Well, if it wasn’t clear before, you made it very clear last night, America: you’re pissed off. We get it now. You’ve made your fucking point. And, no, this isn’t going to be a very funny piece. I know that’s why a lot of you come to this site, and I know I’ve said ‘this is serious’ before and then written things about diarrhea pills, Sun Chips, and Toblerone.
Yeah, maybe I don’t have any credibility anymore, but fuck it – I run the site, so what Big Natural approves gets posted. Read it and take it how you want.
America has voted for a President who aims to add trillions to the U.S. debt with a flawed tax plan, believes we should stick with our fossil fuels, muses that climate change is ‘expensive bullshit’ that the Chinese ‘made up,’ and on top of it all, blatantly shows racist and mysoginistic tendencies.
He’s pumped disgruntled Americans full of unrealistic ideas like building a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, making Mexico pay for it, and then dumping illegal immigrants over it. He says he’s going to ‘bring our jobs back,’ despite the fact that automation processes are being implemented in a fuck ton of industries and that isn’t going to change. I’ve said it before – OUR JOBS AREN’T COMING BACK, PEOPLE. It’s time we adapt to that.
He’s a relic of antiquated ideas that died in the minds of intelligent, progressive people a long time ago, plain and simple.
And, just so everyone knows, I had one of these articles prepared in case Hillary Clinton won, too. There’s a lot I don’t like about her, too. I’ve thought this election was a genuine lose-lose situation for America once the Republican and Democratic candidates were officially set, and I’ve felt disconnected from my country ever since. I still feel disconnected from my country, but that may be an article for another day in itself.
To quote SoBro Roxanne, “they’re all rich ass-holes anyway.”
Nonetheless, let’s sit down and think about what we’ve learned now that this stage of the shit show is over (notice: ‘this stage’ – yes, I think the shit show is going to roll on, but there’s not too much we can do about it).
There was much more support out there for Trump than any of us realized
Yeah, I get it. If you came out and said you were voting for Trump, you were immediately labeled a racist. That wasn’t fair. Over time, people just stopped being open about supporting Trump. So, we perceived this race to be over, not realizing that there was an awful lot of quiet Trump support out there. Crazy. This was a massive upset.
You don’t sell the steak. You sell the sizzle.
Bottom line: you can’t be hate-able. Americans perceived Clinton to be a liar, robotic, unrelatable, and above the law. To many, Clinton represented more of the same. I’ll say I didn’t see her as anything more than a stopgap between the progress Barack Obama started and the progress guys like Bernie Sanders are pushing into the future. Nonetheless, she was clearer on a lot of substantive matters than Trump was.
But, it didn’t matter – Trump painted a picture of doom and gloom that many in rural America bought into and was boisterous enough to convince people that it was possible to get back the America they used to have (in the 1950s, mind you).
In its waning days (and I’ll hear your argument that it was like this from the jump), this election became less and less about issues that matter and more about the personalities of the candidates.
That’s fucking stupid, America – I don’t care which side of the fence you’re on. Don’t be so naive and foolish to simply look at things on the surface and assess from there. If people actually did research, Trump would obviously be the least qualified candidate.
Americans continue to live in the past
People are afraid of change. All throughout history, major shifts in ideology and democracy have been long, painful bouts. Most people long for simpler times. Most people reflect on the good ol’ days. I get it. But, that’s not healthy, America. You have to be dynamic and willing to adapt to the world around you.
The small town way of life is on its death bed, plain and simple. Manufacting plants and factories alike aren’t just going to magically reopen because Trump says so. It’s 2016 – automation is in full effect. It’s happening everywhere that it can happen. So, even if that factory in town does open back up, it’s going to be full of machines doing manual work for us.
It’s not that immigrants are taking our jobs. It’s that our manual jobs are shifting more and more towards automation, decreasing opportunity, and increasing the candidate pool. So, maybe – instead of blaming everything on illegal immigrants, we start looking at ways we can adjust to it. I don’t know, maybe this whole ‘universal basic income’ train I’ve been on for years now (it’s where we’re heading, btw. #facts).
^^^^Can’t wait to get the social media backlash for that one.
Don’t believe that voting is how you change the world
It’ll be okay, ffs – dont’ take it so personally. There’s a good chance your vote didn’t really matter that much anyway. The echo chamber that is social media leads us all to believe that we matter. We all have our pedestal to shout from. If that makes you feel good, fine. Good for you! I’m happy that you can get fulfillment out of something like this.
But, when you lose – take a step back and realize that there’s too many fucking people in this country for any one voice or any one vote to matter on a national stage. I’m going to get grilled for saying it, but fuck, man – it’s the truth.
How about you focus on being a positive change in your community first? More on this later.
What if he actually isn’t that bad?
People act as though Trump is going to have a big red button at his desk that will blow a Canada-sized hole in China – like, he’s just going to be sitting around this thing at all times and at the slightest tinge of anger, he’s going to push it, of his own accord and temperament, and blow North Korea to the core of the Earth.
I shout at people for being closed-minded about things all the time. How am I not a hypocrite if I go into the next four years with a closed mind? It’s a reach, I’ll give you that, but I’m willing to give it a shot.
Love your neighbor
This may be a bump in the road. It may not be a bump in the road. But, nothing is going to be accomplished if Americans continue to divide amongst ourselves. I’m sure you’re seeing a lot of those sappy, bullshit Facebook posts telling you not to break into chaos. It annoys me, but I get it, and to be fair, those people are right. Political affiliations shouldn’t break your responsibility to your family, friends, and community.
It’s okay to be different. It’s okay to disagree with people. In my adult life, it’s been a hard adjustment to make. I used to be an egregious violator of one my big life rules today: don’t be a catalyst for groupthink.
In 2008 I was saying things like, “Barack Obama represents progress, and you’re a fucking idiot if you think otherwise.” I wouldn’t even listen to why one might want to see John McCain as President.
Over time, I realized that I was doing more to isolate myself from people. I wasn’t helping anyone by intellectually holing up in my own mind. Most importantly, over time, I realized that this shit just simply does not matter in the day-to-day operation of my life.
But, you know what might matter? An old friend who has a full-time job and two kids, who doesn’t get to go out too much, who thinks of me when he has an extra Tennessee Titans ticket. He’s a Trump voter, but, more importantly, he’s been one of the best friends I’ve ever had. Any time I’ve been in true and dire need, he’s been there. I’m not going to stop being there for him because of what he believes.
Likewise, what about a friend who is so close he might as well be my brother? A friend who can’t fathom the idea of voting for Trump, but a friend who has been there for me in my darkest hour – a friend who stood with me the night I lost my father, and a man who was one of the six to help lay him to rest. I’m sorry to disappoint anyone, but fuck no, I’m not abandoning that simply because he was behind Clinton.
And, guess what – you know who else matters? All of the thoughtful friends I have who were on a mission to get Gary Johnson in the debates.
Vote for who you believe the best candidate is. That’s democracy – true democracy – whether it’s Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Stein, or Harambe. I don’t care. I will still be your friend. I will still be here to support you when you need it.
Being there for each other is much more influential at a community level than casting a ballot.
Reason and progress will win in the end
Trump cannot stop the advancement of science. We’re still going to have driverless cars, we’re still going to be growing produce in skyscrapers, we’re still going to have robots in every household within the next 10 years, and we’re still going to be trying to colonize Mars.
As rich dudes like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk begin to privately fund more research in the advancement of society, government is going to have a smaller role in pushing science forward.
That’s all still going to happen – and you know what, the more things are automated, the more people are going to be without jobs. The more people without jobs, the more the push for a basic income will grow.
It is inevitable. Plus, a Trump presidency could break politics as we know it. At this point, I’m over 1,700 words deep and I’m fucking exhausted.
I have a heavy heart today – there’s no two ways about it, but I’ll be damned if I let all of this rip me apart. I hope you’ll all be as patient and resilient.
Stoney Keeley is the editor of the SoBros Network, Tennessee Titans Featured Analyst for Pro Football Spot, Contributor to FanSided’s Bama Hammer, and covers the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @PFSpot, @WrestlingNewsCo, @Bama_Hammer
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