Anytime Americans have a contest with a win/lose dynamics, there is a period of healing that is sadly or badly needed
By Nazarul Islam
How can people be so dumb?” one of my neighbors had asked. A different friend noted, “She didn’t have a plan she could articulate.” One couple I know began researching on how to move to another country. Other friends cried for marginalized groups that were targeted in the campaign.
Whew!!! Election Day has come and (kind of) gone. As this was written, much uncertainty surrounds the outcome of the biggest race of the election.
Regardless, let’s try our hardest to be mindful that we are all Americans first and foremost. Yes, it certainly is difficult to do, particularly if you are on the “side(s)” that were not winning.
The reality shock is: We live in a country where — whether it’s Harris or Trump — half of those voting, millions and millions, will be unhappy with the outcome. But we must persevere against the divisiveness and sheer vitriol and move forward. Democracy first. America first. Right? That is a mindset we must embrace. Ask someone living under a communist regime or in a poverty infested third-world country if they would swap places with you.
Read: Law enforcement officials prepare for possible post-election violence in D.C.
Veterans Day has come and gone. Thousands and thousands of American military patriots have died to preserve our right to vote — Americans’ right to exist in a democracy. If that alone did not compel you to exercise your right to vote, what would have? If you did not vote, then shut up. I am asking those idiotic social platforms to do so!
Thanks to all the poll workers and volunteers involved in the Democratic process. It can be thankless at times. Thanks to the candidates and their supporters who will not wait until, say, Christmas to remove hundreds of political signs dotting our landscapes. Get rid of them now.
There is enough garbage left out there. Through all of this sadly, America remains bitterly divided. Let’s hope there are no post-election angry protests or destructive rioting. Many worry citizens will lash out inappropriately if they are dissatisfied when final results emerge.
That is a shame. We all must acknowledge that divisiveness must end. Finger-pointing, hate and anger toward those who think or act differently than we do is not the answer. Indeed, we all are human, and it is not our place to judge.
Admittedly with human nature being what it is, most of us are judgmental. Let’s try to be at least a bit more open-minded.
There is enough garbage left out there. Through all of this sadly, America remains bitterly divided. Let’s hope there are no post-election angry protests or destructive rioting.
We must have faith and respect in the system. At the end of the day, acting out angrily will not help. It is time now for healing. Haven’t we been divided long enough?
Friends in these marginalized groups haven’t been in touch, but I plan to reach out today. I’ve seen several signs that people are taking a break, taking time to recover their sense of purpose and power. I personally haven’t turned on any news and will likely wait a few more days. I’m remaining engaged with my work at a school in Naperville, IL.
I know we are, and will be, OK. I don’t know how to help others feel this too.
Anytime Americans have a contest with a win/lose dynamics, there is a period of healing that is sadly or badly needed. After the World Series, the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup finals, the losing team needs time to accept the loss and make a plan.
The winning team needs to celebrate, of course. In sports, these wins and losses don’t set the direction for society as a whole. Elections do.
We may need more time to heal.
Every four years America has a contest to give direction to the future of our nation. Each political party picks champion to represent them, a fighter to represent the future interests and private priorities. These fighters enter the battlefield beating and blooding each other, damaging their bodies, their hearts and their souls in order to win.
Read: Biden and Trump promise smooth transition in White House meeting
They do not want to let the party group down. We, the citizens witness the battle and watch helplessly as a fighter is battered and bloodied. We feel anger, fear, despair, and other stress related emotions. No matter who wins the election we Americans end up with a pair of broken fighters, one of whom is granted the power to effect change.
And…We the citizens, in witnessing the indignity of the fight itself, are also damaged. There is no honor in this fight, only winning. This is the essence of our election process. And it’s killing our trust and respect for each other, as the only way to gain power to effect change is through this flood system that we called democracy. There has to be a better way
Today, Americans are in the middle of a society-wide transformation, as our elders have experienced before. The last time our social contract was updated was following World War II, and it no longer serves the majority of Americans. Or the world, for that matter. So what would we like to include in a new social contract?
What is needed is for us Americans to visit the other side of the bridge — not meet in the middle and return to our own comfortable side of the bridge
The Republicans have won the presidency, the Senate and likely the House. The public has spoken and the will of the people is being heard. What do we want for our future? That is an exploration for us all. Too many of my progressive friends have no conservative friends. Many of my conservative friends will share their thoughts with me, but disengage if I disagree.
A few months back, I changed my party registration. In my heart, I have been a life-long unaffiliated voter, with both libertarian and progressive leanings, who has strategically been a Republican or Democrat to vote in closed primaries.
And now, let’s talk about our feelings. The healing of our pain will come right from the heart of our democracy, as a direct consequence to our courage to create politics worthy of the human spirit.
The more you know about another person’s story, the less possible it is to see that person as your enemy. The civility we need will not come from watching our tongues. It will come from valuing our differences.
We suffer, ironically, from our indifference to those among us who suffer. Citizenship is a way of being in the world rooted in the knowledge that I am a member of a vast community of human and nonhuman beings that I depend on for essentials I could never provide for myself.
Too many of us have dismissed, condescended and ostracized those (ideologically or politically) different from ourselves. We judge first and belittle later. I’m rejecting what has been — that vision of two bloody and battered fighters — to find a new path, beginning with my fellow conservative Americans. I’m returning to my roots to learn and grow, providing attentiveness to the pain and preferred future goals that make up the majority of American voters.
What is needed is for us Americans to visit the other side of the bridge — not meet in the middle and return to our own comfortable side of the bridge. Our nation needs us to deeply understand each other and be neighborly. To figure out how to make decisions for our future, together. How to build skills so we can disagree, negotiate and compromise, then live with the results.
When all of our talk about politics is either technical or strategic, to say nothing of partisan and polarizing, we loosen or sever the human connections on which empathy, accountability, and democracy itself depend.
If we cannot talk about politics in the language of the heart—if we cannot be publicly heartbroken, for example, that the wealthiest nation on earth is unable to summon the political will to end childhood hunger at home—how can we create a politics worthy of the human spirit, one that has a chance to serve the common good?
Our future is dependent upon our courage to visit the other side of the bridge and dwell there for a while.
Is our country worth this effort? It’s our choice.
God Bless America
Read: When states lose direction and purpose
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The Bengal-born writer Nazarul Islam is a senior educationist based in USA. He writes for Sindh Courier and the newspapers of Bangladesh, India and America. He is author of a recently published book ‘Chasing Hope’ – a compilation of his articles.
