I was just reading a FB comment debate with a Trump supporter on another friends status and it was a very nice conversation, which god those are rare and so needed! But one thing I see time and time again with Trump supporters and Trump leaners is the fact that they don’t see anything wrong with what Trump is doing because Trump hasn’t done anything to them. Right there is the issue. First off, as we see in the film the Social Dilemma, everything from your Facebook feed to your Google searches are tailor fit to you, so you are never going to see a world different from your already curated reality. Second, most Trump supporters are Straight White Cis middle aged Men and some women, which do not get in the slightest, who have ok jobs and can pay their bills. Trump is only attacking everyone else outside of that bubble, so his supporters don’t see what he is doing to others. Yes, there are some supporters that do see how Trump’s policies are effecting other people, but clearly do give a shit, I have a few family members like that…. that is another rant. Boiling it all down we need to question what we see and seek out sources of news that are as bipartisan as you can get. I use a lot of international news sources, or I think PBS does a pretty good job at staying in the middle and just delivering facts, and practice kindness. Honestly, ask your self how would you feel if you were a person of colour, a person who is experiencing poverty, a LGBTQTSIA+ person, a person experiencing the effects of the climate crisis, an immigrant, or an elderly person living in fear all the time of Trump’s attacks and inaction. We need to have tough conversations but in order to have those conversations, we need all the facts, not curated news feeds that tell us what we want to hear. And we need to cultivate our listening skills, which Social Media has taught us that the only way to be heard is with a bull horn or in ALL CAPS. In order to be heard someone needs to listen, so maybe take some time to listen to someone and spend a second to let all of what they said sink in before you speak, if you decide to speak.
This turned into a rant… thanks for reading take care! ❤️