It doesn’t affect me.
I have a relative who has voted for the “cutest” nominee for most of her 80+ years of life. When she sees me roll my eyes in disgust, she throws out “My life hasn’t changed much no matter who is President.”
She makes the same point I used to say to another relative who would bemoan the fact that Obama was President: “Well, how has your life really changed? What’s gotten worse?” I would ask.
It’s the same point people can say to me now that I don’t love the current president.
But just because people make points, doesn’t make them good ones. Yes, I’m speaking to myself.
My life. Your life. These are all very individualistic terms. Very American. Our life. That’s the shit. You see when she loses her healthcare, I am affected. When he loses his job, I am affected. There is quite a bit of science to back this idea up, by the way. There is also quite a bit of spirituality of various kinds to back it up.
By the time it does affect you, it’s usually too late. This is why we invented the word “warning”. If you were the parent of a child who was about to run into the street with lots of traffic and you said “Stop!!! No!!! Cars are everywhere!” And the child answered, “Well, that might be true, but that fact hasn’t affected my life much.” before taking a step, well, that would be catastrophic. And by the time it has affected your child’s life your taking them to the hospital, hoping they survive, not saying “I told you so.”
So, yes, we get it. I get it. But let’s stop saying it.
We’re all affected and we’re going to be much more affected if we sit back and wait.