This week's pieces are dedicated to my friend Antonia.
Somewhat to my surprise, I have found that I can now approach what happened with the election with gratitude. Had the results been reversed, and had the side I preferred won, it would have been simple to maintain the illusion the everything is okay, that the system is working, that the problem is the other side, my side is correct and righteous and those people are assholes.
But that's not true. The system is not working. The problem is not the other side. The problem is all of us, in the way in which we're all contributing to the decline of civility, the dehumanization of those who don't agree with us. Conflict of a harsher and harsher nature is becoming more and more the norm in our society, and the path to changing it will not be found in practicing more of the same. Winning the election wouldn't have been a win. We'd all still have lost, because our system is now guaranteeing that we all lose.
I don't want to live in a society in which everyone loses. I want to see that aspect change. So I am grateful for this experience, because it's given me--demanded of me--this perspective.
Aaaw shucks. Thank you!