When I read articles like this I feel comforted knowing that there are brave people in the world like you willing to not only challenge their biases, but also be open to change their mind.
As a black man, all my life I’ve felt adopted by the Democratic party by birth, even though I dont necessarily agree with all of their policy choices.
Although I am not a personal fan of President Trump, I do respect the office of the presidency and acknowledge that it’s damn hard to lead a nation as diverse as the US. I also know that not all of his supporters are racist and xenophobic, I dont think he would have won with that type of support alone.
Even though I dont plan on voting for him in November, I can acknowledge some of the good he has done for certain things. For example, as a military veteran, VA healthcare and service has dramatically improved across the board under many of his policies, which I am very grateful for.
With that said, there is a paranoia in our country from both sides of the aisle, contributed to by the President and many figures on the left.
We live in a supercharged political environment in which it feels as if everything is political and expressing your political views in the wrong venue or to the wrong person could get you fired, cancelled, or even killed. It’s a difficult situation for our country to be in, and I’m not sure what our way out of it is.
Politics has always been a source of divisiveness throughout human history, but it feels amplified by the respective right and left echo chambers of our modern media machine, and social media. It feels like there is no safe place to even begin to have a meaningful exchange of views for supporters on either side that challenges the other ‘s beliefs to move toward solving big problems that our country is facing.
Personally, I’m doing my best to find truth. To sift through the media slants, emotional rants on both sides, and blatant misinformation that comes from certain sources, but its damn difficult. It’s difficult to stay informed among all of the potential information sources, while doing all of the other basic things that daily life requires. It’s no wonder many people walk away from politics completely, avoiding the political fray, and/or give up trying to understand the whole picture and fall back to their echo chambers. It’s what they know well and it’s safe, but unfortunately it won’t help bridge the divide.
Even though I’m a registered Democrat, I too have suspected that President Trump will be reelected in November. This is primarily because the DNC lacks a clear narrative on how to move the country forward. Most candidates have made “beat Trump" at least one of their campaign energizers and I think that was a mistake for convincing anyone on the right to consider the Democratic platform. If anything it pushed them further away, and made them more determined to vote Republican in November. As an Andrew Yang supporter, I’m not really feeling the messages of the remaining candidates, so I’m not sure who I will vote for in the primaries. But whoever it is, I doubt they will be able to beat the President at the polls in November.
Personally, I will continue to take in as much information as I can to keep my biases in check and educate myself. But it’s difficult for me to not feel troubled by the state of affairs in the country myself and many of my comrades served to protect and defend.
Thank you again for your insight, openness, and bravery. It gives me hope for the future of our nation and its citizens.
