What a week, huh?
Refreshing the Associated Press’ election coverage while at the office in Tuesday night was… crushing, to say the least. It wasn’t so much watching the person I wanted to win lose that hurt, it was seeing a majority of the electorate condone a leader with an agenda of blatant racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. I hoped we were past this.
And then it continues down the ballot. California could have made it easier to build housing and infrastructure. It didn’t. California could have raised the minimum wage. It didn’t. California could have allowed cities to enforce rent control. It didn’t. California could have banned slavery and forced prison labor. It didn’t. Instead, California decided to reenact three-strike policing, ensuring a constant stream of prisoners for that aforementioned forced labor while the powers that be profit off of the prison industrial complex.
This is not the world I want.
I’m angry; I’m mad. The policies proposed by the new administration are going to hurt people I love. The policies are going to hurt and kill people I’ve never met but who are no less worthy of defending. I’m incensed at this callousness, at this selfishness, at this inability to love one’s neighbor.
I’m not letting go of that anger. Feeling nothing means giving up, and I’m not resigning myself to this. I’m holding on to that angry hope for a better world.
But what can I do? I’m just one man: I can’t overrule a corrupt Supreme Court, I can’t stop mass deportations, I can’t stop the genocide in Gaza. I control no levers of power; I’m just one man.
I’m reminded of a story in the Gospel of Matthew. In it, Jesus tells of praising the righteous, for feeding him when he was hungry, clothing him when he was naked, visiting him when he was in prison. When they asked when they did as much, Jesus’ explanation is succinct: “I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!”
There’s a lot I can’t do. But there’s a lot I can too. I can join local mutual aid networks to create safety nets where the systems fail. I can advocate for that gentler, kinder world. I can, trite as it sounds, love my neighbor.
It seems like the American electorate has chosen a vision of a nation antithetical to what I believe in. It’s tempting, so very tempting, to throw up my hands and resign myself to what’s to come. But I can’t, I won’t. I’m still going to fight to make this world a better place, for a future that respects the rights of everyone no matter who they are, where they’re from, or where they are.
And hopefully, that future includes a United States with a comprehensive high-speed rail network.
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Wanna get involved? If you’re in Los Angeles, Mutual Aid Los Angeles has a great directory of local mutual aid groups.
On a more national level, Mutual Aid Hub looks like a good resource, though I haven’t vetted it myself.
Outside of the States? Do us a favor and don’t elect fascists. The last thing that guy needs is allies.
Essays, Not Rants! 