#IMWAYR: Quick updates!
I still haven't read anything, though I actually dreamed I had read some books and put a post together for y'all—does that count?
I feel like this has been a pretty good week overall—I had some really fun hangouts with different friends, and I've been fairly productive with the 300 million bazillion things on my to-do list.
I would be remiss if I did not mention the election tomorrow. I'm very anxious about the outcome—I think everyone is, but half of us for different reasons from the other half. It's strange—if I and half of America have our way, we will have our first woman president and second president of color, which I think would send a really powerful message to our population about what this country stands for. Or if the other half of America has their way, we will spend four years worrying about the ways our rights could be creatively rolled back, by a man who has said so many appalling and disgusting things that it is literally impossible to keep track. It's strange, I know Trump supporters are voting from the same kind of desperation and fear that Harris supporters are voting from—I relate to the feeling, but I think they're going about it the wrong way. I believe Harris cares about her voters, while Trump only cares about himself. I am an exceedingly privileged person—White, male, cis, the child of well-off and loving parents. So I know there are so many ways people's lives hang in the balance in this election that I do not experience, or even fully understand. But even for me—I have rights as a gay man, but I know they are precarious rights from Supreme Court decisions that could be overturned just like Roe v. Wade was. (It seems like just dumb luck that Bostock v. Clayton County had a positive outcome on a majority-conservative court.) My trans and nonbinary brothers, sisters, and siblings are already the new scapegoat for what is wrong with the country, when literally they are just human beings who want to be themselves, and aren't hurting a fly. And then sometimes I wonder if I'll be the next scapegoat—reassurances to the contrary feel empty when people used to reassure me that Trump would never be elected, and then, well... I feel like all of us young people have to survive about 60 to 100 more years on this planet, in this country, and it's frightening to wonder how we could be targeted anew in such a long span of time. But while I am really good at catastrophizing and imagining horrible things 10 or 20 years down the line, tomorrow, we are making decisions about the next 4 years. So obviously, I implore you to vote for Harris, and choose somebody who at least has the decency to care about other human beings.
So that's a downer, huh? Time for a dramatic subject change to...
Yay kidlit meetup! Yay voting for Kamala! But yes, the anxiety is real. I've done a lot of volunteer phonebank shifts (mostly ballot curing) over the past few days, and I will say that volunteering has helped so much with anxiety. The vibes on the Zoom training calls have been so positive and high-energy, and it's nice to be in community and action with others who are working for the same outcome. A bit of book talk: I started reading Aristotle and Dante last night, on your recommendation of course. I can't believe I never read it before! Loving it so far.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're having a fun week. I'm nervous right now too.
ReplyDeleteAll so well said. I am truly afraid if Trump is elected. I do not understand how women, people of color, queer people, or poor people can support him as he certainly does not have their best interests at heart.
ReplyDeleteI wore black today. WTF America!
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