Month: November 2020

While the election results today do not solve all the issues, as an immigrant in this country, I do breath and go to bed with relief today. The new President-elect and the Madam Vice President-elect have hard work ahead. There are still a lot of people that side with the ideals of the current occupant of the White House, and a lot of them have found the courage to speak up their racist, bully, misogyny, homophobic, ignorant comments. These people found the echo and motor of their ideas sitting at the Oval Office, and he is now lost his microphone. He will not go quietly and, unfortunately, I think things will get worse in the time he has left. But in a strange way, I think this will make the job of the President-elect and the Madam Vice President-elect a difficult but clear path, because the rubber of democracy has been pulled too much in one side, so it will have quite a momentum to get back to its natural shape.

I wish this was true in my home country too…

But tonight, I get to say to my son and my daughter, that there is hope.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with anxiety about the election outcome, just like many others around the world. From my perspective, there is only one choice since the current occupant of the White House has made terrible after terrible decision on every front, but especially with the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is a complete mystery to me why would people so blindly follow someone, particularly someone who lies with a straight face over and over, and still they just take that someone’s word, even over what their own eyes see. I want to understand. Is there really no chance of dialogue at all? Why are our realities so different? We all have jobs and we all need medical care, for instance. What is really so scary about not having to pay for private medical care? Nobody is a stranger to owing a lot of money to an insurance company or hospital because your insurance plan did not cover such and such, so why such a strong negative response? More importantly, why is it not possible to have a civil conversation about it? Just a conversation, no policy to move forward, just a conversation to brainstorm how can the current situation get better. And I have the same questions about all those big topics that have been used to polarize people: abortion, education, guns, immigration, etc.

What is needed for an actual conversation? I understand that there are different and even opposing political views. But it seems to me like today, those views have almost become dogmas and people are just not willing to talk, on both sides. I know I have been guilty of this at times. But I do believe a country is lost if its people cannot question their politicians.