were pointing out the problems you actively chose to ignore? I am now wondering how I would explain all this to one of these people in terms they could understand without myself sounding accusatory or ignorant (the way they sound to me).  Also, this point is not in any way glorifying or making a monolith of leftists - I critique us too.  I have problems with many (mainly wondering why most of them don’t believe in masking anymore ???)
You should always criticize the government under which you live. It’s (supposedly) your right, but more importantly your DUTY. How else do you call out human rights violations? While I’m at it- u should always Question Everything. This will always do you good. It’s a good muscle to exercise. Anytime there is a hierarchy involved - I don’t care where you are in the hierarchy, but ESPECIALLY if you’re at the bottom of it - you should critique and criticize what you see, hear, feel and most importantly- what you experience in your daily life.
Last fall, I remember a couple old friends came over for dinner. We discussed the genocide in Palestine and it quickly erupted into a screaming match. One of the friends claimed that fighting back against your oppressors in any militant manner is wrong. That war and guns and death are always wrong. My loved one retorted with- if everyone YOU loved was being massacred and everything YOU ever knew was being destroyed- would you not eventually pick up a gun? Someone who has never had their life threatened by an authority will likely see that as extreme - because it doesn’t relate to their experience of life. But that doesnt mean that all the ppl who do experience this (on a daily basis) aren’t valid and don’t deserve a human life just as much as you do. You’re just occupying a different space in the hierarchy.
I’m thinking of all the ppl in america who felt they didn’t need to know what was going on in other parts of the world (even at the hands of their own government) because it “wasn’t their problem” and “none of their business”. For context- I also hate politics. Always have. I much rather go play music with my friends & watch a dumb VHS movie than debate the lives and morals of a bunch of rich candidates that I will never know personally and who absolutely have proven to me that they could not care less if I live or die. Like most other ppl- I have better ideas of what I want to do with my time here. The reason everyone needs to be political, however, is because it affects all of us. In a conversation with my dad recently, he asked me “when did you get interested in politics?” I couldn’t help laughing, because the word “interested” implies that I had some kind of choice. I told him I was forced to, against my will, when I became disabled in america. Politics is everyday- but ppl of privilege usually don’t find that out until it’s too late. They don’t mind tho- they can likely still purchase their own safety when shit hits the fan…
Which leads me to ponder the aggressive individualism in this country. Some lives are obviously valued more than others here. I hear liberal, privileged friends say : “go vote for the lesser of two evils”. But isn’t everything relative to your experiences? So my question is: Would YOU go vote for someone who was actively trying to kill you and your loved ones? Probly not! Basic survival skills tell us not to. That’s y I would never vote for trump. But it’s also why I could never vote for a dem again either. My point is- the other rich person won because anyone with a conscience literally didn’t have a candidate to vote for. There was no opposing candidate, as far as american political strategy dictates. But this is not new or a unique moment in time. And now everyone wants to point fingers. Why are we never pointing them at the two evils tho? Evil is evil no matter how u cut it. Look at what they wrought, continue to do, and will execute in the future. Just because your life wasn’t on the chopping block that day doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care about those people who were, and that your ass isn’t next for the block. You are them and they are you. And nobody’s life is worth more than another’s. This country clearly has never cared about foreign bodies unless they were white. Same is true for how they treat domestic bodies. Is it really shocking that young ppl in this country, raised on the pandemic and the 2020 uprisings, had no faith in a democratic candidate that explicitly stated they support israhell and preferred to continue this empire’s reign of terror domestically and abroad? We all watched how the dems quelled the George Floyd protests by further militarizing the police. After all that, are you really gonna tell those young ppl to go vote for a cop who is intent on building “the most lethal fighting force in the world”? Why is it shocking that a white supremacist won another term in a country founded upon genocide and racism that continues to operate under genocide and racism?
Ignorance kills just as much as apathy & politeness. You could either point your divisive finger, searching for a scapegoat (I’m sure both trump & harris would LOVE that, plus all the other oligarchs they dine with) or u could start having those difficult, uncomfortable but necessary conversations with the humans around you & build unity instead. I know that we are all taught not to have those conversations- but do you ever question why that is? And who benefits from this silence?