There are obviously so
many things wrong with the world today.
My two biggest fears
for the future are the supreme court and the environment. The former doesn’t affect
me as much being in Canada, but this is where you will see the real regressive
movement in the USA take hold. Not just for the next four years, but for many years
to come after that. Rhetoric from the candidate was one thing, but soon laws
will be changed at the highest court; same sex marriage, women’s rights, and
minority rights are all up for grabs and very likely to change for the worse. Just
imagine if roe v. wade gets repealed.
Environmental laws
will be overturned. Obama made some incredible strides towards a more
sustainable planet, and we are all in trouble now. Scrapping the EPA, increased
coal production and a general disregard for scientific consensus of climate
change will be devastating. If I were someone that lives on a coast, I would
get out now and move a bit more inland. Honestly. Actually, move to a fucking
swing state.
As for me, I am now
going to devote myself to doing what I can from here in Calgary and Canada to
make the world a better place. I believe Canada is actually in a better
position to push forward with new technologies, ideas and developments; to
foster the next generation of leaders who will create incredible new things,
both environmentally and socially. Canada is placed to become the leader that
the USA is abandoning, joining Europe and probably China as leaders in this
space. This will be my goal for the future, starting with Leading Change in
Toronto this April, then back to Vancouver for 2018.
I invite all my fellow
Canadians in America to come home. Bring your businesses, technologies, arts and ideas. We can make the world a better place from up north.
Now, I also want to
give my two cents about how I think this actually happened. What the fuck happened??
I think that a few
things came together.
- A woman following a black president brought out conscious and subconscious racism and sexism. A whole new group of people were, and now are, emboldened to join the electorate: racists and white supremacists. These are people who didn’t necessarily vote before, but now had someone to speak for them.
- Take a second to think about this election from someone who is conservative and Republican, but not a racist xenophobe. Who should they vote for? Those people are left with no one to speak for them. They are people who believe the exact opposite, politically, as I do, but still genuinely want what is best for their country. From their perspective Hilary is a non-starter. Progressives, centrists and liberals, all of us, assumed that many of these people would vote against the monster their party nominated, and vote Hilary. But we misjudged them. Some, like Ana Navaro, may have indeed voted for Hilary, but the belief that they would all come rushing over just didn’t happen. We had too much faith that people would see Hilary’s strengths as a politician and leader, and not enough understanding of their politically motivated disdain for her. I can understand their dilemma, even as I don’t comprehend their politics or their choice.
- Hilary, for not partisan reasons, had faults. I believe they were no more grand than the faults of other (normal) politicians. However, when you add everything together: a candidate who feels no compunction about lying or degrading people; the underlying racism and sexism of the current candidate and president, and the issues Hilary had, you end up with a perfect storm. You end up with people not able to cast their vote for her, as we all assumed they would. And that is where we all lost.
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