Diana D - I feel the same way you do.
Voters less directly affected by the disfunction of the past several administrations could afford to vote their conscience. and dismiss the infighting as annoying but not intolerable.
Voters who have seen their future and current circumstances deteriorate don’t have the same luxury.
So they embraced an outsider who isn’t afraid to piss everybody off.
And while I sit glued to news of the Mueller investigation, the conflicts of interest and the astounding hypocracy of our commander in chief, Trump voters are pleased to see the status quo evaporate and hope for better times.
My current goals are twofold: first, be vocal about T’s actions that trample human rights, and second, find a way to minimize the long term damage his decisions could cause to the climate, to education, to our survival.
I cannot remain neutral or even just “shocked” in a time of crisis.
Each and every one of us must act.
The question now is ‘How?’
Right. So you’ve listened. You’re talking about compromise here, and compromise is about both sides making a sacrifice to come to an agreement. I’ve heard a lot of people talking about how we should do this, it’s just that they never follow that up with what they personally would be willing to give up, that is theirs to give up, that might bridge that gap.
When you say you want to listen, that is not really a compromise. That is the first step of the negotiation process. That’s the coming together part, before you’ve started to talk about what you want versus what they want, and the following give and take. The compromise itself is “settlement of differences in which each side makes concessions.” The question I have to those who say we have to do it is “what are you willing to concede?” You can listen till your ears fall off, but no compromise is reached until you stop listening and start dealing.
For example: The Democratic party has suggested that they are willing to fund candidates who speak and vote against abortion as a “compromise”. But that is not a compromise for them because they are bargaining with someone else’s right. Those who make that decision lose nothing, they only gamble with the agency of others. Pick any issue you like, and it’s the same. Right to marry? Right to clean water? Right to food? Right to a trial? What would you be willing to sell those things for?
Because that is the looming question right now, when it comes to compromise with the average Trump supporter. They do not believe in the EPA. They are down with racial profiling. Marriage is between a man and woman. They feel like Trump needs more power, not less, to do the things he wants.
What would you, personally, let go of as a right?
That’s a real problem, isn’t it? They refuse to leave their elitist bubble, whereas I believe we value facts and compassion.