Now what?

Note: Please, no matter who you voted for, read this. I promise my regular readers (all nine or so of you) that I’m not turning into a political blogger. This is just what’s on my mind.

Gads. He won. Sort of. Whatever just happened, Donald Trump is now the president-elect of the United States. Gads.

Now what?

I have some ideas.

He made it pretty clear that if he didn’t win, he wouldn’t accept the outcome of the election. We need to be better than that, even though the outcome is wrong with Hillary Clinton having won more of the popular vote. Even though we are being taught that doing the wrong thing can get you what you want – and you’ll even find people to support you – we need to continue to do what is right. We must accept it for now and work for change so that majority actually rules. The easiest way to work for change is to write letters. The best letter will offer an employable solution.

I believe it’s okay to protest the election results peacefully, orderly and legally. But we need to know what we’re protesting and we need to know what we want as a result of the protest. If the tallies in Wisconsin (and any other state they decide to recount) are accurate, the actual outcome cannot be protested. I’m not going to actively protest, but if I did it would be to protest the electoral college system that overrides the will of the majority of the people. I would protest the attitude that anyone voting third party is a spoiler or wasting their vote. If we’d had more third party voters over the decades, we’d have had more viable choices than Hillary Clinton of unsecured e-mails, potential conflicts of interest and some lies, Donald Trump perpetuator of lies, bigotry, sexism, violence, self-promotion and myriad conflicts of inerest, Gary Johnson who didn’t even know what Alleppo was, Jill Stein who I knew very little about because she wasn’t promoted by the media and I was too lazy to look her up and read about her and a few others who I mentioned in another blog. I don’t believe it’s okay to block traffic or hurt or insult people in protest.

I wonder if the popularity of reality shows had any influence on the campaigns and the election. (Full disclosure: I don’t watch them. I’ve only heard talk of them, seen snippets of them and read a little about them.) By mixing reality with show, can the line between reality and fantasy be blurred in our minds? What should have outraged most everyone – the calls for violence from Donald Trump – pumped energy into many of his supporters. What should have been met with disgust – his opinions and treatment of women, people with disabilities and his lumping together of Muslims and Mexicans – was laughed at or shrugged off as unimportant or, worse, shared. What should have left him utterly rejected – the many, various lies he told over and over again – fell on ignorant or uncaring ears. What should have brought laughter from the audience – ‘We’ll build the wall and they’ll pay for it’ – was met with childish enthusiasm.

We need to follow Hillary Clinton’s admonition to keep an open mind. I will never open my mind to belittling people with disabilities, calling prisoners of war losers or cajoling a huge crowd of supporters to violence, but I will open my mind to the possibility that he may surprise us. I don’t know the future; it may happen.

As best we are able, we need to set an example of what we want. I can’t set an example of fairness in the electoral system, but I can talk it up with others and encourage them to write their congressmen and women to affect change. I can hold letter-writing parties, even provide envelopes, addresses and stamps and invite people with whom I agree and with whom I disagree to write letters to congress so our voices are clearly heard. I can continue to pick up recyclable litter whenever I walk to the park or store. I can ask my neighbors if anyone needs a ride to the polls. I can be sure to live my life wisely so I don’t waste taxpayer money. I can keep writing to provide good stories that spread character-building ideas. I can stay informed with fact-checking sites so I don’t perpetuate lies about Donald Trump like so many did about Barack Obama.

Ask yourself what you can do. So often we think we need to do something physical, something immediately obvious, when what is needed is inner work – on attitude, for example. Attitude is like love or prayer. It’s not as blatant as volunteering or donating, but it is a thick, deep, wide-reaching root for our deeds.