Random political/social thoughts

[stormkeeper_lovedoris]

 
1. There have been times before when I thought the future would be nothing but doom, and I was wrong:

- Growing up, I'd thought there'd be a nuclear war
- In the 90s I read a book by a lesbian feminist who said we'd never see same-sex marriage in our lifetimes because it goes too far against Judeo-Christian beliefs
- I'd thought Y2K was going to make society collapse
- Talking with other activists in 2004, we thought there might be another terrorist attack and the Bush administration would cancel the elections

I was wrong each time.

2. Conversely, I also realized that I am way too optimistic each presidential election. The only time I thought the Dem would lose was 1988 (when of course he did lose, in a landslide). Each election after that, I always think the Dem will win. Weird that I am so optimistic in this way. 

(I should add that I vividly recall the 1984 election because it was the first time a woman was on the ticket, but I don't recall if I had thoughts about who was going to win)

3. In my lifetime, a Dem only takes the presidency when there's a crisis. Carter 1976 Watergate. Clinton 1992 and Obama 2008 - deep economic problems. Biden 2020 COVID. (EDITED to add: Is this what it takes to get enough white voters to vote Democrat?)

Okay, these tidbits are enthralling. As for what happened a few days ago? I am sad and scared, but I'm not done fighting. I am reading the words of Rebecca Solnit, Dan Rather, Robert Reich, and the activists on the worthfightingfor.org call I was on yesterday. I should add that the activists were almost all women of color, whereas the 3 names I listed are all white. I need to do better and at least learn the activists' names. One of them was Representative Pramila Jayapal. Also, read up on the ACLU and watch some of their vids - they've been preparing for a Trump presidency for over a year and are ready to fight.

But yeah, I also cried during Kamala's concession speech.