Hello Internet!
I hope everyone is doing well and is staying healthy. I’m happy that the US Election is now behind us and I can’t wait until January 20th, 2021. But I’ll talk more about that in a moment. First, I want to say thank you to all of those American readers that voted. I know for many, this was their first time voting and I’m proud that you engaged with the political process and make your voice heard. There are people who never get involved or never vote and I think that’s a shame. Politics and elections can be very messy, but if we don’t have people willing to fight the good fight and get their hands dirty, nothing changes. We need people to stay informed, stay engaged, and fight against injustice. So I’m happy you cast your vote during this election and I hope you continue to engage with politics and fight for what you believe in. Voting was step one and we have more to do which I want to talk about in this Weekly Blog.
Really quick, though, I want to take a moment and talk about the stuff I’ve published this past week just in case you missed it during this busy week. Last Sunday, I published a Weekly Blog urging people to Go Vote. Then on Tuesday, I published a Haiku titled, simply “Vote.” Again, I’m proud of you if you went out and voted and I hope you continue to do so. Local and state-wide elections are just as important to be national elections! Obviously Election Day was big and took pretty much all my attention this week so my published pieces reflect that. Finally, on Friday, I published a Writing Prompt Piece titled “The Gray Knight.” This piece is all about a young man who lives in the underbelly of a fantasy city. He ends up pulling two magical swords from a stone. The two swords, one of pure good and one of pure evil, both choose him to wield them and use their power, transforming him into The Gray Knight. Feel free to check out any and all of them if you missed out on those published pieces.
I want to start this Weekly Blog (two paragraphs in) by saying that I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest and I’m able to breathe a little easier. The world might still be on fire but now we have someone saying, “Hey, let’s try to put that out” instead of denying the fire exists or that it’s a big deal or that the fire should take priority over the stock market. Soon we’ll have someone in charge who speaks of unity and healing instead of sowing seeds of hate and division. Soon we’ll have someone in charge who has a deep understanding and appreciation of American institutions instead of someone who constantly undermines them. Soon we’ll have someone in charge that thinks America should be a leader that works inside our international allies instead of someone who isolates America from allies and praises dictators. Soon we’ll have someone in charge who wants all Americans to succeed no matter of their political party and wants to lead not as a Republican President or a Democratic President, but as an American President. All of that makes it a little easier to breathe today.
I wasn’t really sure what to call this Weekly Blog. How do I summarize the happiness I’ve felt the past couple of days knowing that Joe Biden won the 2020 Presidential Election and that Donald Trump will no longer be our President? How do I summarize the celebrations that I’ve seen from all over Twitter of people singing and dancing in the streets? How do I summarize the marches, the make-shift parades, and the chants in front of the White House? How do I summarize the tears of joy or the hope that has filled many Americans? I mean so many people have felt beaten down, betrayed, forgotten, and even persecuted over these past four years. So many parents had to say to their kids, “Don’t repeat what the President says” or do what the President does. The President of the United States wasn’t a moral man and wasn’t someone to be looked up to. The Leader of The Free World was not a leader; nor did he stick up for freedom.
It was truly a dark four years and 2020 only highlights that. America has been one of the worst hit countries when it comes to Covid-19 and our current President did basically nothing to stop it. We had a President that did not care for about the average American. He didn’t care about the struggles of poor people, Black People and People of Color, Women, Members of the LGBTQ+ community, Asian Americans, Latinos, or anyone other than himself. He doesn’t even care about his own supporters, but I know there’s a lot of Trump supporters that aren’t ready to face that fact. The entire time he was President, Trump put himself above everything else while lying through his teeth. Even now as I write this, Trump refuses to accept the will of the people and this election. He undermines democracy even in the last few weeks before he gets replaced.
It’s sad really. Because I know that there are some Trump supporters who worship the ground he walks on and thinks Trump does nothing wrong. These people I have the hardest time to relate to and I don’t think we could have a civil conversation about politics. But I know that there are a lot of Trump supporters who just thought Trump was going to be different and shake up the system in a good way. People who thought both parties had left them behind and they didn’t want just another politician as President. These people just got swindled by a snake oil salesman. Trump pulled the wool over their eyes and even now they don’t want to believe that they were fooled. No one likes to be wrong and no one likes to be fooled. We want to believe that we have all the facts and that we are in the right. These people are not bad people. They just got fooled in believing this evil man was something he was not. These people I know. I talk to. I’m even friends with. Some of my family members fall into this category. These people I know I can talk to and we can have deep, meaningful conversations with. I’m not willing to just cast these people aside because I hope that one day they will realize that Trump never cared about them or even fought for them. Hopefully they will admit that voting for Trump was a mistake and supporting Trump was a mistake. Of course this is going to take some time and some major self reflection.
So Joe Biden is going to be the 46th President of the United States, but that is only the first step in the right direction. There is still a lot to do. I’m sure you’ve heard from people way more qualified to talk about it, but the fight is not over. America is not in a good spot and we’re dealing with problems that started way before Trump took office. I’m a straight, white, guy so I know I’m not the best person to talk about the specifics, but there are people out there who have been fighting every day of their lives against deep, systematic problems that need to be addressed. Healing and uniting this country is not something that is going to magically happen on January 20th. That is just another day where we will have to fight for America, fight for Democracy, fight for unity, fight for dignity, fight for our fellow Americans. It’s not an easy fight and it’s going to be exhausting for years to come, but if we lean on each other and support each other, we can enact real change and make America a better country for everyone. That should be the goal. So over these next few days spend some time celebrating and rejoicing. Bottle up that energy if you can and rely on it to fuel you as we continue the fight. Together Americans can accomplish anything and everything.
The last thing I want to say is that some of the people that have been following me on WordPress probably know that I used to write about political subjects once a week. I talked about things like The 2017 Women’s March and the problem with the US Debt. I’ve also talked about in blogs how I grew up in a very rural, very conservative part of the country. I’m pretty sure 95%+ of the people living in the county voted for Trump twice. I grew up as a Republican and I’m still registered as a Republican. I’m a moderate. A Centrist. A Never Trump Republican. But I hope you can see that I try to be an ally to Black People and People of Color. I try to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. I’m someone who believes in Climate Change and science. I’m someone who believes Trans Men are Men and Trans Women are Women. I believe that Covid is a real threat and that we should wear masks and social distance.
But it wasn’t always that way. It took years of self-reflection and admitting that I don’t know more about climate than climate scientists or about gender and sexuality than the people who study that sort of stuff. I had to stop being stubborn and embrace empathy and understanding. I had to leave my bubble and learn to seek out other perspectives that differ from mine. I’m not perfect, but each day I try to be better and I’m going to try to use this tiny corner of the internet to spread messages of hope, togetherness, and love. I want to see America be a better place and I’m doing my best to work together with people who have been fighting this fight for a lot longer than I have and have more experience with it. And I know this whole thing isn’t really about me. I’m just some straight, white, dude who writes snippets of stories on the internet. I’m just trying to say that I want to be a part of the fight to better American and I’m hoping that those fighting will work with me. Again, Americans can accomplish anything if we work together and I think Joe Biden truly represents that idea.
Thank you for reading that Weekly Blog. This might one that actually causes me to lose followers, from both Conservative-minded and Liberal-minded people. I don’t know. But that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that in the battle of Donald trump vs. Democracy, Democracy won. And now we need to keep on fighting for Democracy. I promise that I’ll get back to talking about video games and movies soon, but obviously the election is a very big deal and it has taken up all of my brainpower. If you liked this Weekly Blog, feel free to give this a Like. You can also Follow me here on WordPress if you want to join this creative and positive space I’m trying to cultivate and expand. I’m very grateful to all my readers, new and old, and I’d love for you to stick around. I also have a ton of published pieces that don’t relate to the election like Weekly Blogs, Poetry, Writing Prompt Pieces, and Pokémon Fanfiction. Maybe some of that will peek your interest. Alright, that was a lot. I think it’s time to take a nap or maybe I’ll continue to celebrate the fact that I can breathe a little easier today.
Thank you all for your support and I hope you have a wonderful week!
-Allen_The_Writer
Header Photo Credit to Pexels
https://www.pexels.com/photo/shallow-photography-of-usa-flag-973049/
Allen The Writer 