An Outsider's View of the American Election
So, let’s see, what are the two options again?
Trump becomes president and we gnash our teeth and wail laments until the end of time (which wouldn’t be long in coming, we all say), or Hilary becomes president and the world feels relieved, breathes a collective “Phew! That was a close one!” and goes back to work.
PHEW! RELIEVED!
Ha ha ha!
Pure genius...we will all be relieved when Hilary gets in! Take a bow Mr Trump.
I do not do politics. With a passion I do not do politics, because of the very scenario outlined above. And here I am writing a Trump piece! Damn, they’re so good! They got me! Oh, my goodness they are so very good!
Hee hee hee!
Look, I truly am the political idiot, the naive simpleton who does not, and has no wish to, try to research, understand and make sense of politics, let alone actively contribute to the idea that we should all take it very seriously indeed.
Which tooth-rotting cola will you vote for: the one that rots your teeth in a week or the one that rots your teeth in a month?
Well, can I vote for a drink that doesn’t rot my teeth, please?
No. There are only two drinks that anybody takes seriously, and they’re both cola.
Ok, well, I’ll not vote for either, thank you.
Well, that’s cool, because you won’t make any difference anyway – but we will explain how you are causing even more damage to society than the people who vote for the faster acting tooth rot, with your self indulgent and self righteous passive aggression. People have died fighting for your right to vote for the cola of your choice! It’s because of people like you that all our teeth will be falling out within a week rather than within a month!
Well, how about I promote the idea that we, the world population, support each other in providing healthy, cleansing drinks that don’t rot our teeth? Then I would be doing something proactive and helpful, no?
Well, if that’s what you call helpful, then go ahead, you naive child. The grown ups will be over here doing the real work: arguing about cola.
Ho ho ho!
The Love Activist does not come in for stick from the Establishment – they don’t even notice we’re here. But we do get a good deal of metaphorical chest prodding from the people close to us, the friends we have who are so angry at injustice that they wish to engage with the Establishment on their own terms and BEAT THEM at their own game!
And they feel appalled and betrayed that I don’t get it, that I don’t get myself down to the voting booth and vote for something, anything!
It be important for my sense of sanity that I remember to laugh.
I’m not going to try and pressure anybody to give up their attempts to develop their own brand of healthy soft drink and get it passed through government standards legislation so that it can stand against the two big colas. It’s a fine dream and I’m not going to pooh pooh it. I’m sincere about that.
But…
as an extra-curricula activity…
while all of these important cola wars are going on…
can we not also apportion just a little energy to giving each other a glass of water?
There is no legislation that stops us – the people of the world – taking a little time out from our fear, despair and anger, to notice each other, remember how much we mean to each other, and give each other a glass of love. A sip even.
Yes, of course, Hilary must be voted in. That gives the voting public three more weeks before their teeth fall out. Yes, it’s a no-brainer.
But please try not to feel relieved.
And consider, if you are able, the merest possibility that sharing our water with each other might not be the ineffective dream of an idealist at all, but rather the solution we put off and we put off.
There’s no law against it. We can do it as much as we like.
But it is often the thing that comes free and easy that is not valued.
And if we truly believe that fighting the Cola War is so much more important and necessary than sharing clean and tasty water with each other then, of course, we just ain’t gonna find the time in the day.
I am not against fighting the good fight, but I am so very much more for the wonderful, crazy, simplistic, naive, idiotic notion that consciously, actively remembering what water, what love, tastes like, will have a far greater positive impact on our lives and the health of the planet than all the Cola War campaigning in human history. And if that sounds weak to you then both Trump and Hilary are taking a bow. They’re high-fiving, they’re twerking away. They got you…just as good as they got me writing this piece.
Love.
It tastes good, it feels good, it brings health and well-being, our teeth don’t fall out.
But if we simply don’t do it, because we’re so busy fighting the good fight that we have no time to remember what we’re fighting it for, then…
...we simply don’t do it and it simply doesn’t happen.
And we make the Cola War more and more important while the easy, free, simple, legal sharing of love is set aside as a nice but ineffective idea...perhaps something we can enjoy after the Cola War has ended.
High five!
Ha ha hee hee ho ho!
And let me stop laughing for my own sanity for a moment to acknowledge that there is something here that can feel genuinely frightening for anybody. When we do consider taking the occasional pause in our day to simply remember our love for each other (before going back to the very important stuff) it is not uncommon for people who are out of practice to feel startlingly afraid.
There are very good reasons for this. The Cola War has been raging all our lives and a lot longer than that. In order to believe in the importance of the Cola War we have had to protect ourselves, make ourselves tough enough, hard enough, to survive its brutality. And taking a pause from the war to connect with feelings of love means softening and opening and, yes, that can feel scary. It can feel more than scary.
So perhaps small steps to begin with?
Just a little practice each day?
No need to defeat yourself right from the start by attempting too much and deciding it’s hopeless.
Drink as much cola as you like, but maybe introduce a thimbleful of clean water into your day, the smallest moment of feeling love for someone or something. Perhaps over time you will be able to handle a little more, and then a little more…
If you see the value in trying, but find it’s actually too scary a thing for you, then hey, well done for trying. Don’t feel bad about not succeeding. Drink your cola and fight your good fight.
But maybe try to remember, when you do meet somebody who is trying to increase the love and share the water, that they might not be completely deserving of your cola.
