You Are Not Alone, You Have Allies, We Will Get Through This

We have all been granted a profound insight into the true prejudices of our era

Hello Friends,

I'm writing this at 2AM after not being able to get to sleep tonight. We all knew that this was a possibility simply due to the fact that he was in the race. Now the worst has happened and I have to get my thoughts in order.

Today, I was talking to a friend who works in finance. Even he admitted that the US Economy is the strongest it has ever been. Normally that is a predictor of who will win the election.

Not this year.

In the last month, there have been so many stories talking about huge voter turnout. Normally that favors the Democrats.

Not this year.

The man who is likely to be the next president of the United States is due to be sentenced in court for his crimes at the end of the month.

How did we get here?

I'm not going to lie. I feel pretty hopeless. I'm also very disappointed with the people of this country, but there's nothing I can do about that now except try to understand what got us here and figure out a plan on how to get better.

Mainly, I'm fearful for my two daughters. It's such an act of indefensible cruelty that our sisters, wives, and daughters face the prospect of being denied life-saving healthcare. Why can't our society understand that we have to treat women better?

I've had a few conversations over the last few months with people who had been preparing themselves emotionally for this kind of loss. They seemed to feel it was inevitable in a way. Why should the United States be any different now than it has ever been?

First, let me emphasize that our side is law abiding. Our side plays by the rules. It would be nice if we were treated with respect and dignity, but it appears as if that's not something we're going to face in our immediate future.

The fact of the matter is that a lot of people are going to be needing our help in the next four years. There's a lot of work that we'll have to do.

A week ago, I wrote a story for Medium about how my wife and I help equip children who don't have winter coats, or socks, or Halloween costumes. I have access to products to review, and I have a shopping list from my wife for things that the kids need.

It brings me a sense of peace and calm, even in the midst of my disappointment, to focus on ways that I can help others.

Help others!

I honestly don't know what's going to happen when the grievance tour begins. Who will be targeted? How bad will it get? Will there be a rush to get passports as people flee the country?

Looking back on this election, I don't know what could have been done differently. Kamala was the perfect candidate. She's kind, educated, compassionate and qualified. Her campaign had such joyous energy. She made a believer out of me. But the American people refused to vote for her. I don't understand why not.

But that's the problem.

We don't understand, or we refuse to understand. We refuse to recognize the errors in our own national ideology that could lead to such a result. We mistakenly assumed we were better than this.

Now our task is to find out what those errors are and work to correct them. I've had conversations with people over the last few weeks where we've achieved a moment of awakening. You can rearrange the talking points and reveal that the things most people believe are based on misinformation and misrepresentations.

Too often, we're content to go with the flow of the national narrative. We don't challenge the things that are said, even when they don't add up. But when you let enough half-truths and outright lies pass by uncontested, they become mainstream.

And here we are.

The outcome of this election does not mean that we were not on the right side of history. Our efforts to bring equality and humanity to all people are ongoing. Even if Kamala had won, we'd have had an enormous amount of work to do. Her victory would have represented a large step forward.

Instead, we took a step back.

But we do not have to give up our ideals and beliefs. We still have power within this system even though it doesn't seem like it now. There are still laws that govern the land, even though they've been strained and bent. Most of all, we do not have to submit and renounce our objectives.

We will continue our fight for equality, and we will be wiser because of what we've been through. I confess that sitting here writing this, I don't fully understand the lesson, but I'll work on it.

I feel like this is all so unfair. I feel like he committed crimes and was allowed again and again and again to get off the hook. Now, instead of him paying his debt to society, we the people will be shouldered with that burden.

But there's no sense in wishing for a reality we don't have. We'll help each other. We'll get through this challenge too, though I honestly don't know if the United States of America is going to survive this.

But I know that we will survive. We'll help each other. We're in this together.

We have to continue to work to convey to our fellow citizens that love is a better choice than hate. I only wish that my daughters could see a woman elected as president. It's the second time I've felt this sorrow and sense of loss. We survived the last one, we'll survive this one too.

Kamala is the greatest presidential candidate I’ve ever seen. Take a moment to collect yourself, dust yourself off, and be ready to roll up your sleeves. We have work to do.

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