It's Time to Listen

I have to start with saying I really don't want Donald J. Trump to run a country. Alas, he is and it's a really big country that has nuclear weapons. There are a couple of things we have to change or others like him will be able to seize power.

First off, America you have to show up and vote. Only 27% of the eligible voters voted for your president. This is a problem. If everyone just went and voted out of a sense of duty and didn't need the motivation of a get-out-the-vote campaign to show up and make your voice heard, then you could reduce the chance of this happening.

America, for a country that talks so much about democracy, you don't do a very good job of practicing it.

More importantly, everyone needs to start listening to each other. There are a lot of disenfranchised people in America. Everyone who voted for Trump is disenfranchised with the system. Why else would they vote for him? He is a terrible person. He's petty. He's not the right person to run your country. 

Everyone who didn't vote for Trump is disenfranchised with his victory. He won the election and is now in power. You can say what you want about the influence of Russia, at the end of the day, Americans went into the voting booth and selected Trump to be your president.

On Saturday, there were rallies all around the continent. People are angry. They marched and chanted and made sure their point was made. Here's the thing, as much as we want to think it will help, it really won't. It's the same thing that was happening during a year of campaigning. How did that help?

The problem is not Donald J Trump. The problem is America has moved to a point where Trump could seize power. It all happened because people have stopped listening to each other. When faced with an opinion different that their own, too many people on all sides get angry and push back. It builds walls and divides people.

When faced with someone different than yourself, you need to ask why they believe what they do. Once they explain why they believe what they do, then you have to ask how their point of view will make things better. How does your idea improve the plight of the population? Once they answer that important question, then you need to ask what drawbacks there are with their position and how do we minimize the impact?

No system is perfect. If one was perfect we would all use it.

A lot of people think the world is going to take a step back over the next four years. This does not have to be the case. We can work to make the world better despite Trump. He can't stop us from helping a stranger. He can't stop us from showing compassion in our dealings. He can't stop us from making someone's life more comfortable. 

So let's take the time to listen to each other and ask questions so we better understand. Then we can know why people feel the need to vote for someone like Trump and we can make the world a better place despite of Trump.