Shifting from shock and disillusionment to a more realistic hope after Trump’s election victory.
Commentary by Sarah Henn Hayward | FāVS News
First Reaction
Almost two weeks ago was election Tuesday. I went from feeling peaceful and optimistic about my country’s future to feeling horrified and scared of not only the future but also my fellow citizens.
I was in shock that Donald Trump, insurrectionist, sexual abuser, convicted felon and pathological liar got elected to the highest office in the land.
I cried. A lot. I worried. I breathed. I exercised and drank water. I reached out to all my sympathetic friends and checked in on everybody. And now I have some thoughts.
We are not seeing the same things
My initial belief — that a majority of the country was willing to vote for a racist, violent person — was off base.
First of all, I don’t think that a majority of voters pay all that close attention to politics. Many folks are low-information voters, voting with their gut or by habit or with a slim understanding of current events. For example, there are voters who believe President Joe Biden is responsible for overturning Roe v. Wade. We are not all engaging with the facts.
Second, I truly believe we cannot grasp the scale of tech and algorithms in the news today. Algorithms creates echo chambers — vastly different content depending on what a person is already likely to engage with. Clicking on articles about Trump’s corruption and lies gets you more of the same. Folks who aren’t interested in politics, who consume right-wing media by default, or who engage with negative reporting on Biden or the Dems, are likely to not ever hear about many of Trump’s atrocities.
We are no longer living in a monoculture where everyone has a basic grasp of what’s going on in the same way. We don’t all watch the same news, read the same papers or know the same stories anymore.
Add in bad actors, deep fakes and AI, and the news becomes much less trustworthy. Honestly, it scares me. My solution is to pay for my news and only read professional reporting that follows ethics codes and vets their information. I subscribe to The Atlantic and GoodGoodGoodNews. I engage with social media less and less, and I try not to get news from there at all. I follow a lot of comedians and my friends.
Cognitive bias and a good story
Tressie McMillan Cottom had a take on this election that blew open my understanding. In an interview on The Daily Show, she discussed “Trump’s weird gift.” She believes that Trump is good at identifying what people — deep in the scared, selfish, most raw part of their hearts — really want.
Trump banged on the “Make America Great Again” drum since day one. He’s promised to make America a winner, to fight for the American people, to solve everyone’s woes, whether economic or moral or cultural.
Cottom sums it up simply, explaining that Trump told a simple, straightforward story that, “things are bad, I will make it good.” And folks wanted to believe that. So they did, contrary to all evidence that Trump could or will even try to deliver on that.
This didn’t make me feel better, exactly. But it allowed me to look at my fellow citizens with understanding as opposed to repulsion. I know that folks are scared. They’re worried about finances, housing, security, crime. They’re worried about the rapidly shifting culture around sexuality and gender. And they want a savior.
Sitting in my disillusionment
This election changed me. Historically, I have been a sunny optimist, confident that people are good and that things will work out. I saw overarching patterns in human history and assumed that the moral arc of the universe was bending toward justice.
I have become disillusioned and a bit cynical. I wonder whether most people truly are good or if selfishness and self-preservation will win the day. I worry over the restrictions to women’s rights and access to healthcare. I watch as the LGBTQ+ community becomes a boogeyman and their freedoms are limited. I question why more people don’t want to help desperate refugees fleeing for their lives at our borders. I observe the continuation of war and genocide in modern society, the continuation of racism and white supremacy, the violence of religion and the harm it causes in people’s lives.
And I feel like I’m the last guest at the worst party ever thrown. Folks of color and people in the margins have known this reality forever. I’ve been shielded as a white, able-bodied, middle-class American. None of this is new.
What now?
So. This is the world we have. And that world has always contained beauty and love, too. Babies are still cute. Fluffy new animals are being born. Waterfalls are cascading down mountain peaks. The Goodnewspaper I read is full of stories of people working to improve conditions around the globe.
The world has always contained multitudes.
I’m resisting the pull of apathy to assuage my crippling empathy. Trying to balance a tender heart with the reality of my helplessness. Fighting to reconcile a sense of acceptance with picking up the mantle.
I can help the world. I can bring light and joy to people’s lives. I’m not especially powerful and don’t have a large reach, but I do have some influence.
So I will keep smiling at strangers. I will keep donating money to causes I believe in. I will keep volunteering my time to better my community. I will keep writing, learning and educating myself and others. I will keep laughing and going on vacation. I will allow myself to enjoy my life, even while I’m fully aware of so many others who can’t.
I will accept my limits, see reality (the good and the ugly) for what it is, and keep fighting to make it better.
The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.
You have given the priceless gift of being seen and understood. Thank you!
I think we’re at the point of the Dead Internet Theory where it’s best to use the internet with intention and discernment. Or at least realize the risk of passive use.
And the idea that living well, that doing and speaking with responsibility for people doesn’t go away because of election results, it becomes resistance is chef’s kiss!
Excellent summary of my thoughts and feelings. I also continue to see acts of kindness all around even among the despair. If we make every effort to spread goodness, we will see it in return. It does mean keeping our eyes and minds open. Perhaps our guards up las well.
I read the article before I noticed who wrote it. I was bewildered by your lack of hope that you started with. I was also disheartened that you thought (hopefully not think) that those that disagree with you are ignorant or maybe even evil.
You would be right in calling most of my family and extended family rabid MAGA. But we are an immigrant family that has spent thousands of dollars and spent years and even decades to come here legally, families divided, including parents from children.
That was the largest demographic shift that could very well be the reason Trump won.
A desire to be tolerant is the best step forward.
As I listen to the echo chambers of both sides, I am always amazed at how ignorant both sides are of what the other side believes, choosing to label with the most derogatory terms those that they are ignorant of, rather than sit and talk, trying to understand.
I first heard Rush Limbaugh in the 80’s and 90’s when I drove through central California. He was a comedian using parody and hyperbole as his shtick. It was very effective at unhinging those on the left who took him seriously; so much so that he went nationally and the right gave him a megaphone. Then the left started promoting comedians with the same shtick to characterize the right. Broadcast media now does the same. Because of its effectiveness to paint the opposition as evil, both parties have run with it and made it their main offense.
So rather than running on ideals that benefit all, we have divided each other with identity politics, pointing out not what unites us but what divides us.
Excellent article.