Hello, friends. I’m sorry this post is late. I couldn’t bring myself to blog yesterday (November 8), with the US election still an open question. And it’s taken me some time today to absorb the first implications of the result. There’s no joy in being part of a stunned population of international observers.
Nick and I talked about the future before work this morning. We felt rattled and somewhat bleak when we began, but we came away with some initial plans and resolutions:
- Build friendships across political lines and social distinctions/barriers. It’s always easier and more comfortable to surround ourselves with people who are a lot like us. But we have an ethical imperative to extend our comfort zones, to expand our views, to better understand how people unlike us think and feel.
- Help Americans who will be oppressed and endangered by changing laws and new political decisions. For me, today, this takes the form of donating to Planned Parenthood and Standing Rock. But I’ll keep thinking about this.
- Keep working for greater equity in our own country and our own community. The US election is a spectacular version of things that have happened in other places (eg Brexit, Rob Ford’s tenure as mayor of Toronto) and things that will continue to happen.
- Listen. Really listen.
Wherever you are and whatever your political persuasion, I hope you’ll agree that peace and community are worth working for.
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