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Friday, June 24, 2016

Brexit, Conservative Supreme Court, Xenophobia, Racism, Sexism…


I woke up this morning to the news that the majority in Britain voted to leave the EU, the British pound is plummeting, UK and US futures taking a dive.

This after the US Supreme Court blocked Barack Obama's Immigration reforms and after months and months and five more to go of rancid attacks on Hillary Clinton; years and years of vile trash thrown at Barack Obama, one of the best presidents America has ever had; the world's stupidest and nasty-ugliest man elevated to a position of power; the eruption to the surface of xenophobia, racism, homophobia, bigotry of every sort.

A mountain of misinformation fed into cyberspace, driven by rage and soaked up greedily until it has solidified in too many minds as truth.

A world of angry people justifying their vitriol with very flimsy excuses, but really just looking for something, somebody, to hurt. Basking in the paradise that social media is for them. That world, which we've lauded as being the platform for profound connection and shared information has turned into the world of bullshit and persecution.

Even on the home front I was excluded from my father's genealogy chart and family tree, dared to speak my mind and stand my ground and was iced out and ganged up against in a way that's reminiscent of mean children in the schoolyard but that didn't make it any less painful. 

The NYT featured something I wrote and I got 493 comments, 90% from Bernie Sanders supporters, many raging at me. For voicing my opinion. Some even friended me on FB—solely to attack me or my ideas.  

That reaction didn't actually bother me. But overall it's a bloody depressing picture. I sat down to have coffee and thought at times like this you have to remember that, personally and societally, the part of us that has the balls to carry on in the face of obstacles, determined to triumph, is more powerful than the part that gets discouraged when we falter, or the world around us does.

The immediate effects of Britain choosing to leave the EU are scary. Will they last, will Europe and Britain fall apart, will this decision trigger off a world recession? I don't think so, any more than I think Europe will suddenly stop trading with Britain. The trade is as important to Europe as it is to the UK. The EU has said if Britain chooses to leave it won't get another chance but I don't really believe that either. There were a lot of scare tactics used on both sides and the press is going to have perpetual orgasm on worst case scenarios for a while but they aren't necessarily a reflection of what's to come.

As I drank my coffee, thinking about my own life and the world around me, I felt grateful for my capacity to speak out even if it draws fire and not be demolished by it; grateful for the part of me that believes good triumphs over evil.

Very grateful for my coffee, that I have work, a roof over my head. I opened up the NYT. When headlines are raging about everything under the sun that is disgusting about humanity, there's one that shines. Led by a man of great stature, Representative John Lewis, US Democrats staged a passionate sit-in in the Senate to protest against Republican refusal to pass sane gun measures. I call that heroism. And it's enough to restore my belief in humanity.