As my medical bills keep piling up, I find myself having a bit of empathy for Trump voters. I sense a lot of fear and I blame right wing radio for a lot of it. Someone is to blame for the rising cost of their healthcare, for the loss of their jobs and the sense of loss of what they see as traditional American values. Guess who told them who to be angry at? Obama, Democrats, those damn liberals!!!! They want to steal your freedom, your guns, your very personal liberties!!!
No wonder they are scared. They are just as fearful as many Clinton voters are for a lot of different reasons. I don’t, in any way condone voting for Trump, but I do understand that they have seen a lot of loss and that they have been lied to, as well.
Have you heard right wing radio? Have you the fear mongering? It’s their bubble they live in, just as many of us here at Daily Kos live in our little liberal bubble (Thanks Jim), and rarely do the two meet, or overlap. As many were shocked to see (SHOCKED I TELL YOU!), Facebook cultivates two different news feeds according to your political leanings.
Facebook’s role in providing Americans with political news has never been stronger—or more controversial. Scholars worry that the social network can create “echo chambers,” where users see posts only from like-minded friends and media sources. Facebook encourages users to “keep an open mind” by seeking out posts that don’t appear in their feeds.
To demonstrate how reality may differ for different Facebook users, The Wall Street Journal created two feeds, one “blue” and the other “red.” If a source appears in the red feed, a majority of the articles shared from the source were classified as “very conservatively aligned” in a large 2015 Facebook study. For the blue feed, a majority of each source’s articles aligned “very liberal.” These aren't intended to resemble actual individual news feeds. Instead, they are rare side-by-side looks at real conversations from different perspectives.
Many of us live in different worlds merely by our social media and the news we consume on a daily basis. Where we live has a huge impact as well as can be seen by the electoral map! We are segregated in way by our views of the world and in turn, we look to sources to have those views reinforced and social media is happy to do it for us.
Scared. It merely just feeds into fears.
I spent four hours in an ER and it cost $5,000.00.
I didn’t have stitches, anything major, I wanted to make sure I didn’t have a blood clot in my leg. I was given an ultrasound, some blood tests were run and then I was given a bag of saline and a potassium pill.
FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, so far.
I got a bill from the hospital and for the doctor that works at the hospital separately.
I have health insurance, for me, I have only had to pay $1,000.00 thankfully. BUT THAT IS WITH INSURANCE.
I also have a very good job. My rent though, with the help of child support, is 45% of my take home pay. And I don’t pay much more than what the average rent is for where I live.
Scared.
I have chronic health issues and I am a single parent. I barely have any paid time off because of how sick I’ve been.
Now do you see why I can empathize? I just don’t blame Obama. But if I was given a steady diet of negativity, of anger and of lies, well guess what? I just might.
And as a Sanders’ supporter, I am not a real big fan of the establishment right now either. I see corporate profits grow, the stock market keep rising and yet wages remain stagnate, housing prices keep rising and health care costs just keep going up. Where is my boom? When do I get to partake in all this good stuff?
And if you believe what you read and hear from those right wing hosts, Government regulation is strangling growth. Taxation is making it impossible for companies to keep their money here in the US and forcing them to move it overseas (And yes, I know this is not just something those on the right think). Silly environmental protection is killing energy exploration, alternative energy is a dead end. YOU NAME IT.
Scared.
People are scared because they are working so very hard and they aren’t seeing it help them, in fact they are barely getting by. I can empathize with this.
I am scared too.
I just set up a payment plan for some of my medical bills and yet more came. I will probably forgo my 20th College Reunion because I just can’t afford it. It breaks my heart, I so very much want to go.
PEOPLE ARE SCARED. Fear is the biggest motivator.
I know there are a lot of post-election autopsies out there. I am sure I’ve missed a lot of them. I am tired, sick and trying to keep my head above water. But I wanted to express that fear is the worst kind of motivation. Fear of the unknown, the other, and fear of not being able to make your life better no matter how hard you work.
Because our political system has stopped working for WE THE PEOPLE and more for the 1%, this fear is valid. And because so many are fearful, they need someone, anyone to blame.
Trump played into that fear so beautifully. He fed into that fear. He was disgusting and vile and stirred up all that anger and fear and told people it was “change”.
And for many who haven’t been able to acknowledge that fear, change was enough to allow them to turn that other cheek and ignore the racism, the misogyny and homophobia, to be able to abide such vile things then dare get offended when people pointed out that they had just helped elect a highly unqualified, narcissistic demagogue to one of the post powerful positions in the world.
“But I just wanted change.”
Scared.
We are all scared for one reason or another. And as we keep seeing, that fear is valid. I know I don’t have to urge you to donate to an organization that fights racism, or encourage you to be involved in local community outreach to your local Mosque or LGBTQ Community Center.
Just know you are not alone. If you are afraid, please reach out to loved ones and friends. I am trying to do so. I know I will get through this. I have put on my calendar an open house at a local Mosque. I plan on seeing how I can volunteer at our local LGBTQ center or maybe connect with a local PFLAG. I am also hoping to find an organization that helps fight racial inequality. And, even if it’s just a little bit, I plan on donating to Planned Parenthood.
Imagine if we all did this? If we all tried to fight the fear?
Maybe we wouldn’t be as scared?