Since November 5th I've been trying to figure out how a convicted felon, sexual abuser, adulterer, mean-spirited racist, misogynist, mocker of the disabled, inciter of an insurrection, an old, white (orange) man was elected by my fellow citizenry to the highest office in the land. I will leave the political analysis to others. Throughout the multitude of posts on social media since the election there has been a common question asked in a variety of ways boiling down to some version of how will you deal with people you know who voted for him? I am beyond abhorred by the amoral, vile, vulgar person that is Trump. I believe with all of my heart and soul that he is a liar, a thief, a man-child and taking a not-so-wild guess based on my nursing and life experiences—he has some form of dementia. All that said, the people I know who voted for him do not possess such horrific traits.
The ones I know (and they number somewhere between 70-80 people I am pretty certain voted Trump/Vance) are from family, extended family, family of family, former friends who had their friendship already not been part of our past it would never have survived through the last four years, people I used to work for and work with, people who worked for me—many who were friends at one point or another— a lot who were frequent guests in our home, a mentor who I still care quite deeply about and a very small number in our current social circle.
So what do the ones I know have in common? Well, they are highly educated. I would guesstimate 95% have college degrees, many have post graduate degrees. Among them are doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, small business owners, investors and financial brokers. There are retired Capitol Hill police and other federal law enforcement officers and bureaucrats. The majority came from working class backgrounds such as my own and Barry's, more than a few have inherited or built considerable wealth. Not one of the ones I know live paycheck to paycheck, lost a job to an immigrant or had their miscarriages mismanaged because doctors were afraid to care for them. The ones I know, are in large part, what the far right talking heads and radio personalities refer to deridingly as the "elites." They are successful. Many have multi-million dollar homes— some, two. Some have boats and other luxury toys. Some travel lavishly. Most, if not all, have comfortable, even enviable lives. They are white. On the surface they appear MUCH. LIKE. ME.
I have no idea why most of the ones I know voted the way they did. I suspect many were economically motivated by the promise of tax cuts, surely not the price of eggs! A few are devoted to their churches teachings—perhaps they saw their vote as ensuring that women's rights to access reproductive health care/services would not be restored. I believe there may be a couple misogynists and racists among them so perhaps casting a vote for a black woman was out of the question. What I DO know about the ones I know who voted for Trump is that they voted for the person described in the first paragraph above. I believe the majority of the ones I know will not suffer any ills as a result of their vote, save the loss of health care/reproductive freedom for their wives, girlfriends, daughters, sisters, nieces— apparently, an acceptable price to pay.
So here we are. I've posted several times that people need to "buckle up." It's going to be a rough ride for the majority of Americans no matter who they cast their vote for. The ones I know ,will, in this case, be in the minority. Oh—and how will I deal with the ones I know? That is a difficult question indeed. I'll let you know some time. Later.